AMERICAN ROAD WARRIORS, THERE IS STILL TIME TO CHANGE THE FUTURE

Tuesday, October 7, 2014
By Paul Martin

By Paul McGuire
October 6, 2014
NewsWithViews.com

In 1979 a low budget film came out called Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson. Mad Max depicts an apocalyptic future where law and order have broken down due to energy shortages. In 1981 Mad Max 2, also known as Road Warrior, came out with a subtitle on the poster which read, “Just one man can make a difference.” In the film Mel Gibson plays a cynical and hardened man who rediscovers his humanity when he tries to help a group of settlers.

Although Mad Max and Road Warrior were science fiction-style “B movies” the theme, “Just one man can make a difference,” resonated with audiences around the world. These films where Gibson plays “the one man who makes a difference” catapulted Mel Gibson into movie superstar status. People connected to how an ordinary man went from being spiritually dead and soulless to a heroic figure whose compassion made him come alive. The film contained a core truth: when you choose to live in denial and ignore your responsibility to actually show up in life and help others, you die as a person. Unfortunately, this has become the collective reality of millions of Americans, from the upper echelons of corporate boardrooms on the top floor of skyscrapers in Manhattan to the walking zombies who excuse their personal responsibility for contributing to evil by glibly saying, “I am just doing my job.” I imagine that the long lines of people entering Hell will all say “I was just doing my job” as they are sentenced to the Abyss.

In 1986, I was the Executive Producer for a Hollywood “Road Warrior-style” B movie called Wired to Kill. Unfortunately, it was not as gripping as Road Warrior, and even though our low budget film managed to achieve the number 12 ranking of all Hollywood film releases for the first two weeks, it was in theatres when Director Oliver Stone’s film Platoon was released. Stone blew us out of the water. Despite the film’s inherent weaknesses, it depicted a future in America where our nation had been ravaged by a biological plague and violent, drug-fueled gangs ruled what had become the Third World streets of a dystopian America. The poster for Wired to Kill had a subtitle which read “If you want to make history you gotta make your own.” In the film, two unlikely heroes, a handsome young man and a beautiful girl, use all their brains, wits, and homemade robotic technology to defeat the gangs. They were not waiting for someone else to rescue them.

Ironically the themes in movies like Road Warrior and Wired to Kill have in some disturbing respects come true. Our nation is descending into anarchy and a biological plague, the Ebola virus, is spreading across America. Anarchy is rising as ISIS terrorists come across our border; food prices are set to soar due to the drought in California; and our government does not appear to be able to save us without declaring martial law and creating a totalitarian police state. The masses of people who have been in denial of reality for most of their lives have become disconnected from their own humanity, and, like Gibson’s character in Road Warrior, they are indifferent to the sufferings of others and paralyzed from even saving themselves.

The Rest…HERE

Leave a Reply

Join the revolution in 2018. Revolution Radio is 100% volunteer ran. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. God bless!

Follow us on Twitter