Is There a Mnemonic To Spell It?

Johnny Mneumonic is a confusing movie. It leaves viewers as confused as Keanu is at any particular time, and requires an attention to detail to understand that. Why is that guy Jesus? Why is that dolphin killing things? Why is Dizzy from Starship Troopers reprising her role (note: I have no proof of which film came first – my internet is down)?

Beyond these burning questions is some semblance of inspiration for further questioning. While I’d love to tackle the identity of Jesus, frankly, I lack the energy and gusto. Or maybe I just missed it the one line where they explain it. Regardless, bounty hunter Jesus, hired by the teacher from Battle Royal (hoorah for the evil corporation, a time honored villain) is after our old protagonist. And there’s a reason for this: our Johnny Mnemonic is special, and has some valuable info in his brain. That’s what I’m getting at.

For the second time, we come across a commodifying of humanity (the first example being – scroll down to it when you finish this sentence – THX 1138). A conscious choice to get parts – natural ones – removed to increase your data storage space? Seems nuts, but it is essentially data prostitution; the newest oldest profession. In our capitalist society filled with bottom line thinking, number crunching, downsizing, and outsourcing, thinking of a human as a number isn’t a huge stretch. When person A costs more than they produce, they get removed. This is true even out of business. Think of a professional sports team: when loud-mouth A becomes a detriment to the team that exceeds the positive gain of his skills, he’s getting traded. So perhaps this “dystopic” view is one that doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

And that is why "The Sandlot" is the pinnacle of modern film.

I Dream of Ahnold

There are some things I may never know. For instance, I may never know if I am really typing this or if it has been implanted in my brain. I may never know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop. I may never know why LA Lites went out of style. I may never know whether Quaid is dreaming/remembering or really doing these things.

That may be the idea. You gotta think that is what they were going for – you were intended to feel the same confusion as Quaid himself. Sure, we can take some liberties with continuity errors, because all movies have them (his hands are covered in blood, yet her shoulders are clean after he grabs her), and I guess we can look past the fact that, regardless of whether this is a memory or dream, he is seeing things he wasn’t there for. Looking past those things, it is very tough to figure out whether or not he is dreaming.

Then again, I’m not sure we need to. Maybe that is the point. Although this was almost twenty years ago, the relevance of the digital and virtual age becoming more and more integrated with our lives is obvious. You know they have cars that parallel park for you? What’s next, JohnnyCab? The Sims or SecondLife, message board and blog personas, a video chicken you can command to do things; don’t forget Seaman, that Dreamcast classic that had you taking care of a sarcastic man-fish, including his social and emotional needs for stimulating conversation. The virtual pet is a popular thing now.

People seem to fear that kids especially are getting wrapped up in the technological age and no longer going inside. They don’t call people or go see people – they IM them. They don’t go play football, they play Madden on Xbox Live. Hell, even video games used to involve going to the arcade with your friends. The next generation seems to be who we fear for, not the adults who are internet dating and have a cell phone attached to their ears. Talk about cyborgian.

Who would have thought Arnold could create such stimulating conversation.

And that is why The Sandlot is the pinnacle of modern film.