The Good Trash GenreCast is back with The Running Man!

This week we examine a film loosely based on the novel The Running Man, by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman. Arnold is up to his usual cheekiness, full of efficient distribution of violence and perhaps violent one-liners. It’s so 80’s-tastic and yet very much a film for contemporary thinking. We would love you all to tune in.

We begin this week as always by talking about our opinion of the film. Generally, we find this to be pretty disposable (spoiler alert). However, despite its overall schlockiness, we find this film to to be ripe for analysis.

The show warms up with this week’s game, Our Favorite Manhunt Films. Be sure and listen closely here dear listener, because though we mention several films that have been mentioned and even the subject of previous episodes, there are some gems in here to add to your GoodTrash syllabus.

Once we get down to analysis, we begin with a conversation about the prescience of a film made in 1987 that depicts a future 2017. This leads to a conversation about the cycles of anti-fascist cinema of the 80’s, the early 2000’s and today. We then move to a discussion of the misogyny of this film and it’s relationship to rape culture and the difficulty of filming confrontations between men and women. Finally, our conversation moves to a discussion of the surveillance state, reality TV, and the difficulty of disappearing in the 21st century.

As always we wrap the show up with final verdicts on the film, our recommended else/instead pairings, and a tease of next week’s episode. Get into it!

Reach out and talk The Running Man:

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