When the latest round of carnage erupted in Canberra this week, with the Prime Minister and the government in crisis, you were excused for thinking ‘haven’t I see this movie before?’
But the truth is, even the wildest and darkest movies about horrible futures for humankind have political systems a lot more stable and better ran than Australia’s at the moment. Here are seven post-apocalyptic movies that prove the point.
The Road Warrior
The malevolent Lord Humungus is the leader of a gang of motorcycle marauders. He might not be the nicest leader but he has absolute loyalty among his, um, parliamentary colleagues. The huge and buff Humungus (eat your heart out Tony Abbott) also has an energy policy that is clear and well-articulated. Which is: I want all your oil right now. As you can see in the video below, he can also deliver a hell of a campaign speech.
Planet of the Apes
The title of this classic 1968 film starring Charlton Heston and a bunch of actors in monkey suits also describes the current situation in Canberra. The apes in Planet of the Apes have built a highly reliable, well-functioning and organised society, if a tad evil at times. The gorillas do the grunt work performing as the police, hunters and workers. The orangutans take the more intellectual duties involving politics, science and religion.
The Matrix
In The Matrix the humans on planet earth have long ago been taken over by computers. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is not a politician per se but he is definitely some kind of leader. He talks in a monotonous robotic style voice that is somehow much nicer to listen to than Malcolm Turnbull or Kevin Rudd.
12 Monkeys
In the year 2035, almost all of humanity has been wiped out by a deadly virus. The government in this terrible future has its problems, sure. But it also has clever scientists who have the good sense to launch a mission to save the world, rather than continue to destroy it (as Australian politicians do). And they wisely choose Bruce Willis as the man to save the day.
A Quiet Place
In A Quiet Place, John Krasinski and his family live in a world where the slightest noise can get you killed by horrible alien giant spider type things. Here nobody would be allowed to talk during Question Time. This is a good thing.
Wall-E
True, the humans in this futuristic movie from Pixar are very fat and have totally trashed the earth. However they have also invented ‘hoverchairs’ that look very comfortable and whiz them between locations quickly. Plus the world they inhabit, while noisy and full of screens, appears to be very clean and well organised.
Snowpiercer
Director Bong Joon-Ho’s epic action movie is set on a train where different carriages represent different classes and parts of society. The system might not be perfect, particularly for the unlucky prisoners doing all the work at the back while the rich eat caviar at the front. But everybody knows what they have to do and Ed Harris, who rules the train from the front carriage, runs a tight ship.
