The year is 2018. There are no wars. There is no crime. There is onlythe Game. In a world where ruthless corporations reign supreme, this vicious and barbaric sport is the only outlet for the pent-up anger and frustrations of the masses. Tuned into their televisions, the people watch Rollerball: a brutal mutation of football, motor-cross and hockey. Jonathan E is the champion player a man too talented for his own goodthe diabolical head tells him hed better retireor suffer the old fashioned way.(Courtesy of MGM Rollerball: Special Edition.) An often overlooked classic, this is a wonderful tale of a dystopic Orwellian future that anticipates the dissolution of nations; the dominance of corporations and the rise of a capitalist super-state; the loss free-will and the abolition of the individual. A brilliant piece that references history yet remains contemporary and very relevant in current society. Nations are bankrupt, gone. A chilling statement from Mr Bartholomew, yet the very notion that nations would crumble has become a seemingly dark reality with numerous countries seeking financial aid to curtail the threat of insolvency. For instance Greece was the first nation to receive a bailout to help tackle its steep 340bn Euro debt; Ireland has also sought a similar relief plan to the tune of 85bn Euros, and numerous other Euro-zone countries such as, Italy, France and Portugal have received similar assistance to ease their crippling debt crises. Contrast this to the news in early 2012 where it was announced Apple had a market value of $323bn, which made it worth more than Poland, whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was around $300bn. The very real power and influence of multinational corporations is a prevalent feature in the world today; consider for instance the report published in 2011 by Business Insider, the alarming reality that corporations were earning more than nations made for some disturbing reading: General Electric (GE) had garnered a staggering $151.63bn revenue compared to the $140.43bn GDP generated by New-Zealand. Chevron amassed a revenue of $196.34bn compared to the $192.15bn generated by the whole of the Czech Republic.
Let us examine the game of Rollerball itself, which serves a dual purpose in this world: on the one hand it serves as a political instrument used by the corporation, which Mr Bartholomew freely admits to, You know how the game serves us. It has a definite social purpose. The game also provides a piece of sublime spectacle that acts as a distraction for the masses; it acts as a funnel for the audience to channel their frustrations and grievances. The game of Rollerball is reminiscent of the gladiatorial contests of Ancient Rome that cultivated a brutal tradition through violent public spectacles. Keith Hopkins in his essay Murderous Games: Gladiatorial contest of Ancient Rome explains that, ...the answer may lie in the simple development of a tradition, which fed on itself and its own success. Men liked blood and cried out for more. Hopkins goes on to say, ...the social psychology of the crowd...relieved individuals of responsibility for their actions, and in the psychological mechanisms by which some spectators identified more easily with the victory of the aggressor than with the sufferings of the vanquished. This is echoed in George Orwells 1984 where OBrien illustrates The Partys horrifying vision of the future, ...the sensation of trampling on an enemy...If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever! OBrien illustrates: A world of victory after victory, triumph after triumph...You will accept it, welcome it, become part of it. Hopkins cites the example of a monk, a reluctant spectator who becomes, an eager devotee of gladiatorial shows upon witnessing this bloody theatre, and this resonates in Winstons actions in the Two-Minutes Hate, A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill...seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current. Winston describes his own behaviour within this exercise, as he too becomes overcome by this shared volatility, In a lucid moment Winston found that he was shouting with the others....
One can link the giant spectacle and worldwide attention drawn by the game Rollerball to the richness and global appeal of modern Premier League Football. In November 2012, the Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore announced a global TV rights deal that will produce a £5bn bonanza for all it 20 members. In his article for The Guardian, Owen Gibson points out that, Contracts covering the Middle East/north Africa and south-east Asia/Australasia should be tied up within the next fortnight, with the final round of European deals to follow before Christmas... the English top flight remains hard to beat and broadcasters around the world seem to agree. The restricted access to information, historical or otherwise, becomes a key factor in the destabilisation of the individual. George Orwell once stated, The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history. We see a solid example of this where Jonathan asks a clerk for the historical books requested, only to be told, These books are classified. They have been transcribed and summarised. When talking to the curator of the library Jonathan is told that, Were not easy to talk to... The curator candidly advises Jonathan, Books, books? They're all changed. All transcribed. All information is here. When Jonathan asks the world computer, Zero about the corporations and decision-making, he is greeted with a simple, Negative. Zero is unable to comprehend the nature of the questioning, and furthers this by stating that, Knowledge converts to power... Power is knowledge. This idea resonates in Orwells 1984 when OBrien tells Winston that, Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. It is a system that cannot answer because it has not been programmed with the information to provide such an answer; it is as if time & all its events have been reset to zero. As Winston coldly states 1984, History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present... At its heart the narrative focuses on the loss of individualism and the tools employed to execute this. Mr Bartholomew is admits to Jonathan that, It's not a game a man is supposed to grow strong in, Jonathan. Mr Bartholomew underlines this later when he addresses the executive-directorate, The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort. Jonathan is a figure that no longer serves the corporate plan, and this is evident when Clete tells Jonathan, Theyre afraid of you Jonathan. All the way to the top, they are. This is because to the ruling classes individual success an implausible outcome which the game was designed to highlight. To be bigger than the game in ones own right is to be bigger than system. This is a point Mr Bartholomew re-iterates when he reasons that, If a champion defeats the meaning for which the game was designed, then he must lose.
Jonathans resistance to retirement isnt based on any revolutionary designs to undermine the current regime, but based on a feeling of genuine enjoyment, I love this game, Moonpie! I love it. This is why he is baffled when Clete tells him the executives are afraid of him, What are they afraid of me for? Jonathan wants to keep playing because he wants to: nothing more. This is evident in the numerous conversations he and Mr Bartholomew have; consider for instance when Mr Bartholomew first confirms the plans for Jonathans retirement; Jonathan, confused, replies I dont mean to resist. Im just tryin to understand. For the bourgeois ruling class comprehension is not a requisite of co-operation, and it is in this conversation the audience, as well as Jonathan, is made to realise what the powerful truly desire for humanity when Mr Bartholomew advises, This is for your own benefit...All decisions concerning you are. The freedom to choose for oneself is no longer a privilege reserved for each person. Much like the communist dictatorships of the former USSR and China, the corporations are firm in their assertions that, Corporate society takes care of everything. And all it asks of anyone...is not to interfere with management decisions. This is echoed later when Jonathans multi-vision is aired, where an exasperating Mr Bartholomew asks, Why argue about decisions youre not powerful to make for yourself? A link can be made to Orwells 1984, where society is constantly reminded that, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. OBrien lectures Winston that, ...the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness...for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better. This shared concept in Rollerball is once again highlighted when Mr Bartholomew states, Now everyone has all the comforts...No needs and many luxuries. This aspect is drawn attention to again when Jonathans former wife, Ella urges him into quitting the game stating that Comfort is Freedom. Something that is echoed in Yevgeny Zamyatins We where the burden of freedom is exchanged for comfort. No longer do we have to make painful choices, and painful decisions; the ruling body already makes them for us. This is a future where the state has made individual relationships obsolete. In Orwells 1984 this is a deliberate measure taken to ensure the masses dependence on the state; OBrien illustrates this when he declares, We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman...There will be no loyalty, except loyalty to the Party. For Jonathan the only relationships he has are with his team-mates, in particular with Moonpie; even this relationship suffers when he is brain damaged following an incident with the Tokyo players. This cold reality is confirmed when Jonathan tells his current girlfriend Daphne, Everybodys an assignment. Lifes an assignment. This is a stream of thought shared in Aldous Huxleys Brave New World when Lenina Crowne reminds her friend that, After all, everyone belongs to everyone else. The reasoning behind this social convention is revealed by Mustapha Mond as a device to prohibit any kind of social instability and disorder, ...where there are divided allegiances...objects of love to be fought for or defended... But there are no wars nowadays. The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving anyone too much. Theres no such thing as divided allegiance....
The female characters of the film are perhaps the most symbolic of the loss of individuality because they are designed to be easily forgettable; only seen as decorative, disposable pleasures. In place of relationships they now have assignments. The only real love Jonathan felt was snatched from him when his wife, Ella was assigned to an executive who desired her also. The scene where a pretty-lady is crying by herself at Jonathans TV-special is indicative to how devoid of humanity and accountability women have become in a world that covets comfort and luxury. Worryingly, in the current climate we have seen the prevalence of the WAG-culture in modern society. In her article, Why do women want to be WAGS? Kira Cochrane of The Guardian investigates the rise of a culture whereby, ¬marrying a footballer has become highly ¬aspirational for some young women. Surveys confirm it is seen as a career option by a minority... Cochrane goes onto say that, By the 21st century, we might have ¬expected the idea of women being -defined by their male partners to have died along with the idea of marriage as a career path. And yet, when it comes to the Wag obsession, we seem to have regressed many decades. In a world where freedom has been bartered for comfort and luxury; where the decisions that affect the many are made by the powerful few, the only way Jonathan can rebel against this tyrannical regime is in the arena. This instrument of individual futility becomes the platform of his resistance. Interestingly, as the desire to forcibly remove Jonathan becomes more desperate, so do the rules of the game start to erode. If the game and its rules are a symbol of the system, then the removal of such constructs of brings us closer to the truth that this is a totalitarian state with nothing left to hide behind. No substitutions, no penalties. The veil has been torn; the game is laid bare for what it is: a showcase for over-the-top violence. The crowd also become embroiled in violence as fighting erupts in the stands as the final match descends into bloody-anarchy. At one point Jonathans coach Rusty yells out, Game! This wasnt meant to be a game! The most beloved and memorable aspect of this film; the aspect that captures the imagination is in its conclusion; it is the triumph of the individual through the most difficult of circumstances. As Jonathan E, the last man standing plunges the steel-ball into the goal to win the match and finish the game, the whole stadium falls silent. Within the crowd a murmuring begins. That murmuring becomes a deafening chant! A roar of defiance in the face of those who keep humanity under the heel of tyranny, they all chant: JON-A-THAN, JON-A-THAN, JON-A-THAN, JON-A-THAN!