5 Vol. VIII Editorial comparative cinema No. 14 Imagining the Techno-Capitalist Society in 2020 Television and Film neuroscience, biogenetics, and and divided: AI, robotics, social imagination isplural to thecurrent global pandemic. become even more relevant due myths andnarratives that have engendering new apocalyptic haunting oursocialimaginaries The specter of dystopia is towards apost-human society. concept of thehuman, pointing throwing into question thevery technological capitalismis revolutionThe permanent of age asthe “capitalocene.” characterize thecurrent which hasled scholars to conditions of society itself, crisis of theenvironmental generated anunprecedented capitalist dynamichas, further, Europe to China. The corporate society—from theUSand contemporary techno-capitalist sprung upfrom thecore of our populism, andinequalityhave a wave of filmicinsights and capitalist society hasgenerated particular, thepredicament of coming post-human society. In to anticipate andreflect the socio-historical ideasinorder technological inventions and narratives drawing onscientific- has beenaflourishing of (grand) and playful fictionalization, there of postmodernfragmentation and reflection. After the fashion is aprivileged site of experience futures into the “signs of times” and itscapacityto read possible openness, filmicimagination situation of historical crisisand and salvation myths. Inthis new life into eschatological evolutionary theoryare breathing And yet, thelandscapeof New forms of authoritarianism, diagnosis of thecurrent the questions regarding the cinema to engage some of issue isto usethetools of yan or (Pedro Aguilera, 2016–present), (Bruce Miller, 2017–present), present), and Jonathan Nolan, 2016– 2015–18), Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, Nolan, 2014), 2014), Machina Brooker, 2011–present), e.g. from theseedsof thepresent— possible future developments interpretations that envision for reading the useof the laysThe article outanargument series anthology considers five episodesfrom the Tomorrow,” Rebecca AnnePeters the Technologyof Today and Pearly Gates: Motherboard Replaces the contemporary societies? shape theuseof power in technological developments scientific narratives? How do and what istherole of techno- and constructed through film, salvationist, etc.) interpreted are current myths(apocalyptic, shape (human)relations? How technological developments of techno-capitalism? How do account for thepresent crisis in cinemaandtelevision to representation are usedtoday what forms of narrative and society anditsconsequences: crisis of techno-capitalist Dragonfly Eyes The aimof thisspecial In her article In herarticle “When Your , Xu Bing, 2017). Black Mirror

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6 Vol. VIII Editorial comparative cinema No. 14 Imagining the Techno-Capitalist Society in 2020 Television and Film capitalism by focusing on question of thecrisisof Walderzak discusses the Postmodernism,”of Joseph Capitalist CritiqueintheAge The False Allure of the contemporary events. as well asfrom historical and drawing from Christian theology biblical concepts they mirror— another andinthecontext of the the episodesinrelation to one her argument, sheconsiders throughout history. To construct the dimensionsof thechurch moral enforcer, echoing oneof that technology might play asa endure inthepersecutory role give us. Likewise, theseconcepts powers that technology might idealized thinkingof thegod-like of theseideaslinger inour positing that thespecters that haunt Western culture, reflection of Christian concepts technology withintheseriesasa values. oppositional to ruling class transformative discourse of history, preventing any truly discourses to residual forms ends upreducing antagonistic a postmodernaesthetics that narrative devices, they display treating thoseissuesasmere following Fredric Jameson, in However, asWalderzak argues explicit Marxianimagery. contemporary inequalityusing ho, 2013). These filmsaddress and Softly Nolan, 2012), Knight Rises from recent years: three class-consciousfilms In “Blaming thePoor: Snowpiercer (Andrew Dominik, 2012) (Christopher Killing Them (Bong Joon- The Dark seeing thecaptivity depicted through thestylization of bodies, on theinstitution of gender Judith Butler’s developments to thevisualarts, aswell asto psychoanalytic theoryapplied endure, resortingto recent these AIfemale characters on thespatial restrictions that made AIone. Sheconcentrates character andafemale man- between alonely male human the depiction of arelationship genre of thelast years, namely, the dystopian andsciencefiction argues hasbecomeatrend in Schober analyzes what she Relationships,” IdaMarie in UnbalancedDystopian AI: Captivity andOwnership Her goal is to show that the capitalism’s present andfuture. mediations of informational reflects onthe technological technology andmedia. Zhang developments of digital possible withcontemporary new modelof filmmakingonly The result, sheargues, isa editing andanesthetizing them. manipulation, butnot without used in Xu’s film withoutany surveillance images asthey are (2017)” by Ling Zhang dealswith Bing’sin Xu Technology andDigitalRealism of Capitalism: Surveillance in thepast. that hasprimordially functioned patriarchal distribution of space of AI, they alsoreproduce the warn usof unsupervisedcreation counterhegemonic in that they body. While thesefilmsare objectification of the female in thesefilmsastheblatant In her article In herarticle “Loving the “Foreshadowing theFuture DOI: 10.31009/cc.2020.v8.i14.01 Dragonfly Eyes

film delineates the contours strategies—and the Western of the social imaginary of liberal-democratic model of today’s capitalism, as well capitalism will be part of the as its temporal coordinates. debates on the future of our Surveillance not only connotes societies. This crisis will most the idea of controlling the future, probably nourish a new wave it also affects our relation to of cinematic dystopias and comparative cinema comparative the past, to history. As the utopias.1 current pandemic indicates, the confrontation between the Chinese model of authoritarian Camil Ungureanu, Sonia capitalism—based on AI and Arribas and Rebecca Anne comprehensive surveillance Peters

1/ The editors want to express their gratitude to Albert Elduque for his exceptional work in helping to prepare this special issue.

7

How to quote Ungureanu, Camil, Sonia Arribas and Rebecca Anne Peters. 2020. “Imagining the Techno-Capitalist Society in Television Editorial in Society Techno-Capitalist Imagining the and Film Television and Film”. Comparative Cinema, Vol. VIII, No. 14, pp. 5-7. DOI: 10.31009/ cc.2020.v8.i14.01 2020 No. 14 No. Vol. VIII Vol. DOI: 10.31009/cc.2020.v8.i14.01