Thoughts on Bel Geddes' Futurama
Surely, if the country built more
highways, it would more deeply entrench GM’s automobiles into our society, so I
was thinking that this might be the reason why Bel Geddes would put a
14-lane-highway in Futurama when he tried to convince GM to fund him. I wonder
how much funding Geddes got from other corporations that would have wanted to
advertise their products in Futurama, the display that would be seen by more
than “twenty-eight thousand spectators a day” (184). Today, that would be almost
equal to the tired-of-being-single ad you see every time you open your laptop.
It’s interesting that Bel Geddes’ “Futurama
prophesized artificially produced crops” (183). It would be amusing to know if
DuPont, which was a main corporation at the fair, funded Bel Geddes to put “artificially
produced crops” in Futurama, as DuPont is a corporation that produces artificial,
genetically-modified crops. This may seem unlikely because genetically-modified
crops were supposedly not yet invented, and the text may mean something else by
“artificially-produced crops.” It is nonetheless interesting to consider
because there is currently a raging international debate about the
environmental and human health impacts of artificial, genetically-modified produce,
but I digress.
I feel that Futurama resounded well with audiences
of the time because they were “slowly recovering from the Great Depression and
now longing for prosperity,” and the fair’s theme of “Building the World of
Tomorrow” also would have resounded well. It seems like it would have been the opportune
moment to make such a sales pitch given the disastrous economic atmosphere (similar
to the current atmosphere in the minds of many). Even though Futurama seems
cute, similar to Disneyland, there is obviously a large profit motive from the
mega-corporation(s) that sponsored the project.
I think that the “aviator hero” technique used
by Bel Geddes was appropriate for the time, especially because of the 1926 Air
Commerce Act that would help launch the commercialization of airplanes and
skyways. Because a large part of the audience would have been excited about yet
accustomed enough to airplanes, I think the aerial views of Futurama would have
meshed well with the audience—and the angles as well the conveyor-belt setup
kept with the popular theme of technological advancement.
It seems like everything in his
world is extremely pro-safety with all rough edges made streamlined, “artificially
controlled trees in glass domes,” (trees need protection) and sidewalks safely
above the cars (186). I would say this emphasis on safety is in stark contrast
to the wing-walking daredevils who did not wear parachutes until the Air
Commerce Act of 1926 became regulated (not to use confusing wording). It is in
contrast to how America was born—when there were fewer nanny laws and when the
law was more in the hands of the people instead of their servants in government.
The author Adnan Morshed writes, “[The]
modernist planner’s authoritarian desire to survey the seemingly chaotic cities
below, whose problems only he can remedy” (187). It obviously sounds exactly like
the modernist planner of the 1930s is a closet-control-freak,
decider-of-the-world, power-trip-mad man! I can see this nature of Geddes
mirrored in his creation. It seems like the spectators are meant to revolve
around his grand babe, and the spectators are not meant to talk to each other
but to narrow-mindedly gaze directly ahead in silence with their mouths
drooling, much like it is in traditional classrooms and movie theaters. Look at
it. Now respect it. On the subject of authoritarianism, I feel that Futurama reflects the notion of “improved safety”
(or give me power to tell you what to do under the masquerade of safety) at the
cost of the individual’s freedom to choose what he wants. For instance, Geddes’ “Futurama prophesized an
American utopia regulated by an assortment of cutting-edge technologies: remote-controlled
multilane highways (and) farms for artificially produced crops (which would
later be unlabeled as gmo by design in supermarkets, if the author is referring
to genetically-modified crops)” (183). The idea of God-knows-who disallowing
any man (and perhaps by slow degree, everyone) to drive his own car (see remote-controlled
multilane highways) is a crime, but it must be an awesome power-rush getting people
to give up control of their greatest technological possessions and tools of
liberty (not torches of liberty—smoking, although that’s soon to happen at UCD).
You dim-witted simpletons don’t know how to drive. Let the fully-automatic,
highly-intelligent smartmobile do your driving for you because it’s smart and
those crazy drunk drivers aren’t. The pins given to fairgoers read, “I have
seen the future” (183). Actually, Geddes forgot to put his name on them. The pins
should have read “Hail Bel Geddes, the oracle who has returned to Earth with the
solution to this wretched, evil world.”
The rigid, coldly calculated cityscape
and the superiority of its advanced technological inventions makes Futurama
seem like a nice place to live where all can be wealthy and live lazily. However,
it seems like it would be a bubble-wrap world that would breed complacent, craven
zombies obsessed with maintaining what they call order and forevermore fearful
of changing their caged destinies.
I think that back in 1939 and in
the present day Futurama may be interpreted as a sign of man’s great potential
to innovate. However, I think that this heavy emphasis on technological
advancement that is reflected in America’s landscape and in Futurama is
something that may “plague” America today. Many people may see the “technoscape”
as a call to become a scientist due to a perceived promise of security, not
because they have passion. I think a similar feeling may have been present at
the time of Futurama’s display after the Great Depression because of the rapid
breakthroughs in the sciences and the fact that many of the largest companies
like General Motors were (and are) heavily invested in their scientists.
I hope that when I paste this into
the blog that it will not resemble Futurama’s streamlined structures.
Resources:
And the reader
This post is extremely thorough, and obviously represents significant time and effort spent by its author. The section referencing the positive resonance this exhibit had with the public was notable to me. If the Futurama were presented to society merely a few years earlier, I believe it would have received derision and outrage from a general public deep in the Great Depression and offended to know of these seemingly obliviously utopian plans being made in a society that was struggling to even survive. However, it seems like 1939 was the perfect time for this: the American society had recovered well enough to be inspired by the Futurama as a future potentiality, yet had not yet been discouraged and oppressed by the cloud of war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your discussion of the artificiality of everything in Futurama. The idea of the display as a large advertisement adds to the impact: not only did people see a bright and technologically advanced future, but one that would be arrived at through developments by companies that they are familiar with. This could lead to a greater patronage of those companies, such as GM and DuPont, and you mention. It could also lead to a feeling of nationalism associated with those companies, the idea that allegiance to GM means allegiance to both the United States and a prosperous and exciting future.
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