Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Dan and Paul take an in-depth look at the worlds portrayed Young Adult dystopian fiction.
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Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Paul » 23 Nov 2015, 18:30

American teen Daisy has to go to live with her English relatives while black planes overhead bring tidings of nuclear war. On the bright side, her first cousin is smoking hot, and trains falcons... Dan and Paul talk about the too-close-for-comfort world of How I Live Now.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Lord Chrusher » 25 Nov 2015, 13:02

I don't know how far in advance you record these but it was a tad eerie listening to this a couple weeks after the attacks in Paris and a couple days after Turkey shot down a Russian jet.

Also, Victoria might not be as out of the way in a war as we might like as Canada's west coast naval base, CFB Esquimalt, is in Victoria.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Penthesilea180 » 25 Nov 2015, 14:50

I wonder if this story is taking themes and situations from a lot of different wars and violent episodes. I agree that the Second World War was certainly an influence, especially with the setting being English countryside, but the pile of bodies at the boys' training camp sounded like some genocidal events in Bosnia. The checkpoints are reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan, but could also be referencing Cold War Germany. Are there scenes referencing the fear of traitors or terrorists hiding among civilians?

On a side note: A really good game about life in a war zone called This War of Mine also touches on some of the same themes like mass killings and lack of information about who are actually the "good guys."

And a final thought, Puppies!
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Daniel » 26 Nov 2015, 11:12

@Lord Chrusher, I meant to write here sooner, that we recorded this a week before the Paris attacks. I did some careful editing in light of that - for example, I said something at the end like, "May the odds ever be in your favour...and yet terrorists are still going to kill us all." Which seemed like a particularly terrible note to go out on after that weekend. So I snipped it - if you're wondering why there isn't my usual humour attempt at the end, that's why! I decided against an audio disclaimer, because it won't be so relevant to future listener's. But I have to admit, listening to it just now some of the things we said are chilling in retrospect.

@Penthesilea180, thanks for those thoughts, it's great to think about some of the reference points. As always me and Paul have to work around awful ignorance of world events and history (too busy watching YA dystopias!) so we need that perspective. I'm at least glad we knew it wasn't just crazy science fiction - the only thing fantastical about the things we are shown is that the people have white skin and are speaking english.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby SixFootTurkey » 26 Nov 2015, 21:25

Still digesting this one, but I had one thought regarding the title in particular...

... all I can think of is Alex and his 'I/We live here now.' :P
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Lord Chrusher » 27 Nov 2015, 16:10

The title makes me think of Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Penthesilea180 » 30 Nov 2015, 12:56

@Daniel You hit the nail on the head. It's only crazy to us because it is happening to people it isn't "supposed to" happen to now. Always good to be reminded that our experiences aren't universal. Maybe that is part of what makes YA dystopias so interesting. They are visions of another world, but so close to what is happening in other parts of our own world.
I'm trying to think of equivalent perspective changing genres or entertainment for adults. I guess, the news maybe? Actually, comedy is probably better at changing people's perspectives, so keep up the good work!
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Daniel » 30 Nov 2015, 23:53

Thanks @Penthesilea180! Maybe one teaching use of this movie - which is faintly distasteful as an entertainment commodity - is to get american and british teens to relate to teens in war zones, who might look and sound quite different. Right after, switch to refugee teens telling their story - this fictional film might augment the ability to relate a sliver.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby DaMage » 09 Dec 2015, 01:57

One thing I noticed when you were talking, you mentioned the power going out as if it was a rare event. Maybe it's just where I live, but in storm season we regularly lose power, sometime for half a day or more.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby Clypheous » 09 Dec 2015, 07:28

I've always thought that a lot of these stories are almost too on the nose. I especially like keeping the threat vague, it's a secret that a lot of horror movies impose as well. If you see the enemy you can think about how to fight it and it's not as scary. If you have no idea what you're facing and there's chaos all around you it's far scarier. If my country was collapsing around me and I was unable to learn exactly what was going on and felt powerless, that would be far scarier to me than something horrible, but understandable, like a Canadian invasion of North Dakota or something.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby phlip » 30 Jan 2016, 01:08

(Yes, I'm quite a way behind on podcasts, but I'm slowly catching up, I promise...)

The aside of watching war stories from different countries, seeing how they differ from the US, makes me want to recommend Tomorrow, When the War Began, for another case of "our country is invaded" told from a different non-US point of view. A series of excellent Australian YA books (the first of which was also made into a pretty good movie).

Not really recommending it for Fight the Future in particular (they're not dystopian so much, just wartime), but just recommending them as a good read, if that aside in the podcast interested you.
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Re: Fight the Future 18 - How I Live Now

Postby DaMage » 30 Jan 2016, 19:33

phlip wrote:(Yes, I'm quite a way behind on podcasts, but I'm slowly catching up, I promise...)

The aside of watching war stories from different countries, seeing how they differ from the US, makes me want to recommend Tomorrow, When the War Began, for another case of "our country is invaded" told from a different non-US point of view. A series of excellent Australian YA books (the first of which was also made into a pretty good movie).

Not really recommending it for Fight the Future in particular (they're not dystopian so much, just wartime), but just recommending them as a good read, if that aside in the podcast interested you.


The best comparison to US-based media would be the movie Red Dawn, except the story is over a 7 book series and so there is more give and take between the sides. At this point I'm pretty sure Tomorrow is required reading at high school in Australia, as everyone my age that I know has read it.

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