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Cold Sleep, Cold Future: Difference between revisions

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*** [[Truth in Television]], there are people who talk that way ''now'' about those with outdated values that were once common within their lifetimes.
*** And of course, John Spartan's methods were considered overly violent and neanderthalic even in the time period he was from. That's what got him frozen himself. At least, when he's on the job. When it comes to personal hygiene and interpersonal relationships, not so much.
* ''[[Blast Fromfrom the Past]]'' has a similar reversal, where the 50's valued Adam reintroduces honesty, chivalry, and (surprisingly) tolerance, albeit on a smaller scale than others on this list.
* ''[[Idiocracy]]'', Mike Judge's homage (and update) of Woody Allen's similar but far less pessimistic ''Sleeper'', may be the ultimate example of the [[Crapsack World]] subtrope. The hero actually spends most of the movie having to make everyone realize they're living in a Crapsack World.
* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] by ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Aliens]]'', where Ripley awakens over 50 years into a future that isn't much different from the past she'd left behind, though there are still repercussions for her personal life....
* In the first version of [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s ''Genesis II'' (1973), Dylan Hunt wakes up from a 160 year nap to discover that while he was in suspended animation there had been a nuclear war and that mutants fought with humans for survival in a [[After the End|post-apocalyptic]] world.
 
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* Inverted in Dan Simmons' ''[[Hyperion]]'': when Martin Silenus comes out of cryo he has so much brain damage that the only words he can speak or write are curses, and not many of them. Also his entire family is dead and he's been saddled with all of their debts. He's unhappy.
** Made even worse by the fact that Silenus was an award-winning poet before going into cryo, so his best (actually, his only) means of clearing those debts is effectively eliminated.
* [[HGH. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Sleeper Awakes (Literature)|The Sleeper Awakes]]'' shows Cold Sleep ''producing'' a Cold Future, as the protagonist awakens to a dystopian world ruled by the trustees of [[Compound Interest Time Travel Gambit|his own now-vast fortune]].
* In Joe Haldeman's ''[[The Forever War]]'', it's time dilation that causes the veterans of the first campaign of the interstellar war to arrive in a [[Crapsack World]]. These jumps in time occur every time they go on a mission, but only the first time is described in detail.
* Philip Francis Nowlan's novella ''[[wikipedia:Armageddon 2419 A.D|Armageddon 2419 A.D.]]'', which was the basis for [[Buck Rogers]]. Anthony Rogers is exposed to radioactive gas in a coal mine and remains in suspended animation for 492 years. When he wakes up he discovers that America has been invaded and conquered by the Han.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Buck Rogers in The Twenty Fifth25th Century]]'' is a prime example. The free-wheeling, chick-stealing, All-American Rogers is at odds with a future where humor and disco dancing are long-lost memories, and the world is run by [[A Is]]. Of course, a massive [[World War III|nuclear war]] will do that to a planet....
* Somewhat similar: ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and his companions arrive on "The Ark in Space" where the future of humanity is cryogenically frozen. It's mentioned that emotionality is not encouraged in this future society, which doesn't stop the characters from emoting wildly merely because they're being absorbed by [[Body Horror|Wiirn]].
* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' has an episode (''The Neutral Zone''), in which three late 20th century humans are revived in the middle of a showdown with the Romulans. Two of the three adapt fairly quickly to a future that is better than their past but the third was a wealthy financier who reacts badly to the loss of his money, prestige and power.
* ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'' begins with Dave Lister discovering that he's been frozen for so long that he is probably the last human alive, and so far from Earth that it will take just as long to find out for sure. The modifications to this predicament necessary to make it an ensemble sitcom do not make it any more pleasant for him.
 
== Music ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', the hero Link is placed into an enchanted sleep for seven years, to allow him to safely reach adulthood and deal with the problem of Ganondorf. When he wakes, he finds that the country of Hyrule has been overrun by the [[Big Bad]] and his hordes of evil. The real King's been murdered, the Princess is missing, and he's got to make everything right again. Subverted somewhat in that once he does fix all the problems, {{spoiler|he gets sent back in time so he can live out his childhood properly.}} Of course, then he ends up Groundhogging his way through Majora's Mask and reliving the end of the world over and over and over and over and over and...
* ''[[Half Life]]'' 2. While not necessarily involving cold sleep (more a form of time travel) it still fits most of this trope.
 
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***** Also the Pain Monster is much better then getting Auditted by the IRS. At least it ends in a week.
**** Also consider "You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do" and [[I Am a Humanitarian|Soylent Cola]], although that varies from person to person.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': While Aang is frozen the Fire Nation wipes out his people (the Air Nomads) and conquers most of the world. Fire Nation culture changes to be brutal, nationalistic, prejudiced and joyless.
** When he first comes out, Aang also experiences a bit of this problem with his friends Katara and Sokka. All Aang wants to do is play- but the Water Tribe cities have lived in a war their whole life, and are more used to hunting and working than goofing off like kids should.
* ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' puts the titular characters in the magical equivalent of Cold Sleep (i.e. a sleeping spell that can only be broken by raising Castle Wyvern above the clouds), and while Manhattan in 1994 isn't exactly a [[Crapsack World]], Goliath quickly points out that it's just as savage as 994 Scotland.
 
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