Zeerust: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]]'': [[Robert Zemeckis]] and Bob Gale wanted to avoid dealing with the future for this very reason, as they couldn't know what the future would really be like. However, when the ending of the first film left them with no choice, they made 2015 basically a cleaner and more colorful version of 1985 with a generous dose of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] (computerized waiters, flying cars, and weather control) thrown in. It ''was'' [[Rule of Funny|meant to be humorous]], though. ''[[Back to The Future]] Part II'' was one of a few 80s movies and TV series that had incredibly ubiquitous fax machines in the near future. The alleyway recycling center with huge cubes of shrinkwrapped laserdiscs awaiting processing was utterly hilarious.

* The ''[[I, Robot (film)|I Robot]]'' movie was nearly ''devoid'' of Zeerust: the Chicago from 2035 looks pretty much like the Chicago from 2007, the John Hancock Center and the Sears Tower are still there, and some of the characters live in plain-looking row houses. The differences: the L-train is replaced with a sleek, shiny monorail, there's a huge underground highway, Spooner drives an actual Audi prototype, and it seems like fossil fuels are not used anymore when Susan starts screaming while riding in Spooner's motorbike:

** Ironically, [http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/11/30/the_failed_chevy_volt_that_just_wont_go_away_99392.html exploding cars in the news recently have been Chevy Volts], which are fully electric models.

* ''[[Demolition Man]]'', which was an example of late 20th century Zeerust despite being a retelling of ''[[Brave New World (novel)|Brave New World]],'' which was 1930s Zeerust.

** In one TNG episode, [[Creator's Pet|Wesley]] marvels at how some machines can possess [[Mundane Made Awesome|whole gigabytes]] of memory.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has had some problems with this due to its exceptionally long run. Under various excuses, the new series has "modernized" such Zeerusted elements as the TARDIS interior (which has, on a few rare occasions, had a deliberately [[Steampunk]] look), the Cybermen, and the sonic screwdriver, though ''not'' the [[Robot Buddy]] K-9, designed in [[The Seventies]]. In "School Reunion", a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade was hung]] on the latter:

'''The Doctor:''' Oi! Listen, in the year 5000, this was cutting edge! }}

* The revived ''[[Doctor Who]]'' series console ''rooms'' have been "organic / coral" and "relatively shiny and futuristic for 2010". The console ''itself'' has a thrown-together old-fashioned scrapheap look, with bicycle pumps and hot / cold taps replacing random parts. TARDIS interiors are justified in that they're fully customisable by the user, and if they look out of date it's simply because the user wants it that way. On the other hand, modern Who may have Zeerusted itself in the future by referring to the interior looks as the "desktop theme".

* [[Steely Dan|Donald Fagen's]] song "I.G.Y. (What A Wonderful World)" deliberately invokes Zeerust, depicting a world where the US definitively won the space race, computers are benevolent overlords, and everyone wears spandex jackets in a world with perfect climate control.

** Actually, that entire album (1982's ''The Nightfly'') is full of cultural Zeerust, being a combination homage and [[Affectionate Parody]] of the optimism of the 1950s and early 1960s (albeit one leavened with hints of [[It Got Worse|the darker developments just around the corner]]). From the liner notes:

** Fagen's 1993 album, ''Kamakiriad'', continues to invoke this trope intentionally. It is set [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]], but the album art implies that this is 1999 as imagined from 1959. The inlay notes begin:

In the first song, "Trans-Island Skyway", the narrator tells us he is about to embark on a journey in his new dream-car, a custom-tooled Kamakiri. It's built for the new century: steam-driven, with a self-contained vegetable garden and a radio link with the Tripstar routing satellite. }}

* The video for The Postal Service's ''We Will Become Silhouettes'' is set in a 1950's style household. Except, of course, they didn't have synthesizers in that era. Why, you ask? {{spoiler|the video takes place [[After the End]]}}.

** The creators [[Hand Wave]] any technology that seems outdated by claiming things have [[Schizo-Tech|moved erratically]] since [[After the End|civilization was destroyed]] ([[Retcon|twice]]) between 1999 and 2999. For example, the wheel is lost technology in the Futurama world.

** Don't forget Bender's quote in Proposition Infinity:

* The modern day Venture compound in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' is practically ''built'' on Zeerust, from the X-1 (nuclear powered superjet) to the punch card sleeping beds, to the moving walkways, etc...

* ''[[Transformers Generation 1|The Transformers: The Movie]]'' and the third and fourth series were set in the far-off year of 2005. The new characters all have 80s future-y alt-modes, although this can be excused as the Cybertronians having alien designs (why robots would transform into vehicles for people to drive is [[Rule of Cool|beside the point]]). The fact that Soundwave and Blaster [[Fad Super|still transform into cassette players]], not to mention the fact that the Cybertronian personalities can be stored on ''five-and-a-half-inch floppy disks'' makes this trope very clear. Daniel Witwicky's outfit (a jumpsuit with his initials on it) falls right into Zeerust, too.