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Used Future: Difference between revisions
Dieselpunk is one word
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Some [[Speculative Fiction Series]] focus on a [[Cool Starship]] or two that's [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships|shiny and new]] and full of all the latest [[Applied Phlebotinum]]. The shows are all about idealistic and well-funded explorers or warriors, boldly going where angels fear to tread.
Shows on the other end of the [[Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty]] treat the future as a place where real people live, and where [[Stanley Steamer Spaceship|spaceships look dirty, dingy, and used, like heavy equipment that one might find at a lonely truck stop in the middle of the night right now]]. The ships are old junk heaps run on a shoestring by hard-bitten characters on the edge, seemingly held together with two pieces of string, chewing gum, and the will of the Holy Spirit—the SF equivalent of the struggling [[Film Noir]] private eye, in other words. This is the '''Used Future''', and it's home to renegades, regular working stiffs, and anyone on the "cynical" end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]. Think of it as [[
Sometimes, there will be [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]] alongside dingier ones; usually these new, [[Ascetic Aesthetic|ascetic and shiny ships]] will belong to the [[The Empire|Galactic Military]] which has access to constantly churning shipyards and the newest heights of technology while the heroes must survive on surplus gear and homegrown repairs. These [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]], however, can denote that the crew piloting these über-ships is formed of [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|completely green recruits]] with no real combat experience, often led by a [[The Neidermeyer|pompous noble]], while the battered ships are piloted by grizzled veterans who can fly circles around them.
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** It's worth noting that Scott [[Word of God|specifically cites]] the used future look of ''Star Wars'' as the major influence for the look of ''Alien'', so [[George Lucas]] really is the granddaddy of this trope.
* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' is the [[Trope Codifier]]. Decorators just overdid their aversion of [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships]] with [[Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain|cloudy, polluted skies]], graffiti everywhere and trash blowing in the wind.
* The Terry Gilliam film ''[[Brazil (film)|Brazil]]'' takes place in a highly-stylized Used Future—and, while we're at it, more or less a [[Crapsack World]] that simultaneously resembles [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] ("sometime in the 20th century") and [[
* The real world in ''[[The Matrix]]'', where humans have astounding technology but (having lost the [[Robot War]]) must scrounge a living in a cramped, dirty underground city among [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]s and caves.
* ''[[Outland (film)|Outland]]'' This underrated 1981 film depicts a mining "colony" on Io that is as dirty, cramped, overcrowded and "used" as the crummiest oil-rig of today. The hero and the leading lady are middle-aged, unattractive (by movie standards) and cynical. The bad guys are not aliens or galactic emperors, but drug-dealers, corrupt cops and venal businessmen. The weapons are shotguns and rifles. It takes a year for spaceships to travel from Earth to Io.
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