The Running Man was published in 1982 by Stephen King under his alias Richard Bachman. The Bachman books are generally considered to explore the darker side of human nature. I couldn’t quite tell the difference; my few King reads have all had some weird darkish elements in them. But The Running Man is certainly dark.
The year is 2025 and America has “progressed” into a dystopic society where the poor are oppressed and pollution is so bad that they’ve stopped reporting the numbers. Instead they’ve required installation of “Free-vee” units in all homes (television) and are programming America to death. The most popular shows are reality shows of a dark nature. Swim with Crocodiles is one; the longer you survive the more money you (or your heirs) will earn; contestants often die. Treadmill to Bucks is another; the longer you can walk or run while correctly answering questions earns you more money; wrong answers increase the pace; contestants usually have healthy problems; most won’t die but some do.
The most gripping and most popular show is The Running Man. One contestant is given a 12-hour lead, some cash and sent out into the world. He can go wherever he likes. However, citizens get rewards for reporting sightings of him. Meanwhile, after his 12-hour lead, the hunters are sent to track him. He sends in tapes every day so the audience can see his condition. Every hour he lasts earns money for his family. If he lasts 30 days, he wins the big prize of a billion dollars for his family. No one has ever lasted more than 8 days. Oh, and when he is caught, he is brutally murdered. This is OK with viewers, though, because contestants are always demonized as poor specimens of the human race.
How do they get contestants when so many come to bad ends? The oppressed poor volunteer when they get desperate, usually in order to get money to help their families. Ben Richards is one such, with a wife and a daughter who is very sick. They need money for a real doctor for the child.
Ben isn’t nearly as bad a guy as he is made out to be by the show. He’s actually pretty smart and practical, and a bit of a rebel; understandable given his living conditions. You’re definitely rooting for him all the way. The book is a page-turner; i couldn’t put it down, trying to find out how it ended. I won’t give it away.
I haven’t seen the movie that was based on this book, though i might order it from Netflix now to see how they adapted it.
The projected future King created was interesting. Only 40-45 years later. We’ve still got 15 years to get to where he thinks we’re headed. So far he sure predicted reality shows correctly, if not their nature. His technology projections were all over the place: he got camcorders correct; he didn’t foresee cellphones as everyone was still using pay phones; he assumed hovercraft was the way cars would evolve. I don’t think human nature has devolved quite as rapidly as he thought. And our government hasn’t fallen to pieces yet, though some might disagree with me on that.
A fun read.
August 30th, 2010 9:27 am
I have to read this now, I loved the movie, but it is completely different from the book, other than the name of the show “running man” and that Ben Richards is the main character. ok, maybe the setting is the same but that’s about it. I think I may have it taped on a dvd somewhere…
September 1st, 2010 9:24 pm
OK i just watched the movie. Same concept, much different implementation. Hello 80s version of the future! The book is better, if bereft of arnold’s one liners.