(Start the video at 11 minutes, 50 seconds in; that's the part I'm quoting.)

I follow this bot on Mastodon, @retrostrange@mastodon.social. It'll post what's playing on https://retrostrange.tv, which is a stream of public-domain videos from a few decades ago.

One that just came up was a short film about science fiction writer Ray Bradbury from 1963. I just happened to click on it right as he was saying:

Our automobiles slaughter forty thousand people a year, maim a hundred thousand more, and bring out the worst in man. Any society where a natural man, the pedestrian, becomes the intruder, and unnatural man encased in a steel shell becomes his molester, is a science fiction nightmare.

It was really interesting to hear this sentiment expressed in America in 1963, a decade in which I always imagined car ownership to be seen as a modern ideal and a cultural mainstay. Was surprised to hear him say that in a black and white video from that era.

all 8 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [S] 30 points 4 days ago* (4 children)

Pretty sure that quote is related to or inspired by Bradbury's own short story The Pedestrian, from 1951, which was required reading in my high school english class. For me, it was one of the few reading assignments that I thoroughly enjoyed and still occasionally comes to mind.

  • source
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] [S] 7 points 4 days ago
  • load more comments (-1 replies)
    [–] [S] -3 points 4 days ago

    Show me on the doll where Ford touched you.

  • source