Wild Palms, une vie sans histoire

"Politics have no relation to morals" Machiavelli.

When in 1993 "Wild Palms" was released on television it didn't stand a chance. Misguidedly compared to the hit series "Twin Peaks" - which was wrong in every sense of the word - WP was not well-received. Misunderstood by critics and viewers alike the show never got the praise it still deserves today.

"Wild Palms" is an opera, a new age fever dream that predicted a future in which the public gets manipulated through the media with the purpose of creating a fascist society that reduces people to drugged zombies with hardly any notion of reality.

Sounds familiar ?

In an age of redundant and uninspired remakes this is THE show that should be remade for a contemporary audience as this is the world we are currently living in. Ironically the fictional reality of "Wild Palms" has caught up on our current state of mind, our politics and the media worldwide.

Watch this show for the creative worldbuilding, the atmosphere and the drama while ignoring the bad acting, the plot holes and the ridiculous last 15 minutes. Get on the "Wild Palms" trip and be amazed about how accurate the predictions made 30 years ago would become.

Transhumanism, techno-shamanism, hallucinations, cults, child abductions, mind control, mass media, mind altering drugs, virtual reality, political subterfuge, musings on the nature of the mind and reality and Buddhism and Philip K Dick and William Gibson, peppered throughout with excerpts of excellent poetry (Yeats, Wallace Stevens, TS Eliot, etc), Bruce Wagner's clever wordplay, Sakamoto's score, gauzy soft-focus camerawork a la Twin Peaks, with a bunch of rad flowy early 90s rayon shirts and outfits as the cherry on top of the quaalude sundae. Prophesied a lot of stuff happening today. A bit convoluted at times, but more than makes up for it as an overall piece of visionary art, even if Jim Belushi is the weakest link among an otherwise bravura cast. Amazed this show ever saw the air.

When this mini series was first broadcast, most people had never used a computer, the NSCA Mosaic browser (later to become Netscape Navigator) had just been coded. Thus allowing those with a data connection to graphically browse content at glacial speed. But just consider the list that follows which tallies their actual occurrence.

The Web = The web Tony Krietser =Donald Trump Chickee Levitt = Mark Zuckerberg Mimecom = Facebook Mimezine = Oxycontin The Florida Bomb = 9/11 The 90's Depression = The Great Recession The Fathers = Rebublicans with a capital "R" The Friends = Liberal Democrats Josie = Melania? Watch this excellent mini series with your politically astute frienew and you will have a BLAST finding current and near current tie-ins. Then you'll have one final question. "Where did Olivier Stone get a time machine?!"

The story is a veiled attempt at going where the church of Scientology exists. Anton Kreutzer, played fairly well by Robert Loggia, is pretty much L. Ron Hubbard. There are even spot lines that go to the arena of Aleister Crowley, Hubbard's "very good friend". The Sea Org and the Commodore's Messengers are dressed to the nines, perfect in their affectation of the naval attire. Coty is a mock-up of the now ruler of the Darkstar, the honorable king David. You know the Star of David is two inner locking equilateral triangles encompassing three 60 degree angles. "and ye shall know them by their number":666; a number exulted upon by Ron's very good friend, Aleister Crowley. The acting is spotty, some actor's can't and some can. However great imagery, fantastic attire, and far ahead of its time in technology make this a must see for the clued-in sci-fi fan. Hubbard might have been twisted, but give him his due, a genius for manipulation of the truth. Scientology is still standing and Tom Cruise can't handle the truth, can't handle it because he knows not what he do.

The real credit for WILD PALMS should go to Bruce Wagner and his flowing, prosaic dialogue. It's like classic Film Noir crossed with cyber-speak, doused with a fifth of Single Malt Scotch and set on fire. There are so many clever, nimble phrases that are turned on their axis and spun into something entirely different.

Examples:

"Mystery loves company."

"Do you know how much it hurts to be SHOT IN THE CHEST??"

"You're no General! You're a pimp with the wings of a bat!"

"You've got quite a mouth on you! Take care someone doesn't take a needle and sew it up."

"Weak dog! You stillborn calf! YOU MAKE ME VOMIT!"

Granted the whole package is a little hard to take in all at once - it's one of those things that becomes more interesting the more you watch it. And for everyone who argues it ends with a whimper, not a bang, well, you may be right, but I posit that The Senator, Harry's real lineage, The Go Chip, and the Mimezine are all besides the point. Enjoy it for one of the campiest, cleverest, most intelligent scripts ever written for television.(Thank You Bruce Wagner) This is a project that is not only entertaining to watch, but a JOY to listen to. It's FUN.