The Running Man (1987) has been a staple of basic cable and Saturday afternoon broadcasts for more than a generation now. Initially misunderstood and unfairly dismissed as a dumb B-movie detour on the otherwise accelerating trajectory of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action movie career, the film cuts deeply.

It is a scathing critique of the violence inherent in the U.S. justice system - and the stories we tell ourselves as we rationalize that violence in the name of maintaining an often inequitable status quo.

The Running Man is a 1987 American dystopian action film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura. It is very loosely based on the 1982 novel of the same title written by Stephen King. Set in a dystopian United States, the film is about a television show called The Running Man, where convicted criminal "runners" must escape death at the hands of professional killers. (via Wikipedia.)

***

If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)

You can find a list of books that informed this show at
(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)