Solarbabies

Solarbabies represents 1980s pop culture distilled down to its most concentrated essence. The foundation of the film consists in a narrative framework taken from high-school sports movies, except this time the peer relationships, sports matches and rebellions against authority are transplanted into a post-apocalyptic wasteland along the lines of Mad Max 2 (and its dozens of clones) with glimmers of new-age mysticism and eco-hippieism. In accordance with the fashion of the time, the main sport combines roller skating and lacrosse. And if that weren’t enough, there is also a kind alien who brings the central group together in the manner of E.T.; in fact, the whole film is conceived as an action-adventure family movie like the legendary The Goonies and other Amblin productions of the era. This post-modern mishmash is then populated with the purest character templates that could be carved out the conformist culture of the 1980s. Thanks to that, Solarbabies is a masterpiece of conservative manipulation that foists the traditional values of the white patriarchy on young viewers. Behind all of the breakneck adventure, there is thus a not very subliminal guide to life for white adolescent males, who are supposed to be the good guys and the leaders, while the girls serve as their emotional ornaments whom they must protect, in return for which they will receive a kiss; the black characters are fine guys who obey the white leaders unconditionally, and the Indians are an odd group living in harmony with the natural side of society. (20/04/2014)