It would suck to be killed by a can of Mr. Pibb. You have been warned. All of the signs are there. From Arthur C. Clarke to Spielberg, we are constantly being cautioned by the great purveyors of fiction that technology, not terrorism or global warming, is the ultimate threat to mankind’s existence.
All machines will become self-aware and spawn murderous robots. The computer won’t open the pod-bay doors. Satellites communications can track the Fresh Prince or the kid from Even Stevens to anywhere they try to hide (yes, they are the same movie, sorry).
My scariest techno-flick was Maximum Overdrive. It taught me that it’s not my cell phone that’s gonna get me, it’s a big-ass truck.With the Green Goblin on the front. But, now I have to add a more menacing danger to my list.
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I have foreseen the menace and it is Google. I recently unearthed archived footage that clearly documents the evil intent of Google Maps, Google my Maps, Google Sky, Google Moon, Google SMS, and Google Mobile.
In one leaked video, two young men Google Map themselves to terror. In another, the evil that is Google reveals a murderous plot of Hitchcockian proportions. Google Moon reveals a government conspiracy. Google SMS tries to undermine a relationship. With a vengeance. Google Mobile reveals its final evil intent.
Okay, I give up. I didn’t “find” it. It’s on youtube. Just trying to sweeten the pot. To the recent string of horror-comedies I’ve covered (Hellholes, Blood Brothers), you can add this suspense-comedy, The Googling.
The brain children of these clever bits are The Vacationeers, a comedy troupe out of Los Angeles. The Vacationeers are Todd Berger, Kevin Brennan, Jeff Grace, and Blaise Miller. Although, Todd Berger must always pull the short straw and get to direct. Katie Condidorio, Amelia Meyers, and Elizabeth Sandy put in some nice supporting work, as well.
The Googling will be hilarious to all you techno-geeks, but only slightly humorous for the over-35 crowd that really only use their computer for email or their phone to, you know, actually call somebody.
My personal favorite was Google Moon because it dropped some Capricorn One action (if you mention it, it will come). All in all, this is intelligent humor and it’s worth a look, even if the gag starts to wear a little thin by episode 5.
Technology is always a fertile arena to mine some ideas. If people weren’t, at least subconsciously, fascinated by it there wouldn’t be science fiction at all or Wired magazine. As fast as the technology evolves, so does, I hope, the web comedy that embraces it.
So, watch your back people. Machines running amok (not to be confused with Ookla the Mok ) can lead to a mortal head wound, or at least to AC/DC eventually selling out to Wal-Mart.
