Educational Media Reviews Online

Technoscience: Blurring the Line Between Man and Machine, Volume 1 in a series entitled Living in the Brave New World, explores of the effects that technology has had, is having, and will have on the future of the human race. It explores the concepts and ideas of Arthur and Marilouise Kroker, whose books Hacking the Future and The Digital Delirium, have opened up new questions and debates regarding the sociology of technology and who or what is controlling the race towards technology in today's society. This particular film examines and questions concepts related to advanced robotics, biotechnology, synthetic skin and organs, computer surveillance, nanotechnology, workplace computerization, designer genes, and cyborg/hybrid performance art. The Krokers are featured throughout the video, explaining their ideas and notions to audiences, radio listeners, and relating personal experiences on technology's influence on our society.

This film is highly disturbing in two areas: its exclusive focus on the Krokers' opinions and ideas on what the future of human society will be, and the almost macabre way in which the video is presented. This can be viewed as both successful and unsuccessful to the film producers, depending on what they were trying to achieve. The film is accompanied by some very strange and almost spooky music, which this reviewer found grating on the nerves. The totally pessimistic outlook with which the Krokers present humanity's future becomes annoying and almost boring after about ten minutes. Yet, the ideas and opinions they present are interesting and indeed considerable, given current directions in technology. It is indeed difficult to provide a rating for this program.

Volume 2 in this series, Techoculture: Finding our Way in the Terra Incognita, The Krokers are once again featured throughout the video, in the same context as Technoscience. This time they are examining and questioning concepts related to cybernetics, cloning, similiarities between current technology and Nazi experiments, virtual reality, eugenics, cyberartists, and the parallels between Christian and technological views of the body. Their ideas and opinions do bring to the fore a number of interesting developments in technology: technostress in today's society; the idea of surplus bodies, surplus labor, surplus minds that technology encourages (the homeless, unemployed people, etc.); the disappearance of the human species and the rise of a new successor species; the development of the digital ego/parallel virtual ego/electronic identity that technology encourages (cybersex, chat rooms, etc.); and the Christian viewpoint of escape from the flesh/body which also appears to be a feature of technology and the future.

The Krokers are presented as an interesting couple throughout these films, consistently and constantly dressing totally in black outfits and black leather wherever they go. They are portrayed in a manner similar to The Munsters television show, strange and abnormal individuals in a seemingly normal world.

Both videos are recommended only for mature audiences (college and adult), examining the influence of technology on societal and sociological issues, but only if it is accompanied by another video that is not so opinionated or controversial on the same topic. The ideas presented are so pessimistic and controversial that their presentation may have an effect on certain audiences' emotions.