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September 24, 2010 7:15 AM Subscribe
What are your favorite literary texts about oil and oil capitalism? I'm looking for anything from traditional realism to noir to science fiction, from poetry to film to comic books to video games to philosophy and theory. Anything could work. Bonus points if the focus is on globalization and/or Peak Oil and resource scarcity.
I'm working already with There Will Be Blood and to a lesser extent things like Daybreakers and The Long Emergency/World Made By Hand, but a few more texts to round things out couldn't hurt. Thanks folks.
I'm working already with There Will Be Blood and to a lesser extent things like Daybreakers and The Long Emergency/World Made By Hand, but a few more texts to round things out couldn't hurt. Thanks folks.
Best answer: The Beverly Hillbillies. Seriously. There Will Be Blood would have been much improved had it but acknowledged TBH's obviously-lurking influence.
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:25 AM on September 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:25 AM on September 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The Kingdom. The whole movie is good, but the opening title sequence is a great history of oil in Saudi Arabia, mostly animated with archival footage. One of my favorite film openings ever.
posted by The Michael The at 7:26 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by The Michael The at 7:26 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: Dune can also be read as being about oil, imperialism, capitalism and terrorism without much effort.
posted by empath at 7:27 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by empath at 7:27 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: Syriana was a complex look at that world.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 7:34 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 7:34 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: If there isn't a book of Dallas there ought to be.
I reluctantly concede that Crude World may be more relevant to your requirements.
posted by londonmark at 7:36 AM on September 24, 2010
I reluctantly concede that Crude World may be more relevant to your requirements.
posted by londonmark at 7:36 AM on September 24, 2010
Response by poster: Dune was one I didn't mention but which is also in the pipeline. (I usually write on SF so that's where my mind goes first.) Otherwise these are great, please keep them coming!
posted by gerryblog at 7:43 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by gerryblog at 7:43 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: Not very literary but the comedy Americathon postulates a bankrupt , post-oil U.S.
posted by canoehead at 7:45 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by canoehead at 7:45 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: The Cities of Salt quintet!
posted by glibhamdreck at 7:51 AM on September 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by glibhamdreck at 7:51 AM on September 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Mad Max films are about a dystopian future where civilization has collapsed under the pressure of oil scarcity.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 8:03 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by Salvor Hardin at 8:03 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: There's the Werner Herzog film, Lessons of Darkness. Also, in Polygraph 22, Imre Szeman talks about a video called Black Sea Files by Ursula Biemann. I don't know where you could actually watch the film, but you can see clips and get documents around the film at the link.
posted by outlandishmarxist at 8:26 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by outlandishmarxist at 8:26 AM on September 24, 2010
Response by poster: Hey, outlandishmarxist, did you notice notice it was me asking the question? Or were you just leaving the note on behalf of Future Generations?
In any event, thanks for the Black Sea Files link, I've been trying to figure out where I could see any part of that.
Thanks all!
posted by gerryblog at 9:27 AM on September 24, 2010
In any event, thanks for the Black Sea Files link, I've been trying to figure out where I could see any part of that.
Thanks all!
posted by gerryblog at 9:27 AM on September 24, 2010
Response by poster: That should have said "not notice," not "notice notice." The first version of my comment, eaten by a hungry Internet, had no such errors.
posted by gerryblog at 9:28 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by gerryblog at 9:28 AM on September 24, 2010
It was more an "on behalf of future etc." thing. I also thought that maybe you had forgotten, since you mentioned neither Herzog nor Biemann in the question.
posted by outlandishmarxist at 9:48 AM on September 24, 2010
posted by outlandishmarxist at 9:48 AM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: History of Oil (45m, Robert Newman)
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:09 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:09 PM on September 24, 2010
Best answer: Green Mars has a long discussion about peak resources, carrying capacity of the world and the Tragedy of the Commons.
posted by mearls at 6:00 PM on September 24, 2010
posted by mearls at 6:00 PM on September 24, 2010
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There Will Be Blood is based on an Upton Sinclair novel called Oil!
posted by empath at 7:24 AM on September 24, 2010