Survivors on an island, survivors in a house, drama in paradise, and Joe Millionaires. Reality TV is at its best when it’s laced with drama and suspense. What will happen on this episode? What will happen next time? So pervasive is television in American markets that these types of questions have been asked long before reality television got its start on the airwaves. But, could it be possible that networks would take this idea one step further in the coming decades? The Running Man, a novel (and soon-to-be film adaptation) by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King), explores what the violence of this scenario might look like in execution.
Summary
Originally published in 1984, The Running Man is set in the far off future of 2025, and tells the story of Ben Richards. Ben is a man in his late 20s who lives in Co-Op city under a dystopian US government. His life is ruthlessly oppressed, his daughter is terminally sick, and his wife has turned to sex work to make ends meet. Ben, meanwhile, turns to the Games Network to enlist in one of the shows to attain money for his family. After physical and mental testing and an interview with showrunner Dan Kilian, Ben is selected to participate in the Running Man–a popular game on the network.
The rules for the game are as follows:
- Contestants win 100 dollars for every hour they stay alive/not captured.
- An additional 100 dollars for every police officer/Hunter that they eliminate.
- Winners receive one-billion dollars if they stay alive for 30 days.
- Contestants are given a video camera and $4,800 before they leave the studio.
Without giving away too much, Ben embarks on a violent adventure through the world of the dystopian government, in which the impoverished live and breath in pollution and watch propagandistic television enabled by their leaders. At every turn, Ben is confronted by law enforcement, hunters, and betrayal. Does he survive the Running Man? You will have to read it (or watch it) to find out.
Conclusion
Much like The Long Walk, Richard Bachman’s The Running Man is a televised circus of violent proportions. The contestants are forced to survive in a dangerous and unwinnable situation and are pushed to their extremes. As such, we see humanity at its basest and barest form–brooding and visceral. The story critiques media consumption habits and pushes it to the most Dionysian limits. People are hunted, people are shot, and people are killed. This is not a kind world, but none of Bachman’s worlds are that kind to begin with, whether we look at the aforementioned The Long Walk, or his other works, like Roadwork, or Rage. If you are interested in reading this book, be prepared for some brutal confrontations and aggression.
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