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Vaporwave on Screen
Beyond the cracked marble hotel lobby fountains and abandoned shopping malls lies a world that both owes vaporwave its respect whilst also being indispensable in carving it. Certain TV shows and movies from the 1970’s right through to the modern day played a large part in forming the aesthetic of our beloved micro-genre.
Writer, Bret Easton Ellis, penned tales of rich 80’s youths drowning in blonde LA luxury, as well as the façade of office life used by a psychopathic murderer. The former, Less Than Zero (1985), became a film two years after the author’s debut book was published. While its reviews are hardly pleasant, the pool parties and all-round expensive Californian highlife is a clear depiction of what vaporwave criticises. Ellis makes a similar critique in the book, showing the deep numbness, boredom and dark avenues that this lifestyle can lead to. The same can be said for the latter, which is undoubtedly his most famous book, American Psycho (1991). Between the books, his focus shifts from youthful house parties to trendy office workers. Though, once again the surface lifestyle is simply a mask for the horror of the individual that dwells underneath. Its main character is like a chopped and screwed American ideal. Rollerball (1975) depicts a future where capitalism is at a global peak, which is reinforced by the sport that the movie is named after. The sport involves two teams that rollerblade and…
