Lifespan
"Faced with a collapsing world economy, fear of over population and the pending age of man-caused global warming, the UN proposed a controversial policy; The Rights of Balance Act. Later called Lifespan by the world media."
If there's a metaphor behind this story it's lost in translation. It takes many of the problems the world faces today and tries to cram them into one solution: Kill everybody!
Instead of earning and spending money, the characters in this world spend "time." If you want a fancy sports car, it'll cost you 2 years off your (expected, I assume) lifespan. Yeah, stop and think about that... would you be willing to die just to drive a sports car?
When I weigh the options I can't help but think about the possibilities that my nice new car would break down! Then what? I give up another year of my life to get it fixed? What if it's just a spark plug? Is that just a few days? A new CD costs about $14. That's a little over an hour and a half at the average job. So if I wanted the new Oasis cd it would cost an hour and a half? Unless I was a Senator or a CEO, then it's a minute or two... Are you catching on to the absurdity of this concept yet?
To balance this the writer creates a "Collection Agency" used to enforce the new law. So there's a guy in a nice suit and dark shades that kills all the people that "spend" too much. Didn't I say something about a metaphor or something? See how that got lost in the absurdity of the story?
The art, on the other hand, is somewhat more impressive. It almost reminds me of David Aja's work on 'The Immortal Iron Fist' only without the dynamic action shots and loose character mannerisms that helped to get me hooked on the book (at least while he was on it)
Overall, I can't stop thinking about the ridiculous concept. Suspension of disbelief is almost impossible and as hard as I try, I can't think of a single argument in favor of this 'Rights of Balance Act' to make me even consider that this could make a viable or entertaining story.
Posts
"When I weigh the options I can't help but think about the possibilities that my nice new car would break down! Then what? I give up another year of my life to get it fixed? What if it's just a spark plug? Is that just a few days? A new CD costs about $14. That's a little over an hour and a half at the average job. So if I wanted the new Oasis cd it would cost an hour and a half? Unless I was a Senator or a CEO, then it's a minute or two... Are you catching on to the absurdity of this concept yet?"
ReplyDeleteIs that not what most people do today? Think about it. Most people work in tedious jobs they despise. They "spend their time" carrying on with their mundane lives to achieve goals, such as buying a nice car. If that car breaks down, they work more to afford the repairs.
Say I make a decent wage of $30.00 per hour. I really, really want an Audi A6 that will set me back about $50,000. That is 1666 hours of your time/life spent to earn that car. What if I only make $15.00 an hour? That means I just doubled that time spent to 3332 hours. If the concept of "Lifespan" is absurd, than the very life we live today is close to that absurdity.
Why do you think people label time not spent sleeping or working "free time"? The approach I took would define it as time not being spent on things we'd rather not be doing. Time that doesn't cost us in the long run. Time you won't look back on and go "Did I really need that sports car? Should I maybe have spent more time with family or outside enjoying life?"
Lifespan takes it one step further. Instead of going bankrupt and becoming a "burden" on society, the society takes you out.
Granted I am somewhat bias to the story of Lifespan. Nonetheless, I thank you for taking the time to read the comic. God knows I've done some comic bashing in my day.
Peace.