4 ms·

I'd bet there will be a blockbuster movie about this guy within 10 years of him dying and it'll be in the pop culture, and maybe even stoke a temporary privacy

by vasco 3y ago

I'd bet there will be a blockbuster movie about this guy within 10 years of him dying and it'll be in the pop culture, and maybe even stoke a temporary privacy / freedom focus for a while in common consciousness. Unfortunately the world doesn't know how to really appreciate people as much when they're alive for some personality types.

sulam 3y ago
I'll take the other side of that bet.
- paulcole 3y ago
  Hammering the under on # of blockbuster Richard Stallman biopics is free money.
- gcanyon 3y ago
  Agreed, but only because of the word "blockbuster," as there will be approximately zero of those within the 10 years (at least) the GP is proposing. I don't know for sure what the movie business will look like in 10 years, but one possibility is that everyone is able to create their own movies just by describing them, and a small number will say some variant of, "Give me a biopic of this Richard Stallman guy. Base it on his wikipedia entry and whatever else you know about him. Make it factual but an action neo-noir; you know what I like. Probably starring an amalgam of Bogart and Mitchum, the rest you can just make up."
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  I mean, there are multiple Snowden films. I guess it depends on if you need it to be Oppenheimer levels of budget to be "blockbuster" or not.
  - hutzlibu 3y ago
    I would think waaaay more people have heard of Snowden than of RMS. If a movie about RMS will get made, than in the shape of a crowdfunded community project.
    - johnnyanmac 3y ago
      Well, yea. Because he metaphorically died in terms of US politics. It's one of the few bipartisan issues that sticks out like a sore thumb to the public eye. I hope it's far in the future, but we'll see how the media spins it when Stallman dies. They can easily sell him up as some Godfather of computers. Or it can just be a small whimper in the corner of HN. I'd still bet on something closer to the former, but it's not a sure bet.
op00to 3y ago
[flagged]
- anatoly 3y ago
  Thing is, you and people like you won't come in any of the acts. Of anything. And that's arguably just.
  - op00to 3y ago
    [flagged]
tmccrary55 3y ago
Nick Offerman as Richard Stallman.
- MikeRichardson 3y ago
  Yes.
bitwize 3y ago
I keep hoping for a Silicon Valley style dramedy about the open source movement, starring Donal Logue as Stallman and Nick Offerman as ESR.
edanm 3y ago
I think you're vastly over indexing in how many people in our circles know about him. I'd bet less than 10% of professional developers could say who he is, and that a tiny portion of the population has any clue. There are probably thousands of similarly important/influential people in various subfields that we have never heard of, because they're not our Subfield, and I highly doubt any of those would get a biopic.
oh_sigh 3y ago
Nah, the world only really cares to hear about techie stories if they make a few billion for themselves.
zingababba 3y ago
His likeness will be portrayed by a proprietary AI.

by vasco 3y ago

sulam 3y ago

I'll take the other side of that bet.

paulcole 3y ago
Hammering the under on # of blockbuster Richard Stallman biopics is free money.
gcanyon 3y ago
Agreed, but only because of the word "blockbuster," as there will be approximately zero of those within the 10 years (at least) the GP is proposing. I don't know for sure what the movie business will look like in 10 years, but one possibility is that everyone is able to create their own movies just by describing them, and a small number will say some variant of, "Give me a biopic of this Richard Stallman guy. Base it on his wikipedia entry and whatever else you know about him. Make it factual but an action neo-noir; you know what I like. Probably starring an amalgam of Bogart and Mitchum, the rest you can just make up."
johnnyanmac 3y ago
I mean, there are multiple Snowden films. I guess it depends on if you need it to be Oppenheimer levels of budget to be "blockbuster" or not.
- hutzlibu 3y ago
  I would think waaaay more people have heard of Snowden than of RMS. If a movie about RMS will get made, than in the shape of a crowdfunded community project.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    Well, yea. Because he metaphorically died in terms of US politics. It's one of the few bipartisan issues that sticks out like a sore thumb to the public eye. I hope it's far in the future, but we'll see how the media spins it when Stallman dies. They can easily sell him up as some Godfather of computers. Or it can just be a small whimper in the corner of HN. I'd still bet on something closer to the former, but it's not a sure bet.

op00to 3y ago

[flagged]

anatoly 3y ago
Thing is, you and people like you won't come in any of the acts. Of anything. And that's arguably just.
- op00to 3y ago
  [flagged]

tmccrary55 3y ago

Nick Offerman as Richard Stallman.

MikeRichardson 3y ago
Yes.

bitwize 3y ago

I keep hoping for a Silicon Valley style dramedy about the open source movement, starring Donal Logue as Stallman and Nick Offerman as ESR.

edanm 3y ago

I think you're vastly over indexing in how many people in our circles know about him. I'd bet less than 10% of professional developers could say who he is, and that a tiny portion of the population has any clue. There are probably thousands of similarly important/influential people in various subfields that we have never heard of, because they're not our Subfield, and I highly doubt any of those would get a biopic.

oh_sigh 3y ago

Nah, the world only really cares to hear about techie stories if they make a few billion for themselves.

zingababba 3y ago

His likeness will be portrayed by a proprietary AI.