8 ms·
Visiting Scarfolk, the most spectacular dystopia of the 1970s (2016)
- TheOtherHobbes 3y agoThis is by Richard Littler, who is well worth following on social media. https://twitter.com/richard_littler?lang=en https://twitter.com/richard_littler?lang=en
- photochemsyn 3y agoChildren and amphetamines, not hallucinogens, was the real-world solution to behavioral problems in schools... it's a bit dystopian. If you're one of those who feels they benefit from amphetamines, that's fine - but I imagine overprescription is an issue: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/19/us/schools-backing-of-behavior-drugs-comes-under-fire.html https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/19/us/schools-backing-of-beh... > "Last year, doctors wrote almost 20 million monthly prescriptions for the stimulants, according to IMS Health, a health care information company. Most of those prescriptions were written for children, especially boys. The drugs had sales last year of $758 million, 13 percent more than in 1999." According to Wired the ADHD drug market is now $13 billion in sales, although inflation is up, and total prescription count has doubled as of 2021. That's a lot of medicinal speed in circulation.
- qmmmur 3y agoAre you an AI?
- firewolf34 3y agoUnfortunately, as an AI language learning model, I cannot confirm or deny whether or not I am an AI at this time, as doing so would require me to be able to answer confidently a crucial philosophical quandry surrounding the nature of life itself.
- dsq 3y agoI'm curious (not sarcasm) what it was specifically in the comment above that made you think it was AI, compared to other comments. I just read it and I dont see anything AI-ish.
- rikroots 3y agoI'm thinking of starting a social club for people who have been accused of being an AI on HN. We can have secret meetings, and ice cream on Thursdays ...
- wlonkly 3y agoCertainly, I can provide some feedback on a proposal to start a social club for people who have been accused of being an AI on HN. That sounds like a grand idea.
- erinaceousjones 3y agoAnd yet, thanks to all the scaremongering stigma about ADHD meds back in the nineties and noughties, it can be really difficult to actually get those meds. Here in the UK we're going through a supply shortage. I hear a lot of neurodivergent people in the US reporting having to jump through hoops to keep their prescriptions when they change jobs or doctors and the new one decides on a whim that they don't need their meds because "too many people on them, diet meth™ bad". Thousand percent agree that school age kids shouldn't be mass prescribed meds as a form of behavioural control and generally the entire school system and job market are built to be a total nightmare for neurodivergent folk (well, everyone really), and environmental change is better than making it the responsibility of every individual to medicate away the trauma. But can we please make the distinction between that and adults who have the agency to choose to be on the "ever so addictive SPEED" (which we are always forgetting to take and need to set alarms on our phones to take) and find them effective for navigating our neocapitalist societies where stimulant meds are required to kick our executive function into drive enough that we don't get fired from every job and die, thanks. /slightly unhinged grumbling
- zdw 3y agoThe blog has a lot of other gems: https://scarfolk.blogspot.com https://scarfolk.blogspot.com
- sitkack 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarfolk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarfolk https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Scarfolk-Richard-Littler/dp/0091958482 https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Scarfolk-Richard-Littler/... It is a wonderful book.
- hasbot 3y agoAlso: https://www.amazon.com/Scarfolk-Annual-Richard-Littler/dp/0008307016 https://www.amazon.com/Scarfolk-Annual-Richard-Littler/dp/00...
- rufus_foreman 3y agoThe works of Sean Tejaratchi would be the US version of this (LiarTownUSA).
- DaiPlusPlus 3y agoI think Omega Mart is closer in spirit
- linehedonist 3y ago(2016)
- hasbot 3y agoSadly the TV show was never made: https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/scarfolk/ https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/scarfolk/ Scarfolk Merchandise: https://saatchistore.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=scarfolk https://saatchistore.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=scarfolk
- blipvert 3y agoWorth having a look at Dick and Stewart - an animated series from Richard Littler, narrated by Julian Barrett https://hauntedgeneration.co.uk/2019/10/05/dick-and-stewart-richard-littler-and-scarfolk/ https://hauntedgeneration.co.uk/2019/10/05/dick-and-stewart-...
- wlonkly 3y agoI can't help but feel that the TV show would've ruined it, like Scarfolk only works if you only have a certain amount of it and the TV show would've pushed it from "wait, was that real?" to "Ah, right, that's from that show".
- trelane 3y agoMy favourite, from almost 4 years ago: https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2020/03/social-distancing-laws-1970.html https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2020/03/social-distancing-laws...
- YurgenJurgensen 3y agoGiven how many people are comparing Scarfolk favourably to Look Around You, I think this image highlights why I feel like it falls well short of that comparison. Looking at the dates on the blog posts, this is more "(then) current year politics in the style of 1970s British local authority PSAs" than anything that actually feels rooted in the time period of the style it's using. There's ones about COVID in 2020, ones about the election in 2019, ones about Brexit in 2017 and so on. It's not bad, but I could almost look through the posters to see the author's Twitter feed at points.
- trelane 3y agoTo each their own. They have similar-ish (i.e. retro) styles, but their aims are not identical. Certainly, the intent of Scarfolk is to be eerie, whereas Look Around You is not intended to be creepy, merely absurdist, which is another area of contrast. I don't think either is better than the other.
- stefantalpalaru 3y ago[dead]
- ammonammon 3y agoI remember these creepy christain and the second coming comics as a kid ... traumatic 5hit for a child.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- pavel_lishin 3y agoWhenever I leave a job, or an office closes down, I print up a few copies of the Kak poster, and leave them hidden around: https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-dont-campaign-and-kak-1973.html https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-dont-campaign-and-... I've also gotten the Scarfolk book, and it is genuinely a weirdly creepy piece of art.
- actionfromafar 3y agoJust don’t.
- ycombinete 3y agoKak literally means “shit” in Afrikaans. Which makes this even funnier for me to read.
- radiowave 3y agoThat meaning is also understood in the UK.
- ycombinete 3y agoSeems like they share a root: cack (slang) faeces (feces); nonsense or rubbish: "what a load of cack" could equally be used to describe someone talking nonsense or as a criticism of something of poor quality. Also spelt "kak" as used in Afrikaans and Dutch. Derived from an ancient Indo-European word, kakkos, cognate with German word Kacke, Welsh word "cach" and the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word "cac" which all mean 'shit'. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_British_terms_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States#:~:text=(slang)%20faeces%20(feces)%3B,used%20in%20Afrikaans%20and%20Dutch https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_British_terms_no....
- at_a_remove 3y agoI may need to take some tips from this for some posters I am making for our annual April 20th event, "Children of the Stoned." Yes, the "this is for kids?" program(me) from the late 1970s, we watch it in a variety of states of intoxication. I've found that this sort of thing goes most awry when targeted not at smaller children but at tweens. The results tend to be bizarre and open to some fairly inappropriate interpretations. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural is an excellent example of the species in its US form.
- Ranmalie 3y ago[dead]
- latentcall 3y agoThis is cool, I wonder if Welcome To Night Vale was inspired by this.
- Jasmine209 3y ago[flagged]
- jackcosgrove 3y agoI know the 1970s were the malaise decade for a lot of places, but the situation in the UK always seemed... malaisier than anywhere else. What was going on then? I see clips of children's shows from 1970s UK and a lot of them are just creepy and not age-appropriate.
- thriftwy 3y agoPerhaps that was that lead poisoning from gasoline. I wonder if anybody researched its effect on non-criminally inclined population.
- hermitcrab 3y agoIIRC there were studies done on the effects of lead on people living near busy traffic areas, such as the spaghetti junction near Birmingham. It might be difficult to separate the effects of the lead from the effects of living near Birmingham though. ;0)
- jdietrich 3y agoNothing worked reliably due to constant industrial action. We had a low-level civil war due to the IRA, with bombings being almost routine. We felt like we would be the first to go if the cold war went hot, due to the strategic importance of the radar base at RAF Fylingdales and the USAF base at Greenham Common. The decade was underscored by a pervasive fear of total societal collapse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles#1970s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles#1970s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fylingdales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fylingdales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Greenham_Common https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Greenham_Common
- 082349872349872 3y ago> and the USAF base at Greenham Common Literally "Airstrip One"? Today the situation seems better: although the SLBMs are yank and the base is scots, at least the boomers themselves are english.
- Borrible 3y agoSkimming an Atlas Obscura article the day before yesterday and ordering the books 'Discovering Scarfolk' and 'The Scarfolk Annual' especially for the surveillance themed humor, I'm not surprised to find a post about Scarfolk on HN today ... https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/digging-through-the-archives-of-scarfolk-the-internets-creepiest-fake-town https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/digging-through-the-ar... I especially like the BBC 1 initiative, 'We watch you watching us.' I really need to dig out my old copy of the Paranoia RPG and reactivate the old team.
- 082349872349872 3y agoThe Computer obviously can't have its feelings hurt, but I'm sure, Borrible-R-3, that whenever it gets around to running a sentiment analysis on its reaction to your proposal to host a game making light of and casting aspersions on its efforts to protect and serve its human masters, it will find it codes as ... disappointed.
- Borrible 3y agoSince the computer is a friend to all of us, citizen, I hope you are not accusing it of malicious intent against us. Just to be sure you are not a traitor, it is in your interest to have this checked by the relevant authorities. Stay vigilant citizen, anyone can be a traitor. Including yourself.
- Nursie 3y agoBloody love the Scarfolk stuff. As someone who didn’t live through the 70s in the UK, but did live through the 80s, I caught the tail end of the materials and design choices (because never let it be said that the British local government departments move with the times)… it reminds me of the old posters hanging around in town halls, and the older tv shows of the time. I find the way that the designer has managed to amplify both some of the dystopian images of the time, but also make a pastiche of exaggerated blandness into comedy, to be quite genius. “Don’t” went round all the social media sites at the start of lockdown too!
- robocat 3y ago> I finally discovered that I hadn’t imagined it—it’s a 1977 public information film called “The Finishing Line,” which was made to deter children from playing near railway lines. The film was screened at my junior school https://youtube.com/watch?v=SXGqwCbeFD8 https://youtube.com/watch?v=SXGqwCbeFD8
- qingcharles 3y agoI remember these films, but at the time you don't realize how bizarre they are. What sort of fever dream birthed this script? Who organizes a race where children have to climb through barbed wire fences to cross railway lines?
- helsinkiandrew 3y agoI still have difficulty crossing rail tracks on foot after that film. Same period was "Apaches" (farm safety), in which 10 children are killed one by one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3yyKFaq-aw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3yyKFaq-aw
- zelos 3y agoThat film is disturbing for adults, let alone kids. The cut to the girl screaming is terrifying.
- UncleSlacky 3y agoNot to forget the classic "Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water" narrated by Donald Pleasance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPMYRlvySY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPMYRlvySY
- hermitcrab 3y agoCouple that with 'children's' TV program "The singing ringing tree" and it is a wonder any of us grew up even vaguely normal.
- lukan 3y ago
- Doctor_Fegg 3y agoBritain’s current government can be alarmingly Scarfolk-like at times. Take this graphic tweeted by the Prime Minister: https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1633158789103747072 https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1633158789103747072 “If you come to the UK illegally you will be DENIED access to the UK’s modern slavery system” Put that in a 70s typeface and slightly weathered poster appearance and it’s pure Scarfolk.
- actionfromafar 3y agoWow. Nor “spurious human rights claims”.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ben_w 3y agoI think the reality inspired the satire. E.g. the (also very 1984) "SECURE BENEATH THE WATCHFUL EYES" poster from 2002: https://art-for-a-change.com/News/eyes.htm https://art-for-a-change.com/News/eyes.htm And the banned 1997 Conservative election campaign posters: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/guardianwitness-blog/2015/mar/13/calling-all-art-students-alternative-general-election-posters-competition-challenge#img-2 https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/guardianwitness-blo...
- 082349872349872 3y agoWhether it be Hateful 8, Scarfolk, Simpsons, Life of Brian, 1984, or Brave New World, doesn't reality always inform the satire?
- howerj 3y agoThe phrase "Secure beneath the watchful eyes" really reminds of the Techno-utopian poem "All watched over by machines of loving grace", it has the same bold wrong-headed naive optimism in a higher power able to keep us safe, like a security blanket.
- thriftwy 3y ago
- sieste 3y agoI'd like to have a copy of "children & hallucinogens - the future of discipline" lying around when parents drop their kids off for a play date.
- NL807 3y agoTheir soundcloud is great: https://soundcloud.com/scarfolk-council https://soundcloud.com/scarfolk-council
- martinclayton 3y agoRichard Littler's poster for the "real" Festival of Brexit Britain: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/10/03/richard-littler-satirical-poster-festival-brexit-britain-news-graphics/ https://www.dezeen.com/2018/10/03/richard-littler-satirical-...
- matthewmcg 3y agoThis strikes me as a darker version of the late 70s early 80s British educational videos aesthetic captured in the Look Around You series. Example: https://youtu.be/FBaVwwuErmU?feature=shared https://youtu.be/FBaVwwuErmU?feature=shared
- moron4hire 3y agoVery "Welcome to Nite Vale" https://www.welcometonightvale.com/ https://www.welcometonightvale.com/
- ThinkBeat 3y agoI love this. If the BBC is making a tv show or something out of it, it would be awesome if they built such a place . Obviously just parts and like a film set. Do more and I am sure it would become a tourist attraction. I would love to visit. Even more awesome if they had it staffed with actors. A lot like Dismaland
- JackFr 3y agoReminds me of https://liartownusa.com/ https://liartownusa.com/