FILMS OFTEN REFLECT THE KEY SOCIAL VALUES of an era—as represented by the modern and postmodern movies pictured. Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936, above left) satirized modern industry and the dehumanizing impact of a futuristic factory on its overwhelmed workers. Similarly, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982, above right), set in futuristic Los Angeles in 2019, questioned the impact on humanity when technology overwhelms the natural world. As author William Romanowski said of Blade Runner in Pop Culture Wars, “It managed to quite vividly capture some postmodern themes that were not recognized at the time…. We are constantly trying to balance the promise of technology with the threats of technology.”