Talk:Retrofuturism

message: I don't think "retro-futurism" is a portmanteau of "retro" and "futurism". I mean, obviously it is derived from those words, in that it is those two words placed one after the other. But surely a corresponding portmanteau would be "returism" or "futro". Or "futroism". -- Supermorff 15:12, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree. I've made the appropriate changes. --Loremaster 15:43, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Portmanteau?

message: Shouldn't the new Battlestar Galactica tv series be included since it uses antiquated technology in contrast with its futuristic setting? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.15.11.58 (talk • contribs)  (22:40, 3 January 2007)
:No. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 20:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: He said "no". Understood?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.76.192.170 (talk) 19:03, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Battlestar Galactica]]

message: I added a new section: #Hoaxing featuring an example I
saw in the Photoshopping article. If anyone knows of other notable
retro-futuristic hoaxes, please add them. --Teratornis 17:49, 21 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Oh, darn. The :Image:Lukket-50s-computer-HOAX.jpg is copyrighted, and under terms of fair use I can't include it in other articles. I'm changing the section to refer to the fair-use instance of the photo without including it in . --Teratornis 05:45, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Retro-futuristic hoaxing 

message: I think there should be a mention of the Tomorrowland section of the Disney theme parks in the examples of retro-futurism.  Each Tomorrowland (or in the case of Disneyland Paris, 'Discoveryland') is based on a retro-futuristic architectural design.Macg4cubeboy 03:51, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tomorrowland 

message: Why was the referance to Dr Who removed? (Slatersteven 17:00, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dr Who 

message: Although not a retro-futrue film Dune certainly has a retro-future look to it, should it be included in the film list? (Slatersteven 18:37, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: No.  Dune is a completely different animal altogether. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 17:05, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dune 

message: There's insufficient material in that article to stand on its own, but it makes a reasonable subcategory for this article (where it's already discussed). RandomCritic 19:24, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I quite agree with this suggestion.  The Raygun Gothic article is little more than a stub---indeed, reformatted, and with the extraneous Gibson material removed, there would be hardly anything there at all.  This merger is appropriate. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 17:04, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Oppose I have yet to see editors produce a reliable source to the effect that Raygun Gothic is entirely reducible to retro-futurism. I would appreciate it if editors would discuss the proposed merge with a view to forming consensus rather than trying to ram it through unilaterally. Skomorokh incite 11:25, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This merge proposal has been in place for over a month.  That is hardly "ramming it through unilaterally".  RandomCritic 13:51, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge [[Raygun Gothic]]

message: Not adding him to the list of artists is a serious oversight. --Armadillo01 15:36, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, if you are so certain that he is important, add him yourself.  Oh, and please use edit summaries. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 15:42, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Bruce McCall]]

message: There seems to be some uncertainty over what qualifies as retro-futuristic; in looking at some of the entries, I get the impression that some editors have thought that any science fiction more than a few years old is "retro-futuristic".  Here are my thoughts on what retro-futuristic is not:
* If it's science fiction set in the past, even an "alternate past", which doesn't portray the trappings of a *future* society (from the point of view of both the time period portrayed and the present), it's retro, but not futuristic.
* If it's science fiction set in the future, and it's still a semi-plausible future from  the point of view of the present, then it's futuristic, but not retro.
* If it includes a bunch of random science fiction cliches, some of which may be past their sell-by date, but doesn't fit them into a somewhat coherent setting, it's not retro-futurism, it's just a stylistic mixture.  
Ideally, retrofutures should be set in the future (at least, the future from the point of view of the particular time the retrostyle is based on -- the date might be the present or even the last few decades) but I suppose we have to include "presents" where futuristic tech has been produced by mad scientists and the like.  There's still a difference between retro-futuristic tech intruding in an ordinary retro society, and a total retro-futuristic society (where, say, everybody is wearing shiny plastic clothing and going to work by jet-pack), and that might be worth breaking out at some point. RandomCritic 05:10, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Problematic entries

message: Anyone wanna toss BTTF II into the appropriate category? TheHYPO (talk) 07:57, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Back to the Future Part II]] 

message: :Image:Robot attackers.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is  other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page.  Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot (talk) 04:33, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Fair use rationale for Image:Robot attackers.jpg

message: The clothing article is a stub, and everything described therein pertains to retrofuturism (futuristic clothing means dressing in skintight suits etc as imagined in old-fashioned SF). So i think this article should have a subsection about retrofuturism's influence on fashion, and the other should redirect there.Yobmod (talk) 10:10, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 15:22, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: merge from futuristic clothing

message: Somebody should add the 08 speed racer movie. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.190.229.117 (talk • contribs)  (03:45, 23 June 2008) 
:No, someone should find a cite that calls Speed Racer retrofuturism, THEN add it :-). Yobmod (talk) 09:12, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Quite so, Yobmod. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 15:21, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Speed racer

message: ===Notable artists===
* Richard Arbib (1917-1995) 1964 World's Fair, Newsweek
* Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) designed Futurama pavilion for the 1939 New York World's Fair]
* Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986) Mechanix Illustrated
* Jack Coggins (1911-2006) Spaceship to the Moon
* Gene Colan Guardians of the Galaxy
* Lee Conrey (1883-?) American Weekly
* Howard M. Duffin Amazing Stories
* Kenneth Fagg  If
* Hugh Ferriss (1889-1962)
* Frederic W. Freeman (1906-1988)
* Russ Heath (1926-) Humbug
* Matt Jefferies Star Trek
* Alexander Leydenfrost (1889-1961)
* J Mays (October 15, 1954) Automotive design at VW and Ford
* Arthur Radebaugh The Future We Were PromisedThe Future We Were Promised
* Frank Rudolph Paul (1884-1963) Amazing Stories, Science Wonder Stories
* Leo Rackow (1901-1988)
* Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
* Stewart Rouse Modern Mechanics
* Norman Saunders (1907-1988) Modern Mechanix
* Bradley W. Schenck (1958-) Long Playing Computer GraphicsBradley W. Schenck - Long Playing Computer Graphics
* Alex Schomburg (1905-1998) Satellite Science Fiction
* James B. Settles Amazing Stories
* Malcolm Smith (1910-1966)
* Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) Astro Boy
* Edgar Franklin Wittmack Popular Science
* Dave Stevens The Rocketeer
who says these are notable - most are red links, and even the blue links don't have cites with anyone calling them notable for this style of design. It is a POV, OR, mini-promotional list.Yobmod (talk) 08:44, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: POV list

message: * Richard Arbib (1917-1995) 1964 World's Fair, Newsweek
* Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) designed Futurama pavilion for the 1939 New York World's Fair]
* Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986) Mechanix Illustrated
* Jack Coggins (1911-2006) Spaceship to the Moon
* Gene Colan Guardians of the Galaxy
* Lee Conrey (1883-?) American Weekly
* Howard M. Duffin Amazing Stories
* Kenneth Fagg  If
* Hugh Ferriss (1889-1962)
* Frederic W. Freeman (1906-1988)
* Russ Heath (1926-) Humbug
* Matt Jefferies Star Trek
* Alexander Leydenfrost (1889-1961)
* J Mays (October 15, 1954) Automotive design at VW and Ford
* Arthur Radebaugh The Future We Were PromisedThe Future We Were Promised
* Frank Rudolph Paul (1884-1963) Amazing Stories, Science Wonder Stories
* Leo Rackow (1901-1988)
* Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
* Stewart Rouse Modern Mechanics
* Norman Saunders (1907-1988) Modern Mechanix
* Bradley W. Schenck (1958-) Long Playing Computer GraphicsBradley W. Schenck - Long Playing Computer Graphics
* Alex Schomburg (1905-1998) Satellite Science Fiction
* James B. Settles Amazing Stories
* Malcolm Smith (1910-1966)
* Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) Astro Boy
* Edgar Franklin Wittmack Popular Science
* Dave Stevens The Rocketeer
who says these are notable - most are red links, and even the blue links don't have cites with anyone calling them notable for this style of design. It is a POV, OR, mini-promotional list.Yobmod (talk) 08:44, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Notable artists

message: "-- again -- because of a failure of imagination."
Ahaha, way to get stuck into writers on two occasions ahaha.IAmTheCoinMan (talk) 17:54, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Stuck in

message: In following up the references on this subject in this article, I find that the only example of the use of retro-futurism to refer to a "reactionary modernist" ideology is in a blog post by Dale Carrico, where the context ("a short description of retro-futurism (to which I allude often but which I have never really dealt with in any kind of extended way)") makes it clear that this is Carrico's own, idiosyncratic usage.  As such, it fails WP:N.  As Carrico's usage has little or nothing to do with the standard usage of the term, it's appropriate to remove references to it from this article. RandomCritic (talk) 16:02, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Retro-futurism as ideology

message: *"Examples include the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, set in an imaginary 1939, and The Rocketeer franchise, set in 1938, in both of which"
The paragraph then simply terminates and moves on to the next section heading. Did someone fudge an edit? Delete something they shouldn't have? 98.108.164.197 (talk) 04:27, 20 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Incomplete thought...

message: Feel free to add to this. 
•  RPG Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-6911-RPG-Examiner~y2009m5d27-Retrofuturism-in-gaming (Examiner is currently blocked; WP is not content to merely be an incomplete mirror of information readily available elsewhere, now it has to censor that image also)  •  You say Apocalypse, I say retro-chic
* Elements of Fallout that are retrofuturistic include: factors too numerous and detailed to list in the opening sequences of One  •   Two  •   and Three, set to  •  the Ink Spots' "Maybe",  •  Satchmo's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On"  •  and the song that Black Isle tried to get rights for to use in F1, but could not, F3's I don't want to set the world on fire (Ink Spots again)  •  The cars  •  The Vault suits  •  The Cola machines  •  The tubes and dials construction of the G.E.C.K. and other devices,  •  and the line drawings of the Pip-Boy character.
Retrofuturism, like all science fiction, has been social comment, not merely the nostalgia listed as examples in the current version of the article. I can think of many reasons why you may prefer to see it as only pretty pictures, but the truth is somewhat different. 24.5.21.150 (talk) 10:24, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  List of Fallout and Bioshock references 

message: The wonder city you may live to see. I guess not yet in public domain, but cool. emijrp (talk) 19:59, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  1950 as seen in 1925 

message: Can modern uses of 1950s/1960s depictions of the future be considered "retrofuturistic"? AmericanLeMans (talk) 01:05, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Space Age 

message: Under Themes it says (or said; I changed it a bit since):
One such theme is dissatisfaction with modern futurism. In some respects, an extrapolation of the present to the future produces disappointing, or even ghastly results, exemplified in cyberpunk and other dystopian futures characterized by overpopulation, environmental degradation, and transfer of power to unaccountable private entities or governments. Compared to such a future, retrofuturism suggests a world which may be more comfortable or at least more capable of being understood.
And what I don't fully understand here is that part: "retrofuturism suggests a world which may be more comfortable or at least more capable of being understood".
What's "world" referring to here? The real world or the fictional worlds displayed in works of retrofuturism or past science fiction?
* If it's referring to the real world how would retrofuturism make it "more comfortable or at least more capable of being understood"? Isn't retrofuturism in many ways also showing how a) past utopian visions didn't come true and b) how past generations (for the most part) failed to correctly predict the future and how the present world is in many ways far more complex than such "simplistic" imaginations?
* If it's referring to the fictional worlds how exactly does retrofuturism "suggest a world which may be more comfortable or at least more capable of being understood"? Also isn't retrofuturism in itself neutral on the u/dystopian-fiction scale as it can show how utopian visions failed to materialize and even ridicule them as well as doing the same for dystopian imaginations? Also when taking the steampunk genre for example its fiction can take place in utopias as well as dystopias. I think it rather just revitalizes and re-views the more positive outlooks for the future.
In any case I think this paragraph needs some further adjustments!
Also some other idea for it: retrofuturism is usually also about conveying a sense of the magnitude of change that occured, making the present more futuristic when inquiring imaginations of the now from the past.
----
I also created: :Category:Retrofuturism and would be glad if you could help fill it if I missed anything.
Also something about the lead: retrofuturism isn't just "a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era" but also a general field of interest: it's simply about reinspecting past generations' imaginations of the future from the temporal standpoint of said future. So e.g. steampunk is part of this artistic trend noted there; reexamining e.g. 1900's science fiction and speculation of the future is a field of interest.
--Fixuture (talk) 19:58, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  How does it "suggests a world which may be more comfortable or at least more capable of being understood" & lead is incomplete 

message: Someone should tone the Kraftwerk down in the article, it's way too much. Some contributor to this article is obviously a big fan, we don't need 3 album covers here, mostly when two of them aren't even retrofuturistic at all, just retro. --90.156.104.160 (talk) 11:48, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I totally agree, that is crazy detailed in an article that feels, at best, vague about what retrofuturism constitutes. Plus the definition of "futuristic pioneering electronic music with nostalgic visuals" doesn't really fit the definition. A photo of an old radio? References to the golden age of Hollywood? By this definition Queen's Radio Ga-Ga is the cornerstone of retrofuturusm and once we start including anything that simply references another era the list will be endless. Xenomorph erotica (talk) 15:41, 16 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Too much Kraftwerk 

message: The whole issue of what makes a car retro-futuristic is interesting. There are certainly a lot of autos today that are retro in appearance (they make reference to older versions of automobiles, like the Chrysler PT Cruiser trying to appear as a 1950s British taxicab) but to be retro-futuristic Chrysler's reference point needs to be science fiction, by definition. For example, all that 1950s speculation that in the future we'd be driving nuclear-powered flying cars, if Chrysler had used that as their reference point then, yes, that would be retro-futuristic. And truth be told, even the article on the PT Cruiser simply says it is "retro in design". I would argue removing this photo. Xenomorph erotica (talk) 16:13, 16 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Why Is The Chrysler Included Here?

message: To what past era of science fiction is it making reference to? If whoever wrote this said, "William Gibson references H.G. Wells' post-apocalyptic science fiction" then that would be retro-futuristic. Making claims like, "The post-apocalyptic variant is the one usually associated with retrofuturism, where characters will rely upon a mixture of old and new technologies" is both original research and written by someone who doesn't understand what retro-futurism is. I'm going bold and arguing that until someone can find citations backing up these claims it gets removed. Xenomorph erotica (talk) 16:28, 16 June 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Decodence? Nothing in the Genre category is referenced, thus it is all Original Research, and the entire section feels like a slap-dash summary of various -punk subgenres that already exist in other articles, and while I wouldn't argue that some of it might be interesting it is still, at this point, simply someone's opinion. I would call for it to be removed until whoever wrote it can find the citations. Xenomorph erotica (talk) 16:38, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

text: I agree. However this part should be kept: "Furthermore, synthwave and vaporwave are nostalgic, humorous and often retrofuturistic revivals of early cyberpunk aesthetic." Afaik these two genres are the only cyberpunk-related retrofuturistic styles. --Fixuture (talk) 13:52, 25 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: How Is Cyberpunk Retro-Futuristic?

message: I don't see it discussed in the article, and many of the text frames look modern. - Scarpy (talk) 04:27, 10 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  What is the provenance of the ''What The Future Will Look Like from the 1920's''