The capitalist curse isn't what you think

By Jonah Goldberg

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the "Blade Runner" curse. If you're familiar with the 1982 sci-fi cult classic, constantly reissued in some new "director's cut" or "special edition," you'd be forgiven for thinking the curse had something to do with a mysterious crone casting an evil eye on the producers, vowing the film would spend eternity in an editor's suite. But that's not the whammy the Journal had in mind.

The movie "conjured a Los Angeles of 2019 whose steamy streets teem with flying cars and neon advertising," writes Don Steinberg. "Then came the curse: Many of the robust brands shown thriving in the cinematic future ran into financial troubles in the real world."

12th October 2017