Jean Cocteau celebrates quirky, twitchy ’80s pop icon Max Headroom
George R.R. Martin joins stars, writers in weeklong series of screenings, talks
Max Headroom, remember him? Staticky, plasticky, voice-modulated visage? Witty talk-show host, video jockey, New Coke spokesman? Cult pop-culture icon of the ’80s? Maybe, m-m-maybe not. For the die-hard late ’80s nostalgic and the curious newcomer, the character has been brought back this week by the Jean Cocteau Cinema.
But a simple Max Headroom marathon would not do for the Railyard art house, which likes to put its high-profile proprietor’s connections to good use.
The Cocteau has brought in stars and writers of the short-lived Max Headroom TV drama for a week’s worth of interviews and talks. And author and Cocteau owner George R.R. Martin will read from his never-before-seen Max Headroom story treatments — turned away by the show, Martin said, because they were too offensive for network television.
Of course, there will be screenings, too. Each night this week, through Saturday, the Cocteau will present an episode or two of the dystopian sci-fi series in a commemoration of the 30-year anniversary of its premiere on ABC.
And although the 1987-88 series’ visual depiction of
alternate-future technology has held up about as well as sales of Walkman cassette players, its presentation of relentless media consumption, news-asentertainment and ubiquitous surveillance seems almost prescient.
“It was 30 years in the past, but I think the show was at least 20 years ahead of its time,” Martin said. “It was a cyberpunk show. At a time when there were three networks, it was postulating a world where there would be a hundred.”
“In fact, TV-watching was mandatory,” added Michael Cassutt, a television veteran who wrote for Max Headroom. “And TV watched you. Sound familiar?”
Some other things, like what’s considered appropriate for a network broadcast, remain largely the same.
After reading the treatment Monday for one of his unproduced Max Headroom episodes, titled “Mr. Meat,” Martin quipped of his inability to get it on the air. “I don’t know if it was the cancer, the cannibalism or the chainsaws that put ABC over the top,” he said.
Along with Martin and Cassutt, Max Headroom alumni Matt Frewer (who played the titular talking head as well as lead television news reporter Edison Carter) and Steve Roberts (who wrote many episodes of the series) will participate in the screenings and talks. Martin will read another of his unproduced treatments Saturday.
The Cocteau schedule of special events reflects Martin’s varied tastes, and the added value of a special guest has also become a way for the cinema to stand out, to attract the niche fan as well as the inquiring outsider, said Jacques Paisner, the theater’s programmer.
Some examples this year: Author Neil Gaiman introduced, via Skype, the theater’s recent sneak-peek pilot screening of the Starz series American Gods; Academy Award-nominated director Glenn Silber participated in a Q&A session after a showing of his acclaimed documentary The War at Home; and author and series creator Joe R. Lansdale visited the Cocteau to introduce and answer questions about a sneak preview of the SundanceTV series Hap and Leonard.
“Santa Fe’s one of the best theater towns in the country, and with this space and George, it’s the perfect marriage,” Paisner said. “We’re trying to be one of the best art house cinemas in the country.”
The theater was near capacity for the pair of Max Headroom screenings Monday night, populated by both superfans and those seeking merely an out-ofthe-ordinary night out.
Nick Lerek of Santa Fe, who attended the screenings with his wife, Kim Darlington, said that for all its distinctly late-’80s kitsch, Max Headroom conveys surprisingly timely stuff.
“I was blown away,” Lerek said. “It could have been made today. It was much more relevant than I would’ve thought.”
Darlington is a Headroom fanatic. She said she owns the original VHS tapes of the series but it had been a while since she’d seen the show.
“I enjoyed it just as much as I remember,” she said. “I saw it was on here and said, ‘Oh, we’ve gotta go.’ ”
“She was screaming about it,” Lerek added, laughing. “I’ve known her 17 years, and she’s talked about Max Headroom a hundred times, and I’d never seen it.”
Partners Marty Madden and Joe Wegner of Santa Fe laughed Monday evening along with the episodes’ funnier moments (a deadpan performance by Jeffrey Tambor stands out).
Asked whether the episodes stood the test of time, Madden laughed again.
“It’s interesting,” he allowed. “Plotting was a little bit looser back then.”
Martin and Cassutt discussed the episodes afterward with an inquisitive audience. Both said it had been many years since they’d watched the show and agreed some elements work better than others.
Cassutt remarked that the eponymous character, at his peak, was a “Kardashian-level phenomenon.”
But it was a brief peak and while he remains a recognizable face to some, the character has been largely relegated to popculture footnote — one that can still, under the right circumstances, draw a crowd.
“I can’t explain why Max became a thing,” Martin said, “but he was the biggest thing in the world for…” He hesitated.
“Hours,” Cassutt cut in, drawing a round of laughter.