Strange Days story
Set in the last two days of 1999, the film follows the story of a black marketeer of recordings that allow a user to experience the recorder's memories and physical sensations as he attempts to uncover the truth behind the murder of a prostitute.
28 total · 9 major · 19 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| crime | major | The story is set in a 1999 Los Angeles in which street crime is rampant. |
| friendship | major | Lenny relationship with Macy straddled the line between deep friendship and love. In the end, the two shared a passionate kiss. |
| memory recorder | major | A main novelty of the film is an illegal electronic device that records memories and physical sensations directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex onto a MiniDisc-like device for playback. |
| nonconsensual voyeurism | major | A recurring theme in the film is the experiencing of other peoples memories of physical sensations of being intimate and having sex. Most notably, Lenny was borderline addicted to re-experiencing his past intimate experiences with his ex-girlfriend, Faith. |
| racism in society | major | An undercurrent of the film is endemic racism in the LAPD. In one pointed incident of this, two LAPD police officers pulled over a black rap star for no reason, and then shot him execution style after the rapper for minimal insubordination. |
| romantic love | major | The whole story build up to the two friends Lenny and Macy falling in love. |
| social activism | major | The social activist rapper Jeriko One had been forming citizen groups and was the leader of a movement aimed at curtailing the excesses of the LAPD and more. |
| social dysfunction | major | Society in turn of the millennium Los Angeles was going to hell in a hand basket. |
| unrequited love | major | Lenny was unable to get over his ex-girlfriend Faith, even though she told him straight out that she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Macy was into Lenny, but he saw her more as a friend until the very end of the film at which point they shared a passionate kiss. |
| betrayal | minor | Max pointedly betrayed his best friend Lenny by trying to frame Lenny for Philo's murder. |