This one scene may not be that significant in the grand scheme of things, but it stood out to me as an example of the film using its fashion and visual design to explore its dystopian themes and class struggles. While its discussions of class and power are as subtle as a sledgehammer, the way that fashion is used is integral to The Running Man's worldbuilding.
Stephen King's original book (written under his alias Richard Bachman) depicts a world where most state control is conducted through television, specifically uber-violent game shows that capitalise on the anger and fear of the population. This TV network certainly pretends to have an element of class - Colman Domingo's Bobby T is a glamorously-dressed showman-like host with a pin-sharp suit every time he's seen on-screen - but of course, the moment that The Running Man candidates start running, the sophisticated veneer vanishes and Domingo's rhetoric shifts to rabble-rousing brutality. At that point, Bobby T's clothes seem less like the heights of showbiz, and more tasteless.
This TV network certainly pretends to have an element of class - Colman Domingo's Bobby T is a glamorously-dressed showman-like host with a pin-sharp suit...
Even the gear of the show's 'Hunters' (who basically serve the same role as the Terminator) looks slick and hi-tech, hunting down the contestants like a machine while they only have limited resources and their wits' end.
Disguise is a prominent theme throughout The Running Man, as Ben Richards can't stay in the same clothes too long in fear of being discovered. His most frequent disguise (one that appears all over the film's marketing) is just a hoodie, jacket and jeans, a disguise that's obviously designed to blend in. As he begins his journey, he shakes things up quite often. His attempt at being a professional businessman is shaky at best due to a moustache that keeps falling off, and his stint as a blind retired priest also begins to fall through when a bystander stares at him too long.
the satirisation of modern fashion influencers like the Kardashians serves to highlight the social disparity between the rich and the poor
It's interesting to see these attempts at disguises fail because, just like the state-sponsored TV that's everywhere, all of Richards's disguises are thin at best, transparent at worst. They're too boring to be fully noticed, yet too eccentric to be completely bypassed.
The film's exploration of fashion also has a satirical edge too. While its depictions of trashy commercial TV will always ring true, another fake show we see briefly is 'Americanos,' and you don't need to see more than a second of it to notice its blatant parody of reality shows like the Kardashians and Real Housewives.
Director Edgar Wright has discussed this being another example of the film presenting the fabrication and manipulation of TV to tell a certain story, yet the satirisation of modern fashion influencers like the Kardashians serves to highlight the social disparity between the rich and the poor: the glamorous and excessive lifestyles countered by the dirty living conditions and clothes of the masses, who the state are constantly neglecting.
The Running Man is a film that showcases a glamorous dystopia; a loosely futuristic setting that offers nothing to its starving population but big lights and big thrills on a TV screen. And as it turns out, fashion is way more crucial to the worldbuilding than you would think.
The Running Man is currently in UK cinemas.