ABSTRACT
Drawing on David Nye's notion of the American technological sublime, this chapter focuses on film representations of rock music amplification technology as a force that demands quasi-religious awe. Nye's theory is introduced through Back to the Future (1985), which can be read as a narrative of pursuing the technological sublime musically as Marty McFly seeks transcendence through increasingly intense musical experiences with amplification technologies. The music technological sublime in the film relies both on volume and the audible manifestation of technology in timbre. A scene from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) adds a layer of expressive sincerity to the music technological sublime by connecting the power of music amplification technology with internal emotions. The chapter concludes by suggesting that, more than a comic strategy, the music technological sublime is an implicit goal of more recent film scoring in which the line between sound design and music is blurred and the immersive and visceral impact of sonic power is privileged. The case studies of Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014) assist the development of a broader concept of the music technological sublime beyond parodies of rock culture.
