You’re wrong. Rollerball (the film, not the short story) is a deep criticism of unbridled capitalism, hedonism and the corruption of impunity.

The ‘dissident’ who pursues ‘higher ideals’ is just another apparatchik for the ideologues who proffer such ‘ideals’.

They’re not a dissident at all, but a fanboy.

To be a ‘dissident’, you need to be ready to dissent against anything that offends one’s sense of what is ‘right’ and ‘true’.

The sybaritic ruling class that go around destroying trees with a super-powered handgun as part of their ‘party’ is really the crux of the film.

They are despicable in ways even a man who beats other people to a pulp for a living is not.

Rollerball is a dissident film. And not just for it’s time, but for as long as cosseted and protected ruling trash exist.