Dystopian Essay
Media Studies – Relationship between a media genre and society.
Dystopian Essay
On one level, dystopian films have a direct relationship with society. By their very definition, dystopian films present a negative representation of a future or alternate society. They are often mis-labeled as science fiction films because of their futuristic setting but although here are obvious similarities, their overriding artisticness is more closely united to another genre: film-noir. Stylistically, many dystopian films hark back to the darkest times in Western Society’s recent past; indirectly referringto the struggles of the depression, the oppression of totalitarian governments and the horrors of World War Two, reinvented into a fictionalized, dark future. More recently, post 9/11 fears have informed the ideas of dystopian films.
Wikipedia’s definition of ‘dystopia’ clearly illustrates this connection: A dystopia is any society considered to be undesirable and is most usually used to refer to a fictional (often near-future) society where current social trends are taken to nightmarish extremes. It is the second part of this definition that is particularity relevant to this essay –Dystopian films are inseparably connected to the society in which they are created, inducing a ‘nightmarish’ future by reflecting issues, concerns, fears or values that exist in the public consciousness of that particular society.
The central premise of these films is of a world gone mad, sometimes through the greed, ignorance or stupidity of man, sometimes though external influences. These dystopian worlds may be shaped my social, technological, medical, environmental, political or economic forces. Within this environment, there is (usually) an individual who realizes the flaw and tries to challenge or rectify it. Depending on the filmmaker and the viewing ‘market’, it will either end happily, with the protagonist victorious; or not. Wikipedia’s definition concludes that, “a dystopian all
Dystopian Essay
On one level, dystopian films have a direct relationship with society. By their very definition, dystopian films present a negative representation of a future or alternate society. They are often mis-labeled as science fiction films because of their futuristic setting but although here are obvious similarities, their overriding artisticness is more closely united to another genre: film-noir. Stylistically, many dystopian films hark back to the darkest times in Western Society’s recent past; indirectly referringto the struggles of the depression, the oppression of totalitarian governments and the horrors of World War Two, reinvented into a fictionalized, dark future. More recently, post 9/11 fears have informed the ideas of dystopian films.
Wikipedia’s definition of ‘dystopia’ clearly illustrates this connection: A dystopia is any society considered to be undesirable and is most usually used to refer to a fictional (often near-future) society where current social trends are taken to nightmarish extremes. It is the second part of this definition that is particularity relevant to this essay –Dystopian films are inseparably connected to the society in which they are created, inducing a ‘nightmarish’ future by reflecting issues, concerns, fears or values that exist in the public consciousness of that particular society.
The central premise of these films is of a world gone mad, sometimes through the greed, ignorance or stupidity of man, sometimes though external influences. These dystopian worlds may be shaped my social, technological, medical, environmental, political or economic forces. Within this environment, there is (usually) an individual who realizes the flaw and tries to challenge or rectify it. Depending on the filmmaker and the viewing ‘market’, it will either end happily, with the protagonist victorious; or not. Wikipedia’s definition concludes that, “a dystopian all