Dystopia
A dystopian future is one where the social problems of today become greater in magnitude, producing a future that is filled with crime, war, and similar evils.
A dystopian society may also be imagined as a society where a ruling elite controls the vast majority of wealth and political power while simultaneously disseminating propaganda to the masses to control the lower and middle classes. This ruling elite may be seen as propagating misinformation in order to socially control the citizens. This propaganda is usually revealed in such a manner that the elite are the caretakers and providers of the lower middle class.
In many fictional depictions of dystopian societies, the propaganda—which would be disseminated by an overwhelmingly powerful government (Big Brother) or a totalitarian cabal—would psychologically force the lower classes to believe that they are living in a utopia that represents the culmination and perfection of civilization, where in actuality, crime and bureaucratic corruption are widespread. Typically, a dystopian novel is intended to comment on what the author perceives to be then current social trends by extrapolating those trends. Sometimes, as with Animal Farm, the dystopia is presented in the form of an allegory to get past the censors and liberal media. In some stories, however, the dystopia is generally depicted rather openly as a dystopia, often with the ruling members making absolutely no secret of how they intended to butcher their own subjects simply for their own amusement and actively seek to make the bad events even worse, with motivations including nihilism and truly enjoying the carnage, with some even advocating for absolute lawlessness and anarchy even when in charge. Examples of this interpretation of dystopia include Final Fantasy VI with the main villain Kefka Palazzo, in particular during the game's second act, as well as the graphic novel Transmetropolitan, where the main villain, The Smiler, proceeded upon becoming President to create damaging policies for America to have bits of it crumbling off, with his freely admitting during the election that he intended to destroy America upon getting elected.
Contents
Dystopia in fiction
In the 20th and late 19th century, many well-known dystopian novels were written. This theme has continued into the 21st century as well. Among these are:
Broad List of Survivalist-Dystopian-Survival-Apocalypse-SHTF-Zombie Books-Films-TV-Video Games-Comic Books
- The 100 (TV series)
- 12 Monkeys (Film), 1995; (TV Series), 2015-Current
- 28 Days Later, 2002
- 28 Weeks Later, 2007
- After War Gundam X, 1996
- Akira (Manga Series), 1982-1990, 1988 (Film)
- Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. A classic nuke scenario. This book was a key influence in James Wesley Rawles writing and it was his inspiration to write “Patriots” in a similar style
- Atlas Shrugged
- Back to the Future: Part II, 1989
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, 1986 (Comic Book Miniseries)
- Battlestar Galactica, 1978-1979 (Original Series); 2003-2009 (Reimagined Series)
- Blade Runner, 1982
- The Book of Eli, 2010
- Brave New World
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003 (TV Series)
- A Clockwork Orange, 1971
- The Colony (TV series)
- Dark City, 1998
- Deliverance, 1972
- Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, 1993
- Dredd, 2012
- Dr. Strangelove by Peter George and Stanley Kubrick (1964)
- Earth Abides by George Stewart
- Elysium, 2013
- Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
- Escape from New York, 1981
- Escape from L.A., 1996
- Fahrenheit 451
- Falling Skies
- Fallout (Video Game Series), 1997-2015
- Firefly (TV series), 2002
- The Flight of the Phoenix, 1965 with James Stewart; 2004 (Remake)
- Final Fantasy II (1988)
- Final Fantasy VI (1994)
- The Handmaid's Tale
- Highlander II: The Quickening, 1991
- The Hunger Games, 2008
- The Giver, 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, 2014 film with Jeff Bridges
- The Grey, 2011, with Liam Neeson
- I Am Legend, 1954 by Richard Matheson, 2007 film with Will Smith
- Into the Wild, 2007
- Jericho (TV series)
- Jeremiah (TV series)
- Judge Dredd 1995
- La Jetee (short film), 1962
- The Last Man on Earth, or The Last Man on Earth, 1964 Italian film with Vincent Price
- The Last of Us (Video Game), 2013
- Left Behind, 1995 to 2007 by Tim LaHaye
- Life of Pi, 2012
- Lifeboat, 1944
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, 1991
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 1998
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, 2000
- Lights Out by David Crawford (Post-EMP attack.)
- Logan (film), 2017
- Logan's Run
- Lucifer's Hammer, 1977 by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- Mad Max 1979
- Mad Max 2 1981 (Also called The Road Warrior)
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985
- Max Max: Fury Road 2015
- The Matrix, 1999, 2003
- Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party
- Minority Report
- Night of the Living Dead, 1968 by George A. Romero
- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
- One Second After, 2009 by William R. Forstchen
- Outbreak (film), 1995 with Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland
- Open Water, 2003
- Patriots Novels Series by James Wesley Rawles
- Panic in Year Zero!, 1962 with Ray Milland
- Planet of the Apes 1968 by Pierre Boulle
- Power Rangers RPM, 2009
- Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys (Plague total wipe-out scenario. This book was another with an influence in James Wesley Rawles writing.)
- The Omega Man, 1971
- The Omen
- The Poseidon Adventure, 1972 with Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine
- The Postman, 1997
- The Purge
- Rescue Dawn, 2006 by Werner Herzog with Christian Bale
- Resident Evil (VIdeo Game Series) 1996-2017 (Called Biohazard in Japan)
- Resident Evil, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012 with Milla Jovovich
- Robinson Crusoe, 1719 by Daniel Defoe, 1954 and 1997 film with Pierce Brosnan
- RoboCop 1987
- The Running Man
- Serenity
- Silent Running
- Soylent Green
- Stagecoach, 1939
- Star Trek: First Contact, 1996
- The Stand (TV series), 1994 by Stephen King, starring Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe
- Swiss Family Robinson, 1960, based on 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy, 2006, 2009 film with Viggo Mortensen
- The Terminator 1984
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 2003
- Terminator Salvation 2009
- Terminator Genisys 2015
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2008-2009
- THX 1138
- The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
- The Tribe, 1999-2003
- Total Recall
- Transmetropolitan, 1997-2002
- V for Vendetta
- The Walking Dead, 2010-2015
- WALL-E
- Watchmen
- Wolverine: Old Man Logan (Limited Comic Book Series), 2008-2009
- World War Z, 2006 by Max Brooks, 2013 film with Brad Pitt
- X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014
See also
- Utopia, the flipside of Dystopia.
- Big government Welfare state leads to Nanny state, leads to Police state
- Gleichschaltung
- Liberal totalitarianism