Dystopian Representations
in 21st Century Medium
The Modern Dystopias of Television, Film, Comics, Consoles, and Music
How to modern dystopias reflect the themes of their genres?
How do these representations reflect society in modern times?
What lessons or warnings can be gathered from these texts?
The Walking Dead - A Zombie Apocalypse on AMC
After an apocalypse, it is difficult for people, even those that have accepted the terms of their new existence, to give up all ties to their previous life. Rick represents morality, justice, and stability to the survivors and so they continually look to him for leadership. In the rural outskirts of zombie infected Atlanta, Utopia is not an equal preferable moral and just existence for everyone, instead Utopia is a safe, stable place in which those men and women who are still able to exercise utopian qualities can find solace. Like More’s Utopia, Rick and his groups’ is “no-place,” just a hope to hold on to and to push them along the road constantly trying to stay one-step ahead of their pursuers. The Walking Dead, unlike previous utopian creations, does not prescribe, or predict, it exposes.
The zombies of The Walking Dead have been speculated upon for over a year now, and though the comic series did include an explanation for their existence, the show, which is reaching vastly larger audiences than the comic ever could, will not follow that path. Instead here the case can be made that the zombies are not a new creation but instead a dramatic representation of the desensitization and the dehumanization in of our current culture. For characters like Rick, Hershel, and Daryl, there is no place in a zombie-infested world, and there is quickly becoming no place for them in our “real” world. People who seek something higher, some higher morality, some exercise of justice, some benefit for a larger group than themselves or their nuclear unit are a dying breed in a world that is obsessed with the “haves” and ignores the “have-nots.” We are in a state of ultra-individualistic, technology-based separation that is removing interaction and devaluing human cooperation.
The Walking Dead is one of the first television series to show that a better tomorrow can only be built together, for each other through moral endeavors. Even in the post-apocalyptic world, bad deeds are not going unpunished. What is more is the success of the series. The Walking Dead is a wildly success prime time program, and for one of the first times these theories of utopianism, dystopia, and the moral questions that accompany both of those topics are reaching massive numbers of people in an easily digestible format.
The zombies of The Walking Dead have been speculated upon for over a year now, and though the comic series did include an explanation for their existence, the show, which is reaching vastly larger audiences than the comic ever could, will not follow that path. Instead here the case can be made that the zombies are not a new creation but instead a dramatic representation of the desensitization and the dehumanization in of our current culture. For characters like Rick, Hershel, and Daryl, there is no place in a zombie-infested world, and there is quickly becoming no place for them in our “real” world. People who seek something higher, some higher morality, some exercise of justice, some benefit for a larger group than themselves or their nuclear unit are a dying breed in a world that is obsessed with the “haves” and ignores the “have-nots.” We are in a state of ultra-individualistic, technology-based separation that is removing interaction and devaluing human cooperation.
The Walking Dead is one of the first television series to show that a better tomorrow can only be built together, for each other through moral endeavors. Even in the post-apocalyptic world, bad deeds are not going unpunished. What is more is the success of the series. The Walking Dead is a wildly success prime time program, and for one of the first times these theories of utopianism, dystopia, and the moral questions that accompany both of those topics are reaching massive numbers of people in an easily digestible format.
Bioshock - Defecting to Utopia
Playstation and XBOX Consoles
V for Vendetta - A Modern Critique of England
“But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know,
in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was
he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the
man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgot-
ten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first-
hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and
die defending them.”
V for Vendetta, 2006
Co-protagonist, Evey Hammond, sums up the meaning of V for Vendetta rather succinctly in the above lines from the film. Ideas must remain active, people must remain active, we must not allow ourselves to be participants in a Dystopic world when we are capable of more. However, the film still conforms with the contemporary acceptance of Dystopic reality.
England, one reminiscent of Sir Thomas More’s—in oppression and powerlessness of the majority of its population—serves as the setting for Warner Bros. film adaptation of Alan More’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta. The film became an instant classic in the science fiction genre but it is not the only one to which it belongs. With the addition of a political and military coercive institution, not unlike Orwell’s “Big Brother” in ideology, England is seen as failing to positively foster their people. The governmental policy: “[s]trength through unity [and] [u]nity
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The below video, of V's speech to the English people, summarizes the intent not only of the protagonists' mission but also of the film itself. (Video 10) |
through faith,” (V for Vendetta) is nothing more than propaganda, an attempt to create nationalistic fervor and to legitimize their actions. “They had to go,” powerful, political antagonist Lewis Prothero declares, “[i]mmigrants, Muslims, homosexuals, terrorists. Disease-ridden degenerates” (V for Vendetta). They simply were the cost of the sought after future of these leaders. However, as with most dystopian works of the 21st century, hope remains.
V, the masked protagonist, presents himself as the modern Guy Fawkes—conspirator against the English government. V’s vendetta is to restore hope, power, and thought to the English people, although through decidedly vengeful means—further increasing one’s perception of the Dystopian environment—instead of the more positive goals associated with Utopianism. V’s dystopian persona cannot exist in the comparative Utopia he intends to provide as the result of his actions, and he realizes this. V understands that there is no place for his motives, feelings, and existence in a different world, they could find no deserving target and would have no justifiable source. V for Vendetta allows viewers to visualize, in relatively current terms, the crossroads, which the 21st century finds itself at in regards to Utopia. There is a choice to be made about our future. It will either be another step toward Utopia, or a thorough acceptance of Dystopia, but it may no longer contain elements of both.
V, the masked protagonist, presents himself as the modern Guy Fawkes—conspirator against the English government. V’s vendetta is to restore hope, power, and thought to the English people, although through decidedly vengeful means—further increasing one’s perception of the Dystopian environment—instead of the more positive goals associated with Utopianism. V’s dystopian persona cannot exist in the comparative Utopia he intends to provide as the result of his actions, and he realizes this. V understands that there is no place for his motives, feelings, and existence in a different world, they could find no deserving target and would have no justifiable source. V for Vendetta allows viewers to visualize, in relatively current terms, the crossroads, which the 21st century finds itself at in regards to Utopia. There is a choice to be made about our future. It will either be another step toward Utopia, or a thorough acceptance of Dystopia, but it may no longer contain elements of both.
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
-A Failed Utopia in Music by Modest Mouse
The idea of our current political and social situations being on the verge of unquestionable dystopia has even emerged in the lyrics of popular music. While the vast majority of popular expression does not deal with these topics, a few artists have achieved great successful with titles that speak to the state of humanity and its relative attraction to or divergence from Utopian ideals.
Modest Mouse’s 2007 album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart list (Billboard), staying on the charts for twenty-five weeks. The majority of the albums tracks deal with the metaphysical difficulty of consciousness, humanity, and purpose. Standout singles, “Missed the Boat” and “We’ve Got Everything” speak to Utopian topics and their use by humanity.
“Everyone’s unhappy/Everyone’s ashamed,” the group declares, making our current state of social relations a miserable representation of our capabilities. “Missed the Boat,” pronounces our creation of Utopia, even as an ideal, as a distraction from our realities. To these artists, the collective humanity has built a perfect existence as “a pillar” but instead, “[w]e just used it as a crutch” (“Missed the Boat”). In response to the notion of progress, a following single from the same album, “We’ve Got Everything” expresses our submission to a technological progress. The lyrics explain how we have forgone the idea of progress in a metaphysical sense for the progress of the hard sciences and technology. Ignoring the warnings of those twentieth century thinkers,
“we still did what we should have thought through/ We
crashed in like waves into the stars/ Didn’t want it didn’t
need it but we know that we/Could see it so we opened up
the door"
--Modest Mouse, 2007
by subjugating humanity to technology these lyrics, and their general popularity, seem to suggest that we have failed to deliver ourselves to the perfect state we have, as people, consistently considered superior. Instead, we have used the impossible connotation of this existence to go as far as justifying our march into Dystopia.
Modest Mouse’s 2007 album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart list (Billboard), staying on the charts for twenty-five weeks. The majority of the albums tracks deal with the metaphysical difficulty of consciousness, humanity, and purpose. Standout singles, “Missed the Boat” and “We’ve Got Everything” speak to Utopian topics and their use by humanity.
“Everyone’s unhappy/Everyone’s ashamed,” the group declares, making our current state of social relations a miserable representation of our capabilities. “Missed the Boat,” pronounces our creation of Utopia, even as an ideal, as a distraction from our realities. To these artists, the collective humanity has built a perfect existence as “a pillar” but instead, “[w]e just used it as a crutch” (“Missed the Boat”). In response to the notion of progress, a following single from the same album, “We’ve Got Everything” expresses our submission to a technological progress. The lyrics explain how we have forgone the idea of progress in a metaphysical sense for the progress of the hard sciences and technology. Ignoring the warnings of those twentieth century thinkers,
“we still did what we should have thought through/ We
crashed in like waves into the stars/ Didn’t want it didn’t
need it but we know that we/Could see it so we opened up
the door"
--Modest Mouse, 2007
by subjugating humanity to technology these lyrics, and their general popularity, seem to suggest that we have failed to deliver ourselves to the perfect state we have, as people, consistently considered superior. Instead, we have used the impossible connotation of this existence to go as far as justifying our march into Dystopia.
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