Junior Emma Lake’s fascination with dystopian science fiction began in elementary school when she first read the “Hunger Games” series. Along with many of her classmates, she connected to dystopian literature, leading to a developed interest in the topic.
Dystopian literature is a form of speculative fiction that provides a vision of the future where a society is in cataclysmic decline, according to MasterClass. It follows characters who battle environmental ruin, technological control and government oppression.
“These books make people think,” Lake said. “If you think about ‘1984’ or other books, they bring attention to leaders and the mistreatment of people. That’s something people are interested in and for some it’s mind-opening.”
The release of Suzanne Collins’ fourth novel in the Hunger Games series, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” delivers an enjoyable read and nostalgic childhood memories, Lake said.
Lake said more recent novels and films like the Hunger Games series are typically what come to mind when thinking of this genre, but dystopian literature is anything but new. Lake recalled watching “Metropolis,” a black and white film from the 1920s that shares similar key concepts with many popular dystopian films today.
A long-lasting genre
Mike Stock, professor of English and film, has taught various courses on science fiction and particularly enjoys cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction.
Cyberpunk depicts a darker future. These films comment on technology, claiming it will ultimately make things worse, according to Britannica. The genre consists of Stock’s favorite films: “Bladerunner,” “Videodrome” and “Akira,” all of which came out within the same decade as the Apple Macintosh.
These films reflect the cultural anxiety surrounding the development of home computing and the normalization of computers everywhere, Stock said.
“We haven’t really gotten a break from our cultural anxiety about technology since then,” Stock said. “Technology has only increased and only infiltrated more areas of life.”
Dystopian sci-fi has expanded beyond literature. Literature, culture and music are also experiencing dystopian effects. There is a darkening of humanity’s relationship to culture and the world, Stock said.
Junior Raesa Martin began reading dystopian sci-fi as a child with her older sister. She said she likes reading dystopian fiction because it shows just how far society will go to establish control, which is a unique perspective compared to other genres of literature.
Martin said she believes the genre has stuck around for so long because people use it as a way to warn themselves about the future.
“It’s interesting to see what a society will do in terms of making itself dystopian and how scary life could be in the future if we did go down that path,” Martin said. “And usually there’s an underlying romance, which I love.”
Junior Ryan Reagan said his favorite genre of books growing up was dystopian sci-fi.
“My favorite trilogy is ‘The 5th Wave,’” Reagan said. “It’s such a page-turner, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.”
Stock believes science fiction as a whole is here to stay, but its popular form is bound to change.
“It’s definitely not going to disappear,” Stock said. “Whether it [dystopian science fiction] will remain the rule of sci-fi, I would think that would change.”
Up until the 1980s, utopian fiction was the norm of science fiction, Stock said.
“If you look at history, it is always the story of cycles,” Stock said. “So this, just like eventually the Marvel movies, must end.”
Solarpunk, the antithesis of Cyberpunk, is an emerging subgenre in sci-fi. It is a new trend in literature bringing back utopian science fiction.
“We haven’t seen much of it [solarpunk] in the media,” Stock said. “We will though, the books will be auctioned, and there will be shows and movies. It will be interesting to see if the balance will tip, if viewers want a break from dystopian sci-fi.”
Adaptations
“The Last of Us,” which is about a post-apocalyptic United States that faces infected cannibalistic humans, is a prime example of a successful adaptation.
The popular T.V. series was originally a game on Sony’s PlayStation. The T.V. adaptation quickly became the second most popular series on Max.
Stock said it is rare for a video game to render such great success as an adaptation.
“Adaptations of video games usually are cash grabs,” Stock said. “Usually not focusing on the importance of characters and narrative, but hopefully this will develop a new rule of really great shows that adapt previous existing games.”
Lake believes for screen adaptations to work, such as in the case of a novel, they must involve close collaboration with the author of the book.
“If the original intentions of the media are portrayed in the film, they can be well done,” Lake said. “But they can also butcher the message.”
Martin prefers reading books before watching their adaptations. She said movies are more basic and often lack important details of the book, but they can still be fun to watch.
“Movies give a good introduction to the book, but the book has so much more detail and elaboration,” Martin said. “So it does capture the characters in the plot more than the movie does.”
Reagan was excited when the movie adaption of “The 5th Wave” was released. Because he had already read the book, the movie only added to the thrilling world the book had built in his head. He said some movies can be a great addition to the books, but not all are.
The effects of dystopian media
While dystopian media is interesting, consuming this media consistently can be a little sad or even depressing, Lake said.
“There’s probably an effect on mental health after reading books with heavy subjects,” Lake said. “The biggest thing I realized is that it’s not real. It’s fiction at the end of the day.”
Some of the books might even make people feel more prepared for doomsday or natural disasters. Lake’s favorite series — “The Hunger Games” — is full of death and demise in society. Observing a world that is so different from one’s own unlocks an innate curiosity of the unknown, Lake said.
“Most of these worlds I can’t imagine experiencing, so it’s interesting to read about them,” Lake said.
Martin connects societal decline and doomsday preparation to two of her favorite series — “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” series. These two series are among Martin’s first introductions to dystopian sci-fi and continue to be on her list of favorites.
It can be difficult to digest dystopian sci-fi because it leads people to think about the negative effects of society and political environments, Martin said.
“It could also affect people positively, like teaching them how to not go down a bad path,” Martin said.
Martin likes to view dystopian sci-fi in a positive light because she said it makes her think deeply about changes she can make and new possibilities.
“Although it could be negative, it could be positive too,” Martin said. “I look at it in a positive way, so I hope other people do too.”
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