Formerly Known as "How I Learned to Live with the System - So Far."
Happy New Year, everyone! We're one year further into the new millennium, and one year closer to that dystopian future that everyone keeps predicting!
As we discussed in the last article, "dystopia" as a concept is hot right now; just take a look at most young adult franchises that achieve popularity. It's not fair to say that this is a new trend however, because grimly fantasizing about a future in which our country's citizens are enslaved by technology, the government or other threats to our freedom is an old pastime by this point. Shortly after science fiction authors emerged and speculated about the big wide world out there and how our society would cope with it, they turned their thoughts towards the dark side of the question "what if...?" and jotted down their morbid responses.
Sci-fi writers can be anxious people. Just ask Philip K. Dick.
Anyhow, as a citizen of the new millennium, I am well versed in all the tropes that indicate our society's demise. The writers catering to my generation are brutal in their certainty that we are all doomed. So it was somewhat refreshing to turn back the clock to 1985 and watch a film made by someone inspired by Orwell's "1984"...who never read a word of "1984".
Terry Gilliam makes dystopia seem fun. And isn't that a terrifying notion?
As we discussed in the last article, "dystopia" as a concept is hot right now; just take a look at most young adult franchises that achieve popularity. It's not fair to say that this is a new trend however, because grimly fantasizing about a future in which our country's citizens are enslaved by technology, the government or other threats to our freedom is an old pastime by this point. Shortly after science fiction authors emerged and speculated about the big wide world out there and how our society would cope with it, they turned their thoughts towards the dark side of the question "what if...?" and jotted down their morbid responses.
Sci-fi writers can be anxious people. Just ask Philip K. Dick.
Anyhow, as a citizen of the new millennium, I am well versed in all the tropes that indicate our society's demise. The writers catering to my generation are brutal in their certainty that we are all doomed. So it was somewhat refreshing to turn back the clock to 1985 and watch a film made by someone inspired by Orwell's "1984"...who never read a word of "1984".
Terry Gilliam makes dystopia seem fun. And isn't that a terrifying notion?
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