What do these futures have in common with each other?

What’s the common link between these films? There were three primary motifs that were repeated throughout this batch of films. They are vague religions, class warfare, and the power of nature.

I’ll start with class warfare. According to these alternate futures the middle class is no more. You’re either Billy Gates or living in a cardboard castles. The poor are seen as a disease on a society that shouldn’t be seen or touched. Why is the wage gap so cavernous? It’s always a little vague but war or famine or plague always plays a part and as a result the economy collapses. The government isn’t affected however. I doubt this is a realistic future. The governing body would be affected too. They somehow get more powerful after this disaster affecting all of society. Everything would suffer and stagnate at least for a little while. Also in these films the rich are viewed as absolute evil. It makes sense as a quick way establish a conflict but feels overused. It’d be more interesting if maybe the difference between good and bad wasn’t so stark. Morality is black and white where in the older films there a strong sense of grey. If you’re watching a modern dystopian future film and you see someone that’s wearing a fancy dress or a 3 piece suit, they’re the absolute scum of the earth. They’d sell their kid to save a buck. If someone has tattered/old/damaged clothes they’re the hero. This troupe feels reductive and lazy. I understand that this quickly sets up who’s who but it felt like this was barely used to its fullest and most nuanced.

In the previous article I briefly addressed this troupe but there’s a noticeable lack or extinction of organized religion in 1960s films where in these it’s just a vague religion or religions that exists. Unlike poor vs. rich, this is actually enjoyable. It adds a nice flavor to the atmosphere. In trying times people revert to different things for comfort. In these films the standard appears to be in the form of vague cults. These are a source of warmth and comfort from the earth hell scape. It’s never the focus; it’s just another aspect of the world.

As a result of abusing our planet, the planet fought back and kicked humanity’s ass. It shows up in two forms, weather and disease. If weather it’s something like say, a giant blizzard that engulfs the whole earth. If it’s a disease that say attacks an entire country the feds quarantine an entire sector of it. This is clearly a reaction to the heightened attention given to the environment. Some would say this motif is purely political and some would say it’s just for entertainment. I feel like it’s a case by case basis. Regardless of the intent, it makes for a compelling story, majority of the time.

How close are we to these futures?

In Part 1, it was concluded that we are living in a dystopian future according to 1960s films. Are we living in a dystopian future and not even aware of it? Let’s find out.

There wasn’t as much to grab onto with these films the main thing that really stuck out was vague religion. In all three, there wasn’t an established religion or central belief but there was a sense of some reverence towards something. It felt like either the screenwriters are afraid to be specific when it comes to religion or it’s open-ended to put your belief into that space or both. This is the inverse of the 1960s. I would have thought these would be the opposite. For a lot of people religion is an important part of life, one in the pro column.

Again the standard corrupt government thing is used to establish a dourness lingering throughout. It’s a part of the genre but in these films it was vaguely defined and not that evil more just a bunch of assholes. Also human civilization is barely holding together so using these as evidence, that’s two in the con column. I conclude that we are not living in a dystopian future according to modern films.

Would it be fun to live in these futures?

Simple answer, no. The world is on the brink of collapse, families falling apart, no one is having fun, and worst of all, no one cares about music or books. This future is not fun at all. It’s really grim and kinda dull. It’s very Christopher Nolan so jokes are outlawed. Who wants to live like a peasant where you eat your pet, bugs, or people and just brood 24/7? Not this fellow. At least the old movies presented a bittersweet future where these only were bitter.

The end…I have one more thing before I conclude this series. For those curious, my least favorite film of the six was Snowpiercer. It was overblown and tried too hard to be crazy and cool. My favorite film of the six was The 10^th Victim. It was goofy, fun, weird, and presented a bizarre very 1960s future. The plot takes a crazy batshit turn in the third act that’s makes it great. Is this the beginning of a semi-regular column deconstructing specific genres? Yes it is. If you made it this far thanks. Now, the end…for now, at least.

What do these futures have in common with each other?

The best/worst recurring motif is computer technology. They so wildly mis-predicted where technology was going in the best way. It’s pretty amazing. Computers at that time were still the size of a room and they predicted…they would stay exactly the same. Other pieces of technology are giant-sized or shrunken but the most technological thing of the 20^th century remained exactly the same. Except they had one major change, that made them terrifying overseers keeping humanity in line, the ability to speak. The most evil thing that a computer could possibly do is sound kinda like Dalek but not enough that it’s violating copyright. Also they kept humanity in line via many evil methods like deciding who lives and dies and other boring stuff like that. I imagine that was revolutionary and mind-blowing at the time but now it doesn’t quite have the same effect. Basically, it’s like CG now. Much like a beer, it doesn’t age well.

Some other themes are the rise of mega-corporations, the popularity of reality TV and the extinction of religion. You could say part of this is happening right now as you read this. The recurring theme for these businesses isn’t profit but morality…? These companies make society more moral and peaceful. How do they do that exactly? They create games involving people hunting and killing other people. It’s a mixed message but they tricked governments into giving them money somehow. I don’t understand how they even started. How does one propose creating a LLC that produces corpses? It raises questions and once you start breaking down it stops making any sense. Religion appears to have been replaced by these mega-corporations.

According to these films, people at the time were afraid of religion disappearing, computers talking, and corporations creating and policing morality. Two of these are legitimate and understandable fears. The other is talking computers.

How close are we to these futures?

Naturally looking at these films you’ll start to wonder, if it’s just around corner. Reality TV is unfortunately still very popular. It begs the question, where is reality TV heading? We have shows about Honeys’ Boo², Dynasties of Ducks, Cats of Fishing and Gene Simmons’ Jewelry. It’s only a matter of time until they’re completely out of ideas and revert to gladiator style fights for our entertainment. It appears on its last legs now but imagine, in 50 or 60 years what will it morph into?

The omnipresence of cameras recording every detail of our dull lives was spot on. However, we adjusted very quickly and seemingly don’t care or mind. In the movies, cameras are everywhere. Some are hidden and some are staring you in the face. In theory it is possible to record every second of a person’s life using security cameras, cell phones, laptops, camcorders, GoPros, webcams, google glass, etc. I think we should start giving a shit a little at least I mean, privacy is great. When you’re alone you can do anything…anything without the prying eyes of society judging you, privacy is necessary for us to function. Enough of that, cameras are everywhere and that was eerily accurate.

The status and power that corporations have is mentioned in the previous section. However, it appears corporations are unstoppable and growing stronger. I hate to say it but according to the 1960s version of a dystopian future…we are living it as you read this. I’m sorry this is how you learn. We can start by throwing away our phones or we can start tomorrow.

Would it be fun to live this future?

I saved the best for last. This is not a simple question of yes or no it requires some thought and patience. There are multiple things to consider here. According to the sections above this future involves mega corporations that produce morality through corpses, cameras constantly watching us, computers that talk in gravelly voices, and reality shows where people do ridiculous things against their will. On top of that everything has just slightly more rubble than now. It’s not a complete wasteland but it’s nearly done recovering through a disaster, compared to modern ones.

Since things aren’t as bad as they could be, this future might be worth it however. Here is my reasoning, it may appear bad but living in an oppression future would have one great benefit. That is, amazing Hip Hop and Punk Rock. Since the economy is not so great and people live in impoverished conditions, that breeds anti-establishment and honest music. I would want to live in this future. The music would be so good it’s worth the potential of being involved in a life-or-death reality show, oppressive corporations, and computers talking to me with creepy gravelly voices.

With all that said, Part 2 is coming soon. I’ll take a look at the modern idea of a dystopian future with The Hunger Games, Snowpiercer, and Doomsday.

Molly and Jay return to talk about the second installment of the Hunger Games franchise, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, and why Adam Levine’s weird baby teeth make him the most unlikely choice to be Sexiest Man Alive.

All I can look at is Peeta in spandex. Help me.