The primary component of this idea is that what dystopian fiction and Occupy have in common is an overthrow of the established order. In the case of Occupy it's probably a more orderly process of redistributing wealth from the 1% to the 99%.
But dystopian stuff like The Hunger Games or even zombie stuff like "The Walking Dead" demonstrate perhaps a subconscious desire by the 99% to overthrow their corporate overlords. Because really whether it's "Dawn of the Dead," or "Mad Max," or The Road or The Hunger Games what we have is the current regimes being destroyed by war or disease or what have you. And especially true in stories like The Road or "The Walking Dead," those who survive aren't those who've accumulated wealth; it's those who have practical survival skills like being able to run and shoot and climb and so forth. The message (again perhaps subconsciously) is that you can have all this money and fame and all these houses and fancy cars but it won't save you from war or zombies or other disasters. It's kind of Biblical in a way, like how Christians (or Muslims, etc.) believe in the end no one but God will judge you.
In other dystopian stuff like The Hunger Games there is a new regime but it's typically of the more authoritarian variety. The message there is more like, "You can have all your money and fame and power but in the end someone even worse can come along to replace you." Or maybe that these new regimes are just parodies of the ones already controlling things.
So I think my somewhat academic thesis here would say is that people have embraced dystopian stories because they're unsatisfied with the current climate. Even if they don't know it consciously, what they want subconsciously is to tear down the current unfair system. Most of us then while we might be too lazy or scared to join an Occupy protest probably agree with them, if only subconsciously.
Or I could just be talking out my ass...like usual.
I agree, I think. Except of course I don't have mad climbing skills so I'm screwed in the post society world you describe. My current malady came from a clothes changing incident. Hell, it wasn't even zipper related, I just can't put on a t shirt.
ReplyDeleteDoomed.
Yeah all the fatties like me are doomed as well. We'll be easy pickings for the zombies or cannibals or whatever. Though really most of us are so specialized today that it'll be all but impossible to survive the breakdown of society. I mean what happens if your car breaks down? You can't fix it yourself. If you get sick? You can't heal yourself.
DeleteThat was very insightful, Muttley. I hadn't thought about it before.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a mistake, though, to think that you're not part of the movement because you're not physically camping.
In a military operation, you have a small number of people on Seal Team 6, then a larger group in the 82nd Airborne. The largest group of all, though, is everyone who works for DoD.
Similarly, the front line soldiers of OWS camp on the ground. The rear echelon people provide rear-echelon support; like blogging, being a voice in support, standing up for it when it gets attacked by people who don't know, don't understand, or want to see it stopped. Paying attention is a form of support. If the people on the ground don't have stable, middle aged, middle Americans on their team, they fail.
Excellent post. Your last full paragaraph is spot on. I'm there.
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I don't think you're talking out your ass at all. I think it makes a lot of sense, as there is obviously some reason dystopian stories are so popular these days.
ReplyDeleteHmmmnnn... Your premise is an interesting one. I need to have another cup of coffee, more than one, and give this further thought. But on the face of it, I believe you just might be correct.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point! I think you're on to something.
ReplyDeleteI think you're exactly right - that's why these stories so appealing to teens (who want/need to overthrow the authority of their parents). I do think it would make an awesome thesis to compare points in history to rises in dystopian literature and to subtle changes in the genre over time (fighting compulsive urge to research it right now instead of watching Thomas the Tank Engine with my tiny person).
ReplyDeleteBTW, we need to get working on robots to fight for those of us with bad feet or toes or pinky fingers.
I can't really think of a time when there weren't dystopina stories, whether 1984 or Clockwork Orange or Mad Max or Battle Royale. It's one of those tricks of the mind that makes us think things used to be great but now they're messed up. The same six people have always been in charge and they're going to live forever. Vampires probably.
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Moody Writing
@mooderino
The Funnily Enough
Yeah, I've been saying this for a while. It's part of my disinterest in dystopian literature.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think change is coming...
Fact, with spoiler for movies: In "Zombieland," Bill Murray survived the zombie crisis in fine order in his Beverly Hills mansion; it was humans that brought him down. So that's symbolic of something or other.
ReplyDeleteI was reading on IO9 last night, as I waited for my own dystopian future to arrive via the flu bug that took down the rest of the house (12:12 p.m. as I type this the next day, still doing fine, fingers crossed), about the 19th century's worst sci-fi book and I think it was dystopian fiction, too.
Your idea that it's especially popular right now because of Occupy may be putting the cart before the horse: Occupy Wall Street started a couple of years after "The Hunger Games" was big, and "The Walking Dead" had hit the small screen, etc. So rather than being popular because people are unhappy with the current regime, it may be that people are unhappy with the current regime because popular culture is projecting on them a world where the current order (1% controlling all) ends badly, so they are fighting to change what would otherwise be the outcome.
I'm not really saying anything about the Occupy movement, but I do think dystopians are so popular, right now, because people have come to believe that those in charge are only concerned with money and will lead us all into ruin because of it.
ReplyDeleteLike in the 80s when we all believed we were going to die to nuclear death.
Whether this is because we believe these things on our own or if it's because pop culture has portrayed it this way is sort of irrelevant. -Someone- believed it enough to portray it that way and other people agreed. The point is that people do believe that the 1% care only for themselves and the money they make off of everyone else and the environment.
ReplyDeleteYour last full paragraph is spot on! Things are a mess and need changing. The trick is to find the right vehicle to get us there. I'm not sure the Occupy movement was/is the right one, but I do sympathize with their frustration.
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I might as well admit it, you're right about why I like to read and write dystopian fiction.
ReplyDeleteI always kind of thought that people were drawn to dystopians to feel important. I have friends that wish there was a real zombie apocalypse. It would make them feel like they could be somebody instead of working at CostCo for a wage that barely allows them to live. Things would be judged on skill instead of other things. And you'd survive on your wits and athleticism alone.
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