If you are like me, you truly appreciate the little things in life. Things like finding money in a coat pocket, waking up early and realizing you have more time to sleep and especially a good book turned into a great movie. Great content to pull from is what makes books turned films– like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent extremely popular.
But even with these aforementioned books turned films, we must ask ourselves, is the dystopian genre truly dead?
Courtesy of Urban Dictionary
Short answer: Yes. Long answer, the dystopian literature genre has been reused over and over again to the point of ill recognition, but the film genre is just getting to its feet through a dissipating breed of futuristic science fiction/fantasy that caters to tween girls trying to be the next Katniss Everdeen.
These series, both the novels and film adaptions, are like dramatic soap operas for the younger generation. Yet, despite the childlike associations with the dystopian genre, productions employing the doom and gloom storytelling style is cultivating a mass following, equipped with high quality plot and character developments that remind me of a classic Greek tragedies.
Take The Shannara Chronicles for example, an old dystopian mythical sci-fi novel series of the 70’s and 80’s that has been revived for the small screen on MTV.
See the awesome trailer below:
I am not a royal elf, druid or roamer. I don’t gather my friends to face off against an old tree called the Elcryss that is dying and is releasing demons throughout the Four Lands. And, I know that the Four Lands do not exist. But what does exist is the bravery and inspiration that spews from the characters of this show. That’s why I enjoy watching it every week. It’s also pretty gory sometimes and the sound is just spectacular, which is always a plus.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of most dystopian novels, films and television shows, but I respect them. I’m intrigued by them and their capability to hypnotize the masses. Similar to the way that I’m hypnotized by Kanye West’s tweets, teenage boys who somehow managed to gain millions of followers on Instagram and Vine and short videos of some anonymous person making delicious looking food in less than a minute with a pop track thrown behind it all.
Courtesy of Twitter and Mr. West
Why is dystopia interesting? If you’re my age, it’s because the idea of an uncertain future is relatable. If you were born after 2001, it’s because you want to be an butt-kicking archer who saves the world. #goodtohavegoals.
Alright, so now you’re saying, “Nicole, that’s absolutely ridiculous! You can’t relate to being forced into a competition where you have to kill the competition,” or “Nicole, that’s ridiculous! You’re not being forced to live in a society where the government is testing you to use you to save the world!”
Not so. As a young adult and an undergraduate student, I am very well aware that I am competition with everyone else my age. Now, I’m not going to kill my peers — hopefully — but we’re in competition for well paying jobs, affordable homes and the American Dream. And as far as I know and I don’t know much, the government isn’t running tests on us or actively suppressing our ability to succeed. But we are, as we grow older, expected to do our part to keep the world in check. Whether it’s paying our taxes, making babies, or recycling, we’re gonna have to do our part as adults to “save the world.”
Things don’t always have to exist to relate to them and they don’t have to exist to be inspired by them. Now I know why tween girls want to be Katniss Everdeen.
Courtesy of The Hunger Games and wadebearden.com