Modern Society Is Far From Perfect, And Even Further From

Utopia would be a place where everyone cared and loved for each other. For example, no one would judge nor criticize another person. No one would fight over different things, thus the prevention of war. One would never feel threatened in their acts if nobody hated them for it.

Every person has their own personal vision of utopia. My utopia may be filled with libraries and cats, while yours would probably look very different. In Frankenstein, Shelley gives us Victor Frankenstein, a man who envisions a world where he will never feel the pain of losing someone he loves again. He devises a way to cheat

Different societies have risen and fallen in the continual search for the “perfect” society. The definition of this utopia is in constant flux due to changing times and cultural values. Many works of literature have been written describing a utopian society and the steps needed to achieve it. However, there are those with a more cynical or more realistic view of society that comment on current and future trends. These individuals look at the problems in society and show how to solve them with the use of control and power. Such a society is considered undesirable and has become known as dystopian society.

A person’s perception of Utopia varies depending on their life experiences and what they hope to expect of the society in which they live. It's an ideal place where equality, serenity, protection, and freedom are essential qualities.

Utopia is the idea of a perfect society, where everything and everyone is harmonious. Countless times in history people have strived to reach this impossible goal, and countless times they have failed. Peter Weir in his movie, and George Orwell in his allegorical novel, explore this idea of a failed utopia. Weir, the director of The Truman Show, a movie about a reality TV show by the same name, shows the TV show’s director Christof’s attempt to achieve an idyllic utopian society by controlling Truman and the world he lives in. He explains his purpose for a utopian society, saying, “I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be.” Christof’s ideal world, portrayed for main character Truman, is a stereotypical one: white picket fences, perfect wife, perfect job, etc. It is the ideal, happy, society, where all events are controlled by director Christof. Eventually, Truman becomes restless, and works out he lives in a controlled world. He rebels against the perfect controlled life, his idea of utopia being different to Christof’s, Turman preferring the

Dystopian science fiction films of the past have frequently presented a critical dystopia, by projecting future cities that perpetuates corporate capitalism’s prominent features. Examples of these features are urban decay, commodification, overcrowding, highly skewed disparities of wealth and poverty, and authoritarian policing. An example of a Dystopian science fiction film that project cities that perpetuates

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced

Each person has their own vision of utopia. Utopia means an ideal state, a paradise, a land of enchantment. It has been a central part of the history of ideas in Western Civilization. Philosophers and writers continue to imagine and conceive plans for an ideal state even today. They use models of ideal government to express their ideas on contemporary issues and political conditions. Man has never of comparing the real and ideal, actuality and dream, and the stark facts of human condition and hypothetical versions of optimum life and government.

Dystopian texts’ roots lie in social criticism. Many of the classics such as Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale all end bleakly for the protagonists: their purported futures are warnings, and at least part of their purpose is to make us wonder what horrors our own real world decisions could ultimately engender. Gattaca is a 1997 “cautionary futuristic fiction” film directed by Andrew Niccol and the predominant reason for its dystopic nature is due to society’s yearning towards a utopic world, where humans are genetically perfect. In attempting to create this flawless world, dystopic elements such as the genetic engineering, discrimination and oppression as well as a lack of individuality are brought about, generating an unintended dystopia, and encouraging the audience to speculate about the world mankind has created.

however, differ considerably. The goal of Utopia is to illustrate the maintenance of an “ideal”

Dreams of Utopia and The Reality of Dystopia One of America’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson once said, “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery” (Andrew 99) . Humanity can learn how history repeats itself as the past often has ironic relevances to the present and future. Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale and the director Neill Blomkamp’s film Elysium both posit stories of oppressed, authoritarian societies, where the upper classes live in a life of luxury and harmony while controlling and dehumanizing the much larger lower class. Ironically, it is similar to that in real world dictatorships in certain countries as well being quite conceivable to happen in the future for today’s developed nations.

Action-packed and highly-rated, Mad Max: Fury Road is a critically-acclaimed film about a journey of survival through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. There is no doubt that post-apocalyptic films are becoming increasingly popular among audiences as seen with movies such as the Hunger Games. However, Leggatt (2012) describes another variation in the post-apocalyptic genre, one that has been dubbed post-9/11 after a string of patterns prevalent in some post-apocalyptic films. Leggatt’s definition of post-9/11 apocalyptic films are ones that have a pessimistic tone towards the future of a society. As the world evolves and progresses, many new issues overlap and outgrow previous issues that have plagued the world before - though this transgression, the film industry follows suit in order to invent stories and media that is thought-provoking and relevant to changing society. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is a film that encapsulates many elements of Leggatt’s post 9/11 apocalypse film genre through the apocalyptic setting, derailment of redemption, and societal obsession with apocalypse over utopia.

Arrival is an anti-utopia because of its failure to produce what is generally expected in utopian and dystopian films. Anti-utopias are against utopian and utopian thought and are generally constant unsystematic streams of consciousness (Baccolini 5). Through this, Arrival demonstrates anti-utopia from the lack of scenes that would ordinarily be seen in sci-fi films. Specifically the overall presence of the military and lack of “action” scenes. Often, anti-utopian critics “[have] a well worn war chest of post-structuralism pieties … to shut down lines of thought that delineate the concept of critical utopianism” (Munoz, 10).

In contrast to a utopia, according to the power point provided in class a dystopia is “an imaginary place where people live dehumanized and often fearful lives.” The movies The Matrix, 1999 and Avatar, 2009 overall seem to me as dystopian films. To show how each film portrays the different aspects of perspectives on the future, and a dystopia, I’m going to use the settings, actions, and outcomes of each film.

Utopia is a brilliant novel written by Thomas More. The idea of a utopia seems impossible, how can anyone live in a perfect place when perfection is in the eyes of the beholder? The Utopia in this novel is nothing more than abundant of already established ideas therefore it can’t not truly be a Utopia.