Dystopia: After the cliché

Hmmm. I wouldnt have thought of Kandahar so readily, but I see it now.

Did you see the movie ``Them``? or something like that with Roddy Piper. Was it ``They Live``?
There`s a healthy paranoid version of aliens took over our society...

Great work Mr. Paracha!!! However, you could add these to the list:

1. Neuromancer by William Gibson, which set its plot in a grim cybernetic future ruled by huge multinationals, street law, and human degeneration under the ready availability of drugs and questionable technology like self-serving A.I, a virtual reality network similar to the Matrix, and and the melding of man and machine through implants.

2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which shows a ``utopia`` in which humans are divided into castes through eugenics, and forcibly kept happy through drugs and subliminal messaging.

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which, while not strictly a distopian novel, shows how the dark side of human nature ultimately wins out over the niceties of civilization when it comes to the pinch.

#1 Saminsha
``Classic`` 50s pulp sci-fi and ``B Movies`` that became famous for using alien invasions as symbolic representation of the time`s paranoia about communist infileraion and take-over of America have always interested me. But out of these, two have stood out: ``Invasion Of The Body Snatchers`` and ``Starship Troopers.`` The later one fitted perfectly in the context of the article.

#2 Ahmed
Neuromancer was one of the first ``Cyber-Punk`` novels but I decided not to use it here because then I thought I would have had to use ``Matrix,`` as well, a film (especially its two seaquels), I`m not so crazy about. Brave New World too crossed my mind, but I chose Metropolis instead. And as for Lord Of The Flies, it remains to be one of my favourite books. But the problem is, since I had to re-read and re-watch all the books and movies I have mentioned in the article, I just couldn`t get my hands on Lord Of The Flies. It`s been ages since I last read it.
Thank you for the appreciation and input.

rgds,
NfP

NFP:
Metropolis by Fritz Lang in 1930 something and Don Delillo is probably obsessed with this idea.. he has a book out called Metropolis too i think? White Noise was very flat but filled with his spiels about bar codes, pills and suburban blah...

how about Propaganda documentaries Herr Goebbels and Leni Reifenstahl in Triump of the Will - 1934. What you see on screen is Nuremberg transformed into a Nazi utopia but was it really?

His Obscured Highness Pynchon can also be pinned down in dystopian fiction.. but i am not really qualified to say and then i think it is blasphemous to Interpret Pynchon`s words.

there is much that is too real and too close to home. dysfunctional distended dissipating dystopias.

found myself watching more than a few bond movies over the holiday. . . and saw much of what were already dystopias passed off as utopias. . . the city under water in ``the spy who loved me`` the city in space in ``moonraker`` and the head honchos of these dystopias were megalomaniacs who wanted to destroy the world on earth to achieve their ``utopias``. and the funny thing about the bond movies is that they all centered around dystopias battling dystopias. :) the bloody cold war.

apologies for sounding so disconnected about dystopias. good list though.

NFP:

Interesting ideas here. But...
1. I feel Charlie Chaplin with `The Great Dictator` and `Modern Times` truly laid bare the dystopia of both fascism and consumerism.

2. From your list you seem to suggest that both Utopia and Dystopia are essentially Western constructs (so what happens to some of us who believe that westernisation is dystopic to begin with?!).

3. Even your take on `Kandahar` has a Western perspective, although not entirely wrong.
PS: Do you know that the new regime in Afghanistan has brought back the horrendous dog-fights that were banned by the Taliban?

Dystopia vs. dystopia or mere degeneration?

[It’s just too real. And too close to home.]

Tried-and-tested remedy: Make your home in fantasyland!

Engrossing read Paracha. One of your finest but must agree with Versey when she says Dystopias or Utopias are western concepts. Westernization is biggest dystopia. Still trying to understand why you used Kandhar here? Was it only to also bring in Islamic angle to your topic which mostly attack capitalism and facism?

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Mr Paracha Missed....

Escape from Newyork.....and before that...

Mad Max series..... I believe there were three/two sequels to it....

Raw Dust:
Have you seen the upgraded, colour version of Metropolis? It was reconstructed back in the mid-80s. I hope they hadn`t done that. Because German Impressionist style many serious European directors used to use in those days start looking like a Dream Works animation piece. That to ME is/was blasphamy.

ana:
Why on earth have you been watching Bond movies!? Moonraker was a good watch, even though I (personally) would have loved to visit the Dystopia/Utopia in the shape of that city in space (as long as it didn`t have any shopping malls).

Ferzana Versyy
~~Tried-and-tested remedy: Make your home in fantasyland!~~

...Or perhaps, go mad like our hero in ``Brazil.``

ninki7777
~~Why even bother to be so familiar with the abstract works of europeans when half or more of the population in the subcontinent don`t even read or write.~~

What`s your suggestion, then? A Lata ballad or a Sharukh blockbuster? Start getting bothered, mate. Good for the knees.

Snail
~~why you used Kandhar here? Was it only to also bring in Islamic angle to your topic which mostly attack capitalism and facism? ~~

No snail. It was only to celeberate the fact that at least somebody out there did!

rgds,
NfP

aquaris:

rainer werner fassibinder`s magnum opus berlin alexanderplatz?

baaghiraja:

{why on earth have you been watching bond movies?. . .}

a) i was bored. b) they became an interesting study of sorts. c) they were a helpful diversion in keeping me from knocking out a sibling. . .

we (as in the human collective) have been trying to create utopias since time immemorial. the bible stories i used to read as a kid with pictures (jesus looked like a white man) are in a sense, the search for a utopia. america in the fifteenth or sixteenth century and later was utopia for those escaping religious persecution, but it became hell for the american indians. the french revolution was to usher in a utopia of sorts. . . as was the iranian revolution. . .i think the movies, music and books you list, though primarily western, reflect what happens to a dream turned beyond nightmare. . . be it a western construct or not. . .

domo arigato mr. roboto. :)

don`t fret, everything will be okay :


eventually, it will be no longer necessary to forecast the future, because time will disappear and everything will happen at once ........

the oceans will dry up and people will find things they dropped in the toilet many years ago .......

a utopian society ruled by women will emerge, and there will be peace and plenty for all. however, many men will still act like macho assholes..........

all the knowledge in the world will be contained on a single, tiny silicone chip which somone will misplace .........

no one will take drugs, but people will still buy them and conceal them from the police......

at birth religions will charge people an initial fee of $50,000 and then pretty much leave them alone ...............

..................... and according to carlin (swa) there is a lot more to look forward to .........

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NFP:
--Far as i recall.. the movie had a reddish tint.. but you can always do away with it by hiking the contrast... it didnt look like a dreamworks werk... actually come to think of Godard`s Alphaville with a detective story plot..well the plot sort of goes into gradual disintegration as the movie goes.. until you are left with anna karina`s big black eyes and pretty much nothing else of the dystopic whatever... wasnt bad at all though...

--This manga movie Metropolis - 2001... teary eyed exploding images.. a lil bit of smoke in the room and it seemed like the best Metropolis ever made..

--RE: 6 Versey
if you feel like masochistic as the beloved Talibans got daisy-cuttered and no more (cant resist to mention the auspicious ocassion of Lailathul Qadar .. their sad demise... blessed too probably).. i suggest Amores Perroes ( Love is a Bitch)- 2001.... it has got a fabulous dog fight, a fantastic car chase and two other puppies looking for love...

NFP:

no educated muslim longs for the the caliphate of the four first caliphs. the reason they are referred to as the four rightly guided caliphs are because those four rulers were the closest to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and therefore knew his decisions best. they ruled effectively for the most part. that sort of administration will not be seen in the muslim world again. and by the way, baaghiraja, before you believe all the bull crap you watch on CNN and fox news (two of the worst networks in the world, they actually make PTV look good!) consider the experiences of yvonne ridley, in her own words. google her name. just a thought....