Dystopian futures are stories. Glimpses into our supposed future Directors, Authors, artists, all these incredible human beings created a world where they display what they believe the world will turn into in the near future. Such societies appear in many artistic works in stories set in a future. Dystopian futures are often characterised by dehumanisation, totalitarian governments, ruthless corporations, environmental disaster, or other characteristics associated with a dramatic decline in society. Many of the Dystopian future stories have many things in common. Nineteen Eighty Four a novel by George Orwell heavily relates to Steven Speilburg film “Minority Report” with Orwell’s “Telescreen” and Speilburg’s pre cogs.
Radioheads song “Fake Plastic Trees” relates to Joe Wrights Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” with the human race evolving and becoming fake in order to fit in society.
Nineteen Eighty Four
George Orwell’s dystopian future in his novel, Nineteen eighty-four is nothing less than a disappointing fact. This excellent piece of writing was published in 1949 and is set in 1984 in a 3rd person perspective with his ideas of a dystopian future where the state controls the societies train of thought using security cameras to track everyones single move and having a robot type language. George Orwell alerts a warning of a dystopian future in the novel, Nineteen Eighty Four from Orwell’s example called “Telescreens.” and “Big Brother.” In Nineteen Eighty Four there are many factors to this dystopian future that significantly connects with other dystopian fantasies. Steven Speilburg’s film “Minority Report.”
The telescreen in Nineteen Eighty-four is a tool used by the Party to detect instances of rebellion towards the state. The telescreen is designed to monitor every movement and hear every conversation between Party members, whether they are at home or at work with “no way of shutting it off completely”. Every unusual moment would be picked up and you would be accused of what Orwell calls thoughtcrime. It means that the people of Oceania had to consciously be aware of every movement they made. The telescreen was used in Nineteen Eighty Four as a form of power, as if George Orwell was purposely describing the use of telescreens in the book as a form of power. Giving that ability to whoever is on the other side of the screen, invading the privacy of anyone who is on the opposite end of the screen. “You had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinised.” this quote was found on part 1 page 4 chapter 1 and it means that us as humans will evolve to get used to always being under surveillance even though it’s not right to remove all privacy and completely remove freedom of speech its the sad acceptance to the power of control that the state had in the novel Nineteen Eighty-four.
George Orwell’s prediction for a dystopian future in his novel, Nineteen eighty-four is nothing less than a disappointing and true fact. This excellent piece of writing was published in 1949 and is set in 1984 in a 3rd person perspective of Wilson Smith, with Orwell’s ideas of a dystopian future where the state controls the societies train of thought using security cameras known as Telescreens to track everyones single move and having a robot type language. This has a heavy connection in a dystopian future way to Steven Speilburg’s 2002 movie Minority Report with the way that the state can track every single persons movement. This relates to Minority Report when the police are using the pre cogs to see through the peoples eyes analysing they’re every single move, Where they are and who they are with.
Minority Report
Steven Speilburg’s Dystopian future represented in his 2002 movie “Minority Report” is a well crafted masterpiece. In this dystopian future in the setting of Columbia crime of murder is non existence. With the help of the “pre cogs” who can see into the future with a special ability they have by looking through people’s eyes as they commit the murder before it actually happens. In this setting the Police could see into the future of every murder that was about to happen reducing to numbers of murders down straight to 0. This film Minority Report represents a lot of factors that have connections to other dystopian stories like Nineteen Eighty Four.
The Pre cogs in Minority Report is a tool used by the police to detect any possible in future murders in order to stop them happening. The pre cogs are designed to catch every possible scenario where someone can be murdered, whether they are at home or at work with no way of stopping them. Every possible murder situation would be picked up and you would be accused of murder. The police called this “precrime”. It means that the people of Columbia had to consciously be aware of every decison they make. The precogs was used in Minority Report as a form of power, as if Steven Speilburg was describing the use of the precogs in this film as a form of power. Giving that ability to whoever the precogs are with, invading the privacy of anyone who is on the the other side. Possibly making more murders happen. “There hasn’t been a murder in six years. The system, it is perfect.” this quote was used by the main protagonist at the very start of the film when he was being asked about the pre cogs. He is is implying that now that they (the police) can look into people lives and possibly stop murder crime rates.
Steven Speilburg’s prediction in his 2002 film, Minority Report is quite an exaggerated piece of dystopian future however still got the viewers watching still concerned with what we could become once we have more advanced technology. This excellent piece of scripting was released in 2002 and is set in 2054 in a 3rd person perspective of John anderton, with Speilburg’s ideas of a dystopian future where the police controls the crime rate by using the pre cogs to look into people eyes from a future perspective. This has a heavy connection in a dystopian future way to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four with the way that the police can track every single persons movement. This relates to Nineteen Eighty Four when the state are using the telescreens to see through, analysing every single persons movement, Where they are, who they are and who they are with.
Fake Plastic Trees
RadioHead’s dystopian future displayed in their single from their 1995 album “The Bends” is an emotional way of displaying of what the future holds in their eyes. This excellent piece of music represents RadioHeads’s belief that everything is turning plastic. The Title gives that away already. During the song Thom Yorke was singing from his heart repeating with more and more emotion that everything around him is turning fake and plastic. The song Fake Plastic Trees represents a lot of factors that have connections to other dystopian stories like Joe Wright’s Black Mirror’s Episode “Nosedive”
In Radioheads song “Fake Plastic Trees” Thom Yorke was exploring the ideas of what his ideas are for a dystopian future. By the end he realised that one day our society is going to become fake and plastic “She looks like the real thing, She tastes like the real thing, My fake plastic love” This lyric was sung at near the end of the song. This lyric represents that all people in the future are going to lie and display an entire different fake side of their personality and from what they actually look like just so they can fit in. It will get to a point where the fake side will not even be noticeable by “looks” or “taste” but yet you will always still know that they are fake and plastic.
Radiohead’s prediction in this 1995 album “the bends”, Fake Plastic Trees is quite a sad truth that us humans will sadly face in the oncoming years with more and more people becoming fake in order to fit in our society. For example instagram influencers who put on a character just so they can get some sort of recognition from society. This has a heavy connection in a dystopian future way to Joe Wrights Black Mirror episode Nosedive with everyone in this society basically living off credibility of social media, making everyone fake. Constantly on their phones making sure they are getting likes constantly and making sure that everyones likes them. Creating such a fake environment.
Black Mirror: Nosedive
Joe Wright’s dystopian future displayed in an episode of Black Mirror named “Nosedive is a comedic way of displaying of what the future holds in his eyes. This excellent piece of scripting represents Joe’s belief that everything is turning fake. In this episode of Black Mirror your life is based on your credibility on social media, making every single person fake. No uniqueness is left in the world everything in this new society is turning fake. This episode “Nosedive” represents a lot of factors that have connections to other dystopian stories like Radioheads song “Fake Plastic Trees.”
In a Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” Joe Wright was exploring the ideas of what his ideas are for a dystopian future. By the end he realised that one day our society is going to become fake and toxic “Don’t come. I don’t want you here. I don’t know what is up with you, but I cannot have a 2.6 at my wedding.” This quote was used during the middle of the episode when the main protagonist “Lacie” was invited to the wedding and then excluded because her credibility on social media wasn’t high enough. This dystopian situation is almost a fact in our recent society. So many people now only choose their friends based on how many followers they have on Instagram or how many friends they have on Facebook instead of actually getting to know the person and seeing if they are genuinely a good person.
Joe Wrights prediction in this 2016 Black Mirror episode, Nosedive is quite a sad fact that us, as we will sadly face that in the oncoming years with more people becoming fake in order to fit in our new society. For example instagram and facebook influencers who put on a character just so they can get some sort of recognition and credibility from our new modern society. This has a heavy connection in a dystopian future way to Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees with everyone in this society basically becoming so fake and making themselves plastic so they can become someone they dream to be, instead of becoming someone they were meant to be, making everyone fake. Creating such a dense and toxic society.