Dystopian Literature as Fad
There were rumors that the release of the first trailer of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" would be in April. Fans are excited to see Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth playing Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Gale Hawthorne respectively, one more time. Suzanne Collins' series would be the latest in the long list of dystopian literary works that were adapted to the big screen. It's a fad that goes back to the 1970s.
According to Rachel Wilkinson, a high school English teacher, there are four aspects of dystopian literature that are applicable to our consumer-oriented society, namely advertising and industry, instant gratification, reliance on technology, and decline of language. It seemed odd if one would think that dystopia was about mass poverty, squalor, suffering, and oppression, all that society had brought upon itself. But there's something fascinating about it. Consider this list of dystopian films:
"Soylent Green" (1973) by Richard Fleischer
"Logan's Run" (1976) by Michael Anderson
"Blade Runner" (1982) by Ridley Scott
"RoboCop" (1987) by Paul Verhoeven
"Strange Days" (1995) by Kathryn Bigelow
"12 Monkeys" (1995) by Terry Gilliam
"Gattaca" (1997) by Andrew Niccol
"Minority Report" (2002) by Steven Spielberg
"V for Vendetta" (2006) by James McTeigue
"Children of Men" (2006) by Alfonso Cuarón
All of them starred A-list stars, have commercial/critical success. The most obvious reason behind this would be moviegoers were aware that what they were watching wouldn't happen to them at all. It was just entertainment, albeit a different kind. On print, dystopia would make an impact on readers, providing perspective(s) on problematic social and/or political practices. But not all filmmakers keep that in mind (during production). The ones who did received a greater reward. This would be the films-cum-classics, adapted from dystopian literature.
Below is a short list:
1. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) by Stanley Kubrick. Anthony Burgess's novel is groundbreaking, introducing the nadsat language and featuring Alex DeLarge, a juvenile adolescent whom readers would learn to love. Despite the disturbing narrative, there was something entertaining about the book, which concluded on a rather poignant note. Kubrick had a different idea, though, as his frightful depiction of a dystopian future Britain was highlighted with John Alcott's spellbinding photography. The result was a fine piece of art.
2. "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1984) by Michael Radford. George Orwell's chilling novel was adapted by Radford, who earned an Academy Award nomination (for Best Director) for "Il Postino". It starred John Hurt and Richard Burton, who played O'Brien, his final role. (He passed away two months before the movie was released.) Fans of Orwell wouldn't be disappointed.
3. "Dark City" (1998) by Alex Proyas. This flick wasn't a huge box-office hit, but time was fair, as it became a cult classic. The story by Proyas, an Egyptian-born Australian filmmaker, about a fellow wrongly accused of murder, was intriguing, as it had all the elements of a Kafka tale. It couldn't get better.
4. The Matrix (1999) by the Wachowski Brothers. This feature would be remembered more for its technical aspects than the story, about a computer programmer who would lead the human race, waging a war against intelligent machines. The slow-motion action scenes would be a trendsetter.
5. "Battle Royale" (2000) by Kinji Fukusaku. Koushun Takami's novel could be described as "Lord of the Flies" with a twist. Faced with overpopulation, which would threaten Japan's food supply, the government thought of decimating the youth by placing them in an uninhabited isle, a survival of the fittest. This drastic plan sounded unthinkable, but there were scenes where Fukusaku depicted it quite amusingly.
