In the article Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination, Baccolini and Moylan describe 1984, and The Handmaid's Tale and the effects they had on our society. A crucial point later in the article: "Unlike the typical eutopian narrative...the dystopian text usually begins directly in the terrible new world; and yet...the focus is frequently on a character who questions the dystopian society." Throughout our course, we have seen instances like this in many films; for example Montag in Fahrenheit 451, THX 1138 in the film of the same name, and Detective Thorne in Soylent Green, all question their societies means at some point in their respective films.
1984, THX 1138, and Soylent Green all began in the midst of their respective oppressive societies.
After watching The Truman Show, I understood that the above quote is what is generally expected in a dystopian film. The interesting aspect about The Truman Show, however, is that the film starts off depicting a normal life for Truman, before it is understood that his life was 'purchased' by a Corporation who manufactured a world for him to grow up in. They then subsequently broadcasted his life worldwide, 24/7. Furthermore, one of the reasons i enjoyed watching The Truman Show is because it still displayed a dystopian society, through Truman's viewpoint, but was simply a reality TV show to the millions of viewers in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment