When I think of the word dystopia, the definition that comes to mind is a civilization that is completely different from our own civilization in a plethora of ways, these differences are usually very impactful and define that civilization in negative ways which can be seen as an author/writer’s warning to our current civilization. A good example of a dystopian civilization would be the movie I, Robot featuring Will Smith. This movie is set in the future when humans have become very dependent on robots for everyday life: they use the robots to run errands or be maids in their houses. The plot of the movie is essentially the robots becoming self-aware (one, in particular, that feels emotions and can control the other robots) and trying to protect humans in an overt authoritative way, which leads to a lot of violence towards humans and fights with robots. There is even a junkyard filled with older robots that depict just how much society has progressed in its need for robots and to create the perfect one(which is how the self-aware robot was created). I won’t completely spoil the movie for people who have not watched but this movie further proves my definition of a dystopia. The way the civilization was built and how people lived their lives is similar to how our current civilization lives but the one big difference(and ultimately the fall of the civilization) was their creation and use of robots in their daily lives. Dystopian civilizations are usually used as a warning from the creator of the work to society, a warning that serves to say, ‘if we keep going in this direction, nothing good will come from this’. In the case of I,Robot, the use and dependence of technology could possibly lead to an unfavorable outcome(robots taking control over humans for their ‘protection’ is one of the possible outcomes), which leads to the end of our current civilization. Watching and reading about dystopian civilizations provides people with additional thoughts on new ways to live, absorbing films or novels about what could happen if this occurs, creates a dialogue. Gets people to ask questions and wonder, ‘could this be us’? To me, dystopian civilizations are a window of possibilities because, in a world where anything is possible, dystopian civilizations do not always seem too far off.
