A dystopia is a place, real or imaginary, where most individuals in society have very little to no autonomy and subpar living conditions.
A dystopian society usually is set in the future, far past the uncivilized days of our ancestors. These times are usually synonymous with post-war or disastrous eras. These locations are set in areas of our world or universe that supersede the expectations of average human beings, unlocking super high-functioning technology and in present times, that technology is being abused in an effort to control others. The minority are people with freedom, money/fame, respect, notoriety, and/or any upper hand in this situation. The majority are the poor, sick, overworked, and underpaid (if paid at all), common people of society. In my media experiences, the majority is basically brainwashed, manipulated, or brutally forced into maintaining this unfair, hierarchical system. In one of my favorite dystopian films, What happened to Monday, each family was only allowed to have one child. The general society believed that extra or unwanted children were being frozen until the world had enough resources to support them, but in reality, they were being incinerated. The general public had no choice but to oblige to the rules as they were each individually tracked and “SWAT”-like teams would come to apprehend and siege “extra” children. Their autonomy was stripped and democracy (a very, very crooked politician) was used as a ploy to cover up the entire situation. The Purge is another popular dystopian film that exemplifies this definition. The government, obviously controlled by the higher-class folks with affluence, somehow arranges for a national, legal “purge” day once a year where all citizens could participate in any illegal activities and face no legal repercussions. The series breaks down the universe over several movies, displaying how these crime sprees affect different demographics of people. Obviously, impoverished and minority populations receive the shortest end of the stick. They had no money for protection, were literally hunted down to be executed in order to reduce minority populations, and were subject to be kidnapped for the sick and twisted entertainment of their higher-income counterparts. The governing body of America in this film even took it to the point of murdering political opponents that oppose the idea of the purge, removing autonomy from the people and subjecting them to these dangerous, subpar living conditions.
