Based on my experience with books, film, and reality, I would define dystopia as a society in which the treatment of its people is poor and can be overcrowded, this is usually run by a group of people in a government who profit off the misfortunes of the society.
I have read novels such as The Giver, The Hunger Games, and Fahrenheit 451. I have also watched the movie versions of these books and many more. A specific example of a dystopian society that influences my definition is displayed in the movie series The Purge. In this society, a national holiday known as the Purge is celebrated in the near future of America. Citizens are allotted 12 hours to commit any crime including murder without penalty. The government known as “The Founding Fathers” are excluded from being killed. This benefits the government because it lowers the rate of crime throughout the year, eliminates most of the lower class who cannot afford methods of prevention, and allows the economy to increase. This storyline leads me to believe that dystopias are based on the government’s benefit. In most novels and movies, the population is manipulated to believe that the way things are run is for the greater good of the society, however, the only people to benefit is the government. It is believed that the government has so much care and concern for the society but they never suffer in the way the citizens do. They want to have money, power, and control over the society in order to make it seem perfect when in reality it is far from it. This leads me to disagree with the thinking that a dystopia is the exact opposite of a utopia. From my experience, in dystopian societies, citizens believe that the life they are living is normal and perfect because they are unaware that they are being exploited.
