In this semester’s course, we discussed the many perspectives behind the word dystopia. We gather that dystopia was related to the possibility of discomfort, inequality, oppression, abuse of authority, and more. But what is the true definition of Dystopia? It is written online that dystopia is an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering and or injustice involvemnt. My definition includes the thought of a society that is presented as normal to those who are involved due to the need to survive but injustice on the outside. What is meant by my claim is that readers or viewers can pinpoint what is right and wrong about the society which could be a list of the things; racism, poor economy, oppression, and abuse of authority, but to those included this is their normal world so they wouldn’t deem it as wrong because this is what they’ve accustomed to.
I would like to highlight the section of our course where we focused on the film; Battle Royale. The film portrayed the children being controlled by the adults around them who were putting their lives at risk. We watched the children be given harsh laws to follow. Their society became dystopian once the children had to fight and kill to survive. The children developed the mentality that every man was for themselves. The children began to fight for power. Battle Royale was a prime example of an unjustified world. The children were manipulated into believing that they couldn’t trust other children, they were turned against each other, and so on- a true dystopian world.
Another example of dystopia I discovered during our course that helped define my definition was within my research assignment. The Death Race 2000, was the perfect example of how those within the dystopian world see the wrong and still follow through with it until they can be saved. In the film, those of society knew that race car drivers shouldn’t be driving through the town striking citizens with their cars to earn points but because of fear, they went along with the race. At the end of the film, we see someone brave enough to remove the authoritative figure that was controlling the society which changes the entire tone of the town. Citizens were rejoicing and excited that they didn’t have to continue in such a traumatic situation. Though there were many activities throughout the course that helped define my definition I believe these two are what interested me the most and that were easier to break down what made the society a dystopian society.