The definition of dystopia that I am using is the opposition to utopia, where in trying to create a perfect utopian world, something goes horribly wrong. To me the perfect example is the show Once Upon A Time. The show has to do with fairytale characters that have been cursed by the evil queen to live in a horrible world without magic, so basically the world that we all live in. The twist is they do not remember who they are. The show goes back and forth showing present day and the characters they were in the fairytale world. When Prince Charming and Snow White are going to get married the world was going to be perfect. They would both come into power and the kingdom would be theirs. The queen however does not want to be taken out of power and threatens to make everyone's lives miserable. Around a year later the two have a child who is going to be the savior for their land and that is where things go wrong. The queen sends them all to the real world to a small town called "Storybrook" and completely destroys the fairytale world. They are forced to live these fake lives. No one knows of their past lives so everything they think or know is a lie. Everyone is separated from their family and loved ones. They have to live in a town that does not have time, therefore they never move forward and can never grow old. The are stuck in this world and only two people know the truth, the queen and Mr.Gold.
The story thickens when the curse gets broken and everyone remembers who they are. The only problem is they are still in Storybrook. The land they once knew is destroyed and only a very little peace of it remains. Trying to find their old identity will be a struggle as long as they follow the rules, now that the land has magic. I think these kind of stories are so popular because we always want the under dogs to win and the mean people to fail. Most fairytales have some sort of villain or family member they have to beat in order to get there happy ending.The characters journey to find themselves and what they want have to be challenged before they can have their happy ending.
I agree that we as an audience love to see the underdog come out on top. However, I also think we are fascinated with stories of a dystopia because it's quite interesting to see the different ways in which building a "utopian society" can go wrong. We're obviously well aware that in our world, there is no such thing as perfection within a society. Something is always going wrong, and there is constant corruption within certain members of a community, just like in Once Upon A Time. Therefore, making it nearly impossible to create a utopia. Besides, no one is interested in reading a book or watch a TV show/movie about a perfect utopian society because that's incredibly boring.
ReplyDeleteI don't think its that the audience loves to see the underdog win, I feel it has more to do with watching the underdog struggle to win. But Once Upon A Time does seem to be a dystopia, now that you have described it. It is in opposition to Utopia but whose? The utopia that Prince Charming and Snow White would like along with their followers or the Queen's? With two different stories taking place in Once Upon A Time and in both stories there is something that goes wrong to stop the creation of a Utopia, it does seem impossible to create one.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if this series falls into the overall guideline that "these stories often have characters who must live in a bleak physical world and who deal with political oppression, disease, technology gone awry, and general disharmony." What is the difference between fantasy lit and dystopian lit? Is your example more fantasy than dystopia?
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