Far removed from the heyday of Orwell and Huxley, Dystopian literature, film, and TV is back in fashion. What is it about the genre that makes it so perfect for the 21st century?

Brave New World and 1984 First Edition Covers

When Netflix picked up Black Mirror, it was already a rousing success. The brainchild of Charlie Booker, Black Mirror dared to ask the daunting question of what if, more specifically: “What if technology goes bad”? The impact of Netflix’s acquisition of the series launched it to new heights where it resides as one of the most talked about television shows in Netflix’s arsenal. Black Mirror’s premise is not unique, nor does it stand alone in 21st century as a depiction of dystopia. The genre features a range of sub-genres, prominently Teen Dystopia like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Many of these movies and books are modeled after those that came from the golden age of the genre, The Twilight Zone, 1984, and A Brave New World. What is it that has drawn people to witness the renaissance of the Dystopian genre?

Where I cite George Orwell and Aldous Huxley as the forefathers of modern dystopia, perhaps it would be more interesting to understand a concept developed much earlier — catharsis in Greek tragedy. Catharsis literally means ‘cleansing’ or ‘purification’ in Ancient Greek, it’s the belief that by witnessing something so soul-wrenching in fiction the spirit would be cleansed and restored; all the better for it. Is dystopian literature and film merely a continuation of the Greek tradition of catharsis? Or is society’s recent attraction to dystopia powered by more deeply rooted fears of what the future holds? Where catharsis is meant to depict acts so terrible it cleanses your soul, could it be that dystopian literature do the opposite, cementing that fear as a warning to the long-term consequences of idly allowing these futures to continue unabated?

More often than not, Greek tragedy relies on depictions of personal defeat and downfall, where dystopian literature focuses at the societal level. It is an important distinction because it points to the differing motives of these two genres, one focused on personal morality and choices, the other on societal failings that don’t rest on the shoulders of an individual. Where Oedipus is cursed because of his inability to heed to prophecy, the society in a Brave New World and 1984 are punished for their collective decision makings. That distinction is critical for understanding the resurgence of dystopian literature over the last two decades. Concern over the collective decision-making in modern times and a warning to not take ‘progress’ at face value.

In the 20th century the world changed more rapidly than it ever had. If you consider the state of the word in the 1800s, the number of functioning democracies, the market systems, the level of education etc. it is very different than the inter-war period, the post-war period, and today. That rapidity of change has individually affected the collective consciousness of the time period. To Aldous Huxley writing in the 1930s, the concern for faceless expansion of nationalistic ideas and waning of individuality was the key concern. To George Orwell writing in the post-war years, examination of expansive governments like Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia and their citizens’ passive, and many cases, active embracement of eroding civil liberties was his concern. It isn’t the Greek narrative of the individual decision making that scares people, it the acceptance of mass paradigm shifts by populations that informed their writing.

So, what is it about today’s world that has spurred such newfound popularity in the genre? Much like Huxley, there’s a fear of losing individualized identities. The rise of mass social media has reduced individuals to online caricatures of themselves. People they ought to be, but aren’t necessarily. Much like Orwell, there’s a fear of over-encroaching government control as they monitor our social media and seek to regulate us with covert fear tactics.

But it goes deeper than the actions of our governments or loss of individuality, much of what I think influences our fear of dystopia comes directly from the economic system in which we reside. To most people holding a job is a tangible measure of success, good job, good life. Add in the fact that having a job is essential in society for the allocation of goods and services. In the market economy, one works for money and exchanges money for food. In our society, without money, there can be no life (Obviously we are ignoring the tiny portion of individuals who are “off the grid” and live on the land; but just the fact that we describe those people as “off the grid” clues us in on the larger picture). Huxley and Orwell both wrote their dystopian literature when the direction of the market economy was respectively in doubt. Huxley was contending with the new system of American financial driven markets and Orwell with the specter of a complete shift from market-economy to planned-economy.

I would posit that this uncertainty over the financial, and by extension overall, wellbeing of individuals in the new millennium is responsible for the renaissance of dystopian literature. In a time where globalism reigns supreme and everyone in the world has access to the same tools as you, where do you derive individuality. With the rise of robotics, and AI, and technology that renders human services superfluous, how will individual humans define themselves. Humans become cogs in a larger interconnected machine, and that’s terrifying — and it should be.

I’m fascinated by the Teen Dystopian genre because it acts as such a perfect mirror for the struggles of the present-day teenager. Most, if not all, deal with a ‘normal’ individual realizing that they can be special or standout. They might have superpowers, they might just be a good fighter, but in a faceless, overwhelming society they are a beacon for individuality. Isn’t that an accurate representation of the college application process? Competition has spurred all these kids to feel as though they need to stand out from the millions of other lookalikes, but in doing so they all come to resemble each other.

Dystopia is a reflection not only of the fears in what the future holds, but the individual actions that become collective actions because of those fears. It’s why the name Black Mirror is so perfect for the show. To quote Charlie Booker,

“The ‘black mirror’ of the title is the one you’ll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone.”

When you stare into the screen of your smartphone, you’re not seeing your reflection as is — you’re witness your reflection processed through the flaws and fears of society. Dystopia dares to ask you what decision you would, or will, make. When you dig in you realize that it doesn’t matter what choice you make because it’s not about you. It’s about the collective self-actualization of society. Today’s dystopian literature shares many of the same attributes as those of Huxley or Orwell, but where it stands out is our collective fear that we have the ability, the technology, and the drive to make such fiction a reality.