Utopia and Dystopia
An ideal city is often inspired by the idea of "Utopia", a term used to describe a perfect place in terms of social, ethical and political values, but it does not exist in real space or time. Utopia is directly connected to the opposite meaning of Dystopia, which refers to a place where Dictatorship exists and characterized by degraded living conditions. The concept of Utopia was first used by Tomas Moore in 1516, who described in his book that Utopia is an ideal wealthy society based on social and economic equality.
According to Boake (2006), the study of film material can help with future plans about utopian and new societies and additionally give ideas and influence the design of future cities. Many cinematic representations of the future world are influenced by utopian theories and visions of yet to come.
The concept of "dystopia" though, shows the insecurity and lack of hope from people about the development of their future world and society (Prakash, 2010). Typical examples of a dystopian society are the classic cinema science fiction movies, which visualize real or imaginary cities of the future that have strongly dystopian features. Science fiction movies are mediums imaginary scenarios with “a bleak future in which the dreams of progress and unending economic development fall back into a chasm of entropy, violence and despair” (Slaughter, 2004).
Movies are a way of escape from reality, providing the opportunity to investigate the perception of theoretical future utopias and bring out moralistic issues considering the future development of the modern city and society, taking account of what is going on in today’s world (Boake, 2006). The fictional places that are shown in a movie usually have a lot of dystopian features. Gold (1985) states that most of the films portray the cities that have social alienation and big contrast in wealth and living conditions.
In dystopian movies, we see fiction, drama, social and political problems and personal dilemmas. Opposite of utopia, dystopia is defined as the description of an imaginary world of absolute misery, where the negative features of existing societies show the current catastrophic situation in the world. All these dystopian scenarios are made for the future. According to Slaughter, “the prospects for humanity are currently very bleak and that downbeat Dystopian futures are increasingly likely” (Slaughter, 2004). By intensifying specific negative features of society, the effects and risks are more obvious to the viewers, who are called to review their own environment and decisions.
The Hunger Games is an example of a dystopian movie based on the book written by Suzanne Collins. The story takes place in a dystopic future in the nation of Panem where the poor and underprivileged masses live under the tyranny of a developed technology and rich elite. The ‘Hunger Games’ is taking
place in a dystopic world that remind us of the world we live in today, where the rich and powerful elite control the citizens and democracy does not exist.
Having a dystopic future as a center theme, ‘The Hunger Games’ represent a dark side of the world, whether it has to do with the social, economic or politic side of things. It’s like a world with "Big Brother" watching every move; where the rich elite lives at the expense of the population that is starving physically and mentally. Meanwhile, the misrepresentation of things by the government with the help of the media has gotten outrageously absurd dimensions.
In Panem, the ‘idea’ of democracy and freedom have disappeared and have been replaced by a high- tech dictatorship based on the monitoring, recording, massive brainwashing by the media and a deep gap between social classes. The largest population of Panem live in third world conditions, poverty and starvation. (Fisher, 2012).
In district twelve, home of the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, the citizens live in conditions where families work in the mines, they live in shelters and eat rodents to survive. The Capitol is watching all of their movements, technology is used to monitor, control and manipulate the masses. Surveillance cameras and three-dimensional holograms are widely used by the government to control the population, although there are some signs of rebellion and self-determination by the people.
To maintain the balance and prevent the rebellion, the Capitol has a big amount of police force that are called ‘Peacekeepers’ who are always on hand to stop anyone who attempt a rebellion. People are gathered together to watch propaganda videos of the government. With the propaganda videos government is trying to convince the people that the ideal way of living is under the orders of police and the Capitol. Therefore, Panem is nothing but a state with heavy police enforcement, which aims to keep the masses in poverty and slavery.
Every year as punishment for a past rebellion twelve boys and twelve girls aged 12-18 years must participate in the Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which participants are forced to fight to the death until there is only one winner. The people of Panem have to sacrifice their children to the Capitol. The "Hunger Games" thus are mandatory for the citizens to participate in order to avoid the rage of their superiors. The entire population of Panem is forced to follow this sacrifice that is performed in the Capitol, raising fear, anger and desire for blood. There is nothing hopeful in the dystopic future that is described in the "Hunger Games." The citizens are under ‘political forces that control and manipulate.’ (Baccolini, 2003)
Unfortunately, many parallels can be drawn between our citizens and the Capitol’s by watching the movie. It is important to see the media’s impact on people and recognize any similarities between Panem’s future dystopian world and the world of today. Through the analysis of the movie we can start to see the resemblances that ‘The Hunger Games’ has with our society and try to prevent the same events from happening in the future.
According to Boake (2006), the study of film material can help with future plans about utopian and new societies and additionally give ideas and influence the design of future cities. Many cinematic representations of the future world are influenced by utopian theories and visions of yet to come.
The concept of "dystopia" though, shows the insecurity and lack of hope from people about the development of their future world and society (Prakash, 2010). Typical examples of a dystopian society are the classic cinema science fiction movies, which visualize real or imaginary cities of the future that have strongly dystopian features. Science fiction movies are mediums imaginary scenarios with “a bleak future in which the dreams of progress and unending economic development fall back into a chasm of entropy, violence and despair” (Slaughter, 2004).
Movies are a way of escape from reality, providing the opportunity to investigate the perception of theoretical future utopias and bring out moralistic issues considering the future development of the modern city and society, taking account of what is going on in today’s world (Boake, 2006). The fictional places that are shown in a movie usually have a lot of dystopian features. Gold (1985) states that most of the films portray the cities that have social alienation and big contrast in wealth and living conditions.
In dystopian movies, we see fiction, drama, social and political problems and personal dilemmas. Opposite of utopia, dystopia is defined as the description of an imaginary world of absolute misery, where the negative features of existing societies show the current catastrophic situation in the world. All these dystopian scenarios are made for the future. According to Slaughter, “the prospects for humanity are currently very bleak and that downbeat Dystopian futures are increasingly likely” (Slaughter, 2004). By intensifying specific negative features of society, the effects and risks are more obvious to the viewers, who are called to review their own environment and decisions.
The Hunger Games is an example of a dystopian movie based on the book written by Suzanne Collins. The story takes place in a dystopic future in the nation of Panem where the poor and underprivileged masses live under the tyranny of a developed technology and rich elite. The ‘Hunger Games’ is taking
place in a dystopic world that remind us of the world we live in today, where the rich and powerful elite control the citizens and democracy does not exist.
Having a dystopic future as a center theme, ‘The Hunger Games’ represent a dark side of the world, whether it has to do with the social, economic or politic side of things. It’s like a world with "Big Brother" watching every move; where the rich elite lives at the expense of the population that is starving physically and mentally. Meanwhile, the misrepresentation of things by the government with the help of the media has gotten outrageously absurd dimensions.
In Panem, the ‘idea’ of democracy and freedom have disappeared and have been replaced by a high- tech dictatorship based on the monitoring, recording, massive brainwashing by the media and a deep gap between social classes. The largest population of Panem live in third world conditions, poverty and starvation. (Fisher, 2012).
In district twelve, home of the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, the citizens live in conditions where families work in the mines, they live in shelters and eat rodents to survive. The Capitol is watching all of their movements, technology is used to monitor, control and manipulate the masses. Surveillance cameras and three-dimensional holograms are widely used by the government to control the population, although there are some signs of rebellion and self-determination by the people.
To maintain the balance and prevent the rebellion, the Capitol has a big amount of police force that are called ‘Peacekeepers’ who are always on hand to stop anyone who attempt a rebellion. People are gathered together to watch propaganda videos of the government. With the propaganda videos government is trying to convince the people that the ideal way of living is under the orders of police and the Capitol. Therefore, Panem is nothing but a state with heavy police enforcement, which aims to keep the masses in poverty and slavery.
Every year as punishment for a past rebellion twelve boys and twelve girls aged 12-18 years must participate in the Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which participants are forced to fight to the death until there is only one winner. The people of Panem have to sacrifice their children to the Capitol. The "Hunger Games" thus are mandatory for the citizens to participate in order to avoid the rage of their superiors. The entire population of Panem is forced to follow this sacrifice that is performed in the Capitol, raising fear, anger and desire for blood. There is nothing hopeful in the dystopic future that is described in the "Hunger Games." The citizens are under ‘political forces that control and manipulate.’ (Baccolini, 2003)
Unfortunately, many parallels can be drawn between our citizens and the Capitol’s by watching the movie. It is important to see the media’s impact on people and recognize any similarities between Panem’s future dystopian world and the world of today. Through the analysis of the movie we can start to see the resemblances that ‘The Hunger Games’ has with our society and try to prevent the same events from happening in the future.
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