What causes a dysptopian society? Usually the stories and movies that feature a dystopia have societies that rebuilt after an apocalyptic event. Something caused the end of the world and the new society is trying to bring back that world. Usually they try to make it better but it’s usually worse. The dystopian society pretends to be a utopia and on the surface it might look like everything is happy and good. But underneath there are the secrets, the conspiracies, the erosion of freedoms that cause the citizens (at least some of them) to eventually fight back. It’s usually one person or a small group who fight to make a change.
Even though I’m writing a dystopian trilogy and I have another dystopian stand alone book in the works I haven’t read a lot in the genre. But I do love dystopian movies. The what if questions get my mind thinking about how the world turned out the way it did in those movies. Before I started focusing on the genre I didn’t realize that a few of my favourite movies were dystopian. I thought they were just science fiction but upon looking into the dysopian genre I realized a lot of them fell into that category.
When I do a Google search for dystopian movies a list comes up, most of which I’ve seen. Among those listed is Serenity, my absolute favourite movie of all time so far. But it looks like I have a few other movies to watch.
Dystopian Elements in Standpoint
Copyright outsiderzone available on DepositPhotos.
The idea of Standpoint came to me on the way to work. At first I didn’t realize it was going to be a dystopian story or a trilogy yet. Originally it was going to be one book but there was too much story to tell. It has the oppressive government masquerading as a benevolent political system. There was a plague like event centuries earlier and the government rebuilt.
At the start of the story my main character is eager to do her duty. The propaganda bombarding them tells her she owes her country four years. But it’s not a one sided deal. She gets something out of it too like an education and a job. She wonders why people want to live differently than the way the government has provided for them. When she learns more about what the government is doing she has to make a choice. But if she goes against them she could put herself and her family in danger.
What’s your favourite dystopian story?
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Until next time…
Cindy
*Feature image copyright kwest available on DepositPhotos.