Analyze how dystopian books, movies, or TV shows impact how people view society. When President Trump was elected in 2016, book sales of famous dystopian novels such as 1984 and Brave New World increased. Dystopian stories are almost meant to be cautionary tales but do they create a paranoia that they are coming to life today?
It might also be worth noting that people use dystopian stories to make sense of events happening in reality. Dystopian stories seem linked to politics and serve as a way to discuss complicated events in both life and politics. I also think it's interesting that you mention how these type of stories might be causing paranoia. An exploration of the pros and cons that dystopian stories have on people's perspectives of real life would also be fitting under this topic. – jay6 years ago
I think an essay that looked at this issue would need to show how certain events or developments in the present can connect to a future presented in, say, 1984 or Brave New World. Sometimes the future as presented in certain novels or even movies is just there, but where did it develop from? These two books are set in a future but the books start from their visions of a future not somethings that are developing now taking us down a certain path toward an almost gloomy future. But, maybe there should also be some cautionary notes included in an essay that looks at a future in more optimistic ways that would challenge those presented in dystopian novels? If only a gloomy, or worse, future is presented, that creates an impression of inevitability, as though there is no other future. There is this tendency with novels such as 1984 and Brave New World to see them as starting points and then work backwards. Maybe the direction needs to be reversed, start in the here and now and ponder where that can lead. The movie "Downsized" presents an odd mix of impending doom but also presents a strange way of looking at a hope for humans. – Joseph Cernik6 years ago
Oh, wow, you could talk about this for days. Dozens if not hundreds of sub-topics exist. I say, narrow the topic some as above commenters have suggested but honestly? Don't be afraid to go a little nuts. – Stephanie M.5 years ago