Transcript of Dystopia. Dystopian postmodern texts Dystopian films also fall into the category of postmodern...
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- Dystopia
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- Dystopian postmodern texts Dystopian films also fall into the
category of postmodern films, this is because the films challenges
meta narratives through critiquing society, hyperreality through
futuristic disasters and many more ways. There are many themes
involved in dystopian films. The general themes are: A place where
everything is unpleasant and negative (opposite of utopia).
Explores postmodern themes, offering hyperrealism, futuristic
nightmare. Narrative takes place in aftermath of things such as
nuclear holocaust, war, plague. Post - apocalyptic world - man made
disasters (science). Creates sense of finality, new beginning and
survival. Can relate to to real life fears in society which is
challenging meta narratives.
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- Unconventional heroic male This is quite a common character
type in Dystopian films, with unconventional heroes and antiheroes,
the audience never really know whether to trust them or not. Anti
heroes do not possess purely good qualities and will not always
look like your typical hero. In Twelve Monkeys, there is a great
example of an anti hero. The hero in the film is a convicted
criminal, and he ends up becoming the hero as such because he goes
back in time to try and find a cure for a disease. This makes it
hard for the audience as they never know whether to trust him or
not.
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- Groups of tribes Animal like characters, kill people for their
own profit, very violent and usually stick together in groups. This
character is also very popular in Dystopian films because it shows
that some people will always take advantage of natural disasters
and will destroy anything that gets in their way of survival. The
apes in Planet of the Apes are a perfect example of a tribe which
control, kill and are deemed the villain in this particular movie.
This makes them right into this character type.
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- Human survivor groups In the film I Am Legend the main
character, who believes he is the only person left, is saved later
on in the film by other survivors. At the end of the film a colony
of people who survived the medical disaster are also found. This
can be seen as a critique on society because only 4 people survived
out the entire population in London, which maybe could imply that
the city would not be ready if a disaster like this did occur.
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- The helper The helper assists the hero in the hunt for
survival. The helper is always a very important part of Dystopian
films because normally the heroes are anti heroes and
unconventional heroes so they need the help that the helpers
provide. In The Book of Eli the helper is Solara played by Mila
Kunis who helps out the main character Eli a lot during the course
of the film. Eli spends the whole movie protected a book from the
enemy, in what is a post apocalyptic world. Solara helps Eli fight
the enemies, follows him on his journey and also help him protect
the book.
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- Intertextuality in dystopian films Robocop (1987)Robocop (2014)
In these images you can see the difference between the latest
Robocop and the first Robocop. Pastiche is used as well as
Bricolage to update the old Robocop. For example in the new Robocop
the gadgets and guns are more high tech because of the advancement
in technology, which means the director can use more high art
styles. Intertextuality is used in Dystopian films mostly to update
the older Dystopian films.
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- Hyperreality/ Challenging Narratives How Challenging narratives
is used in dystopian films: Challenging meta narratives are used in
dystopian films to critique the society we live in or what might
happen if we do not change the way we live. How Hyperreality is
used in Dystopian Films: In 28 days later hyperreality is used. 28
days later is a post-apocalyptic horror film and it uses
hyperrealism in a way to show real life fears that humans are
frightened of and may happen, this film in particular shows what
might happen if scientific experiment goes wrong. That is a genuine
worry amongst people and no does know what would happen, so that
shows the hyperrealism.