Why do dystopian stories like The Handmaid's Tale and The Purge scare us, and why do we love them so much?
The origins of the dystopian genre are a matter of debate among literary scholars, but the effect it has on us can’t be denied. Some deep, frightened part of us wants to see the world at its worst, with the systems that society has put in place twisted to exploit, subjugate, or even those they were meant to protect. You might argue that the world is dark enough as it is, that we don’t need to imagine a worse one, but that is part of what makes dystopian stories so appealing.
Dystopian films, shows, and books have a wonderful history of showing us what lies ahead of us when we give into our darkest instincts. The Handmaid’s Tale was conceived as a warning for what happens when women are robbed of their bodily autonomy. The Hunger Games shows us capitalism unchecked, giving us every possible warning sign that the end result of a society with such glaring, unfettered inequality. Snowpiercer is less about the effects of global warming and more about how utterly terrible people will be to each other when resources such as food and space are scarce.
Related: We're finally ready to love dystopian future movies, TV shows, and comics again... aren't we? (I hope so)
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