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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.