Dystopian postmodern textsDystopian 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.

The general themes in are:• A place where everything is unpleasant and negative, opposite of Utopia

• Explores postmodern themes, offering hyperrealism – futuristic nightmare.

• Narrative takes place in aftermath – nuclear holocaust, war, plague.

• Post- apocalyptic – man made disasters , science

• Relates to real life time fears in society – Cold War, technology, critiques modern society and

the way we live which is challenging meta narratives.

• Agrarian societies often develop – pre- industrialization, also challenges meta narratives

because its saying the modern world is a negative one.

• possibility of human demise – survivors struggle for existence

• Create sense of finality, new beginning and survival

This film’s narrative takes place in an aftermath of post nuclear holocaust England. The world is broken, as it follows unique characters trying to live their lives again.

This film is a great example of a lone survivor after a huge disaster. This film follows the character Noah as he is the last person alive.

Unconventional Heroic male protagonist, forced into action, anti hero: This is quite a common character type in Dystopian films, with unconventional heroes and anti heroes, 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.

Character Types

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.

Groups of tribes – animal like, kill people for their own profit, very violent: 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.

In the film Mad Max, there is a motorcycle gang that start to run riot and terrorize the population after the law order breaks down because of the shortage of energy. This motorcycle gang see it as an opportunity to steal, attack, and cause chaos. This makes them fit right into this character type.

Human survivor groups – struggle for survival: Human survivor groups are more or less the opposite of the groups/tribes.

In the film ‘28 days Later’ the main character meets 3 other survivors and together they turn into a human survivor group. 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.

28 Days Later Trailer

The helper – assists hero in 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 Shaun of the Dead, the unconventional hero is Shaun and his Helper is his girlfriend who helps him a lot when Shaun cannot think of what to do or makes a bad decision. Because Shaun is forced to be a hero, he massively needs his girlfriend to help him and that is why helpers are important in dystopian films.

Dystopian Sub - Genres

Science Fiction – sense of science going wrong, For example Blade Runner

Post Apocalyptic – end of world scenario with not many survivors, idea of Darwinism which reflects the notion of survival, shows individual adapting to situation. Some examples of Films are – Planet Of The Apes and Mad Max.

Horror – chaotic world of mutants or zombies created from human research, For example – 28 days Later , I Am Legend.

How Hyperreality is used in Dystopian Films

28 Days Later

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.

In this scene the main character has awoken from a coma and finds himself alone in London. This scene is particularly effective because seeing London empty would scare a lot of people and it would seem quite strange and unrealistic. Also it is challenging meta narratives because it is critiquing a modern scientific world.

28 Days Later Trailer

Additionally the main character is a anti hero because he is physically and emotionally weak and is forced into being a hero, he is saved many times by his female helper.

How Intertextuality is used in dystopian films

Intertextuality is used in Dystopian films mostly to update the older Dystopian films.

In these images you can see the difference between the latest Terminator and the first Terminator. Pastiche is used as well as Bricolage to update the old Terminator. For example in the new Terminator the gadgets and guns are more high tech because of the advancement in technology, which means the director can use more high art styles.

In the newest Terminator intertextuality is used throughout the film, this scene in particular looks like Mad Max and gives the effect of the character being alone which was the effect in Mad Max.

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.

The film Rollerball is about a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball which represents the world. This could be seen as a critique to sport in the world and the violence that comes with it, and additionally the fact that the world loves violence especially when it comes to sport. The fact that this ultra violent sport is very popular amongst people and worldwide very popular, is a clear critique of the society that we live in.

Rollerball Trailer

Some Examples of Dystopian films

In the film Mad Max the world runs out of Oil and wars begin, which sends the world into chaos. It is a typical post modern narrative that critiques modern society. The main character is pretty much alone, which again is typical of a Dystopian film with a anti hero and that is where the story begins. Hyperreality is used because running out of oil is a true fear amongst most human beings so the film is quite scary for the audience, where no one knows what will happen if oil does run out one day.

In Blade Runner, it is about robot replicants that are used to serve in colonies outside of earth. The plot begins when four robots escape and are heading for earth so a cop who specializes in destroying these robots is called out of retirement. It is a scientific critique because these robots are heading for earth which could become a huge problem, additionally a typical lone anti hero is used in the film which is typical of dystopian films.