Article Analysis #6 - Future Almost Lost

     Throughout the semester viewing science fiction dystopian cinema, there have been quite a few common tropes that run throughout the genre, and they are summarized in "Future Almost Lost" by Sean Redmond. First and foremost he discusses technological extremism, and with good reason, as this is certainly one of the most prevailing themes in the dystopian genre. As I've discussed before, science and technology are by no means inherently bad or evil in any way, it's how they're used that can be dangerous, and thus creating countless avenues for it to be used as plot material in science fiction dystopia. As stated by Redmond, it can rear it's head "in all its hybrid variations and incarnations, including the medical, domestic, and military". These are perfect for the genre, as the exponential growth we see in the real life fields of science and technology grant realism and believability to these types of themes in films. 

     Alongside a basis for the dystopian nature of the society portrayed in a film, they need the heroic human narrative to go a long with it. This semester we've seen no shortage of those, from Theo in Children of Men to Truman in The Truman Show, there's definitely a very broad spectrum of savior protagonists. Although their traits and characteristics may differ greatly, and even sometimes so severely it creates multiple characters in the same film (Tyler Durden, Fight Club), their objective is usually quite uniform. The goal is often to break free from the controlling nature they exist in, to fight for their freedom and/or the freedom of the citizens with whom they are being oppressed. We've seen success, like in THX 1138 where the protagonist makes it out alive, and we've seen the polar opposite in 1984 where the protagonist fails, and ends up conforming to the totalitarian regime he once hated so passionately.