Dystopian Society

The concept of a utopia is prevalent in all fictional media. The concept of a seemingly perfect world that may not really be as good as it seems can be used as parallels to existential ideas or modern issues. Utopian works can share common themes and aspects of utopian society, except each has their own twist on it. Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, Steven Spielberg’s film Minority Report, and Kurt Wimmer’s film Equilibrium all take place in utopian societies that seem peaceful and stable on the outside, but they all have fatal flaws that ultimately bring the society’s doom. Unlike dystopias like The Hunger Games and Divergent, Brave New World, Minority Report, and Equilibrium’s main characters start out in a high position and see the

Washington DC in 2054 has a murder rate of zero. That is all thanks to the Precogs and the slightly unethical PreCrime unit. Equilibrium’s world provides peace at the expense of emotions, with violators being burned to death. Future London eliminates many aspects of society, as John points out to Mond: “Yes, that’s just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it” (238). Dealing with the unpleasantries of life is something people should deal with. Things like anger, murder, and mosquitos are necessary to keep the balance of the world in order. Get rid of them and things might seem better, but there will always be cracks. One difference between Brave New World and Equilibrium is their stance on solitude. Equilibrium embraces solitude, as it is good for suppressing emotions, while London After Ford detests solitude: “We make them hate solitude; and we arrange their lives so that it’s almost impossible for them ever to have it” (235). The use of solitude in these societies shows their fundamental difference: how they deal with emotions. Citizens in Brave New World don’t exactly show strong emotions, but society encourages them to be promiscuous and enjoy entertainment, like feelies. Equilibrium censors and destroys art and discourages sexual relationships. The embracement of solitude shows the contrast between the two worlds. Another similarity that is absent in Minority Report is brainwashing. Equilibrium has Father speaking to the masses about rules and regulations. Brave New World relies on conditioning and hypnopædia for their brainwashing: “One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them” (234-235). This is true for a person of any era, but in the context of Brave New World, conditioning is subconscious. Every repeated phrase is drilled into everyone’s brain. The perfect way to control a