Fahrenheit 451: Dystopian Genre

DYSTOPIA

Film genres are constantly changing and adapting over time to appeal to the audience’s interests. One genre in particular that has changed over the years is the dystopian genre. A dystopian film is usually set in the future in a society living under oppressive societal controls. It is an imagined society that is undesirable or frightening and is seen as the opposite of a utopian world although the illusion of a perfect society may be maintained through corporate, technological, or totalitarian control. As the audience changed and the world with them, so did the genre in order to maintain its popularity and to survive. As the dystopian genre developed, the themes in the films changed as they tended to portray a future based on society 's

In Fahrenheit 451, books are considered to be dangerous and seductive, containing ideas that create uncertainty, provoking citizens to think and question. Books are, therefore, a threat to the state-enforced conformity, and must be destroyed. This was a reflection of Nazi Germany and their anti-individuality book burning tactics to oppress the public. In 1950s America, there was also a period of widespread book banning in US schools and public libraries. The suppression of books was a “species of book burning,” conflicting with basic American ideas of free thought. Fahrenheit 451 was an earlier dystopian film with a low level of violence due to the Hays code, which limited violence, intimacy, and swearing to a bare minimum, just recently coming out of effect. In Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, the theme reflected society’s fear of corporate control. In the film the futuristic society lived amongst ‘replicants’ which were synthetic humans. They were created by the massive Tyrell corporation, which amongst the polluted state of the society, reflected how during the industrial revolution big businesses attempted to reduce production cost, often at the expense of the environment and

Another film that also shows not only society’s fears but also how the genre has changed is the Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross. Government power, societal classes, and a post-apocalyptic world can be seen in the hunger games, where the society lives in a world ravaged by war. In order to maintain their control, the government instils fear into its people by forcing two children between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the 12 districts to be sent to compete in ‘the hunger games’. However, these ‘games’ are not any type of sporting event, instead they are a vicious fight to the death were only one survivor remains. This horrific and disturbing theme of power and violence in the film shows how the dystopian genre has changed to become more extreme and violent. We see the children in the film getting shot by appears and killed by spears. Although the film doesn’t seem that bad, it is very violent and would be incredibly shocking to audiences in the Fahrenheit 451 period, but audiences these days are far more desensitized to violence. These films in the dystopian genre also show how the themes reflected society yet they are in different time eras. Fahrenheit 451 was from the 60’s and