Genre; dystopian futures

            For this weeks reading, I chose to focus on the genre of dystopian futures.  I cannot say for sure if this could be considered a genre in the most traditional sense, but I did regardless notice many attributes which would help me quantify dystopian criticisms of politics and society a genre in and of itself.  The expectations of the genre are that it delivers a critique of modern society, and distressful prediction of possible outlooks on society in years to come. 

            Having now quantified to some degree, I can discuss my interpretation of Alduous Huxley’s a Brave New World.  Having read Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, this is a piece of fiction that I had been planning on reading for quite a number of years.   I had been heavily influenced by other pieces of ‘fiction’ that would fit into this genre, as they have illustrated to me a clear, if not verrry exaggerated illustration of what is wrong with society and what could go worse if our current situations degrade even further.

            What really resonated with me in Brave New World was the notion that people are not being controlled by oppression anymore.  We don’t live in a cripplingly militarized state, our actions are not being monitored, and we are not being persecuted by our government for unjust reasons…..  well ok, this is not true, there are some thoroughly unconstitutional dealings going on in our nation.  What strikes me, however, is the insight that Brave New World brings.  The novel essentially implies that in the future (read now) we are controlled not by guns, but by sex, drugs and entertainment.  The more I reflect upon this the more I find it to become increasingly true of society in the modern world. 

            This is not to say I believe that such controls are necessarily the ill will of oppressive regimes, more rather I feel as though this is the media’s way of acquiring huge sums of money, and resulting in, or perhaps due to, the notion that most people are lazy, and would rather drink a beer and watch jackass on the tv than step outside and try to improve the world.