[santacluster]

First, is there any evidence dystopian fiction is actually significantly more popular? Most of my favorite dystopian fiction in literature and cinema is many decades old. It's not exactly a new thing.

Second, I grew up in the early late 70's / early 80's, when the nuclear holocaust was the theme of the "inevitable" dystopian future fiction. I don't think it signifies anything other than the angst du jour.

[ZenoArrow]

I agree that dystopian fiction is far from a new thing, and our current collective angst does not seem any greater than it did in the past.

The two elements I find most interesting about the most successful dystopias are that...

1. They are almost inevitably set in the near future, meaning that the world can be a slightly more extreme version of the world we currently inhabit.

2. They feel cathartic to experience, partly because unlike our current world where we struggle to understand what holds us back, in the near future world being portrayed the extreme elements of the world are the clear danger and allow us to be confident in knowing what will help improve things. This clarity of purpose can be cathartic.

Whether we want to admit it or not, one of the values of future-based fiction is to line up our expectations of what we expect in this time period. We're unwittingly programming ourselves to prepare for the worst. I wish we took the time to explore more diverse ideas of how our future might look like.

[brudgers]

To go further, n the 50's and 60's upscale real estate often included bomb shelters.