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drpaladin

drpaladin 107,855
Zorro

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Dystopian movies are popular because they show worlds worse than the one we live in. 

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Bill W

Bill W 61,520
Busy

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The term "dystopian" comes from the Greek words "dys-" (meaning "bad" or "difficult") and "topos" (meaning "place"), combined with the suffix "-ia".  It essentially means a "bad place" and is used to describe a fictional society characterized by undesirable or frightening conditions, often as the opposite of a utopia. 

The term "dystopia" was popularized in the 19th century, with John Stuart Mill using it in a parliamentary speech in 1868 to critique the Irish land policy, contrasting it with the utopian ideals of Thomas More.  While "dystopia" is the more common term, another Greek-derived word, "cacotopia" (meaning "bad place"), was also proposed as an antonym for utopia.  

The adjective form, "dystopian," as used in its current sense, was first recorded in the 1960s, specifically in 1962 by C. Walsh, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.  While Mill's use of the term was in the context of political commentary, the term "dystopian" as a literary genre emerged later, with works like Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We", and later, George Orwell's "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," becoming key examples of the genre. 
 
Examples of the word "dystopian" used in a sentence:  
"Like the novel, it portrays Gilead, a dystopian society not too far in the future." 
"I'm not an Internet utopian, but I'm not an Internet dystopian either." 
"The novel conjures up a lawless dystopian world of youth violence and institutional mind manipulation."  
"In Lee's dystopian vision of the world of entertainment, television is all-powerful and all-corrupting." 
"Cyberpunk was known for dystopian  futures with alienated loners who lived on the fringes of society." 
"The movie was released in 1982 as a dark "film noir" look at a dystopian corporate future in 2019 (which looks remarkably like 2005)."
"The story is set in a dystopian future in which an overpopulated world solves the problem by allocating people only one day per week." 
 
Edited by Bill W
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Thirdly

Thirdly 15,888
Boxed In

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Real life is dystopian enough for me. Give me rainbows and ponies any day. 

rainbow brite GIF

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