I'm Burned Out on Dystopia, Chat

Looking for some hopecore in a world on fire

In a post I wrote at the beginning of last year, I talked about how starting in 2020 I became a bit personally and professionally fascinated by the idea of apocalypse. I started exploring all the shades of the concept, from ridiculous end-of-the-world-by-asteroid Hollywood films, to the ways in biblical literature it stands for the revelation of how systems and people truly are.

In building some literature classes around iterations of the theme the past five years, I’ve read and collected ton of apocalyptic and dystopian stories and films and discussed the ethics of survival and disaster with dozens of students for hours. And it has been instructive and illuminating and encouraging and dare I say a bit of fun at times.

But maybe about a month ago, as I was considering what to read next (I always have a book of fiction going), I had a realization:

I am just so effing tired of dystopian bleakness right now.

I don’t want to read another story of (insert protagonist) surviving (insert your choice of horrific disaster scenario) and having to make heart-wrenching ethical choices.

Of course, it doesn’t help that we’re currently living through a techno-fascist-ecological crisis right now. When fiction and life start to Venn diagram you know it’s time for change.

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote in “Burnt Norton” that “Humankind cannot bear very much reality”. I’d argue that humankind also cannot bear very much hopelessness.

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts the other day and one of the co-hosts said something to the effect of “I’m just finding myself drawn to stories these days where characters are just kind and decent to each other”, and I thought, damn, yes.

I don’t necessarily want all stories of pure escapism (although that’s nice from time to time). But I want to engage with more stories of ordinary people struggling with ordinary things but still being people of character and kindness. Or even if they’re facing something world ending, they find ways to hold onto humanity together.

(side note and example: I was watching Independence Day for the first time ever ((I know, I know)) this Fourth of July while lying on the couch recovering from a stomach bug, and I was weirdly affected, to the point of teary eyes at points, by the optimism and humanity of the film even though it’s just a big dumb ol’ blockbuster.)

I know I’m not the only one. After Project Hail Mary was a big hit in theaters earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter declared, “Hopecore Is The Vibe Shift Hollywood Needs”. Last’s year reboot of Superman was a massive shift away from the grimdark Snyder version. “Cozy fantasy” is a genre on the rise. World Cup fandom has kicked off the “summer of soccer” and a wave of cross-cultural celebration and good feelings.

I suppose some of this could just be insubstantial nostalgia and escapism. Sure. But you can’t build a better world with just grit and no imagination. Resistance starts somewhere, and it’s often in the visions presented by art.

So tell me, readers, what’s giving you hope right now? What films, books, music, creative endeavors? Share with me below.