I can't decide between Bladerunner and Bladerunner.

Flyvote | February 06, 22:30 CET

I worry about those 5 people who voted Soylent Green.

Okkay | February 06, 23:05 CET

Brave New World. A world based on recreational everything would be AWESOME. No dusty planets for me!

In a nobler moment I'd probably choose the 'Verse over the others though.

Awkward Saw | February 07, 00:11 CET

I worry about those 5 people who voted Soylent Green.

Maybe they haven't seen the end ;).

No problem voting for 'Serenity' in that one. There're loads that were very cool places, very well realised futures, but not many you could actually live a relatively normal life in. Plus, the 'verse has a lot of environmental, cultural and occupational diversity, as dystopias go it's actually not all that bad.

(though either the Serenifly fanbase has a pretty heavy overlap with that blogger's stance or we're about to get accused of vote rigging again ;)

Saje | February 07, 00:29 CET

Okay, now it's up to 6. Scary.

Was Sleeper a dystopia? I seem to remember it was a world in which medical science had realized that hot fudge sundaes are health food, and there was a device called an orgasmatron. What's not to love?

barboo | February 07, 00:40 CET

I agree with Awkward Saw.

Soma > Pax

Lady Brick | February 07, 00:56 CET

Well, I haven't read BNW since school but didn't they have no books or art or science ? I couldn't live in a place like that (given the choice now I mean, obviously by the time I was high I wouldn't mind ;).

To be honest barboo i'm not sure about a few of them. Some seem to be just "futures that ain't that great", not really dystopias. 'Bladerunner' ? Huge class gap (including at least one slave class) but too diverse and still too functionally flexible to be a dystopia to me (as is the 'verse really and probably 'Gattaca' too).

'28 Days Later' is post-apocalyptic not dystopic as is (arguably) 'Mad Max' but 'Twelve Monkeys' and (*spoilers* ;) 'Planet of the Apes' are probably both because everyone seems to be living in misery with basically no hope of reprieve. There's a real sense that we're on the way out or at least being artificially maintained which dystopias need (which is why '1984' still qualifies IMO despite being a pretty functional society in its own screwed up way).

'Sleeper' could be bad if you really hate to smoke (also good for you) or disguise yourself as a weird looking robot butler. Other than that, it's livable ;).

Saje | February 07, 01:24 CET

I assume everyone who voted for Logan's Run is well under 30.

TheDivineGoat | February 07, 01:46 CET

Wouldn't it be funny if they got to Logan's Run Land and it turned out to be the book version where Lastday is when you're 21 and they were all killed instantly?

Maybe I've had too much soma today.

Lady Brick | February 07, 01:58 CET

Well, it'd only be funny for us. Which, come to think of it, I can live with ;).

Has anyone said "Gotta get me soma that !" yet ? Cos if not i'm thinking about it. Just let me know.

(see, all the best dystopias have a catchy slogan. That's how I know we're not in one. Hang on ...)

Saje | February 07, 02:28 CET

Hmm, slogans... Brazil's would have to be "No One Can Hear You Scream Except The Transcriber"

Lady Brick | February 07, 02:41 CET

I wanted to vote for Fray, but no such luck.

urkonn | February 07, 02:58 CET

I'm with Saje - most are pretty awful futures (unless you're one of the privileged few). So Serenity's future is one of the better ones, warts and all.

Kyrax | February 07, 05:32 CET

The Truman Show is remotely a dystopia? I didn't think anything was supposed to be different from real life except there's a giant bubble.

...Wait a minute, is it really just that reality TV is a huge sensation? Since we're already basically living through that...

orangewaxlion | February 07, 06:38 CET

I'm surprised Star Trek isn't a choice...huh.

browncoatrising | February 07, 07:59 CET

I was tempted to vote Children of Men (simply because it was the most awesome film of the last year), a world with no children would mean no screaming temper tantrums in shopping centres... And Michael Caine would be a pot smoking hippy, and Clive Owen and Julianne Moore would run around trying to save us from the government...
But I went with the sentimentality and voted Serenity!

ozfinn | February 07, 08:43 CET

What Saje and Kyrax said.

billz | February 07, 12:05 CET

I also thought Children of Men was one of the best films of last year - I felt that the 'Fortress Britain' it portrayed, with whole seaside towns turned into immigrant detention camps, is literally and scarily just around the corner if we carry on the path we are on these days. I was then really surprised to hear that the book was written by P D James, who I'd thought was a pretty MOR, tame crime writer? I've borrowed it to read at some point, but have been told it is quite different to the film (as in the xenophobic fascism of Britain was an interpretation by the director)?

fangless | February 07, 21:46 CET