Urban Dystopias - Coursework Example

Urban dystopia Introduction The term dystopia (an antonym of utopia) relates to a society, which in some manner comprises of some specific and undesirable aspects. This concepts is popular in many fictions (science stories), art works, and in movies. Fascistic governments, great natural calamities, automated beings, and other characteristics that represent a rapidly declining society, are generally associated with dystopias. Such societies that are depicted in various fictional novels and artworks are actually used for focusing on real life issues, related to environmental pollution, breaking down of social norms, political and economic disorder, religious oppression, loss of ethics, psychological disorders, and  advent of technology in daily lives, all of which if not dealt with adequately could create a dystopia-like scenario. The concept of dystopia became popular after Huxley’s ‘New World’ was published in 1932, later followed by Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ that was published in 1949. The two books portrayed visions of the ‘apocalypse’, which were based on realities of the twentieth century, hence were of the modern and postmodern literary type. Depicting the dehumanisation of societies owing to widespread globalisation, use of science and technology, and mechanisation, these visions represented a symbolic warning for a destructive future that was worse than the present conditions. As the world turned urban, there were predictions of an impending disaster, and alarmists presented data on the large and unsustainable division that existed between high levels of urbanisation and economic development, especially in poor nations that was claimed as a recipe for inherent disaster. The original belief in science and technology and faith in modern developments disappeared, to be replaced by a feeling of disjunction and disaffection, revealing the darker aspect to the concept of utopia. The terms utopia and dystopia are not always antithetical conceptually and as Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash (2010) contended, an antithesis to utopia would reflect an urban space that is either unplanned or it is designed in a manner to look terrible and create a feeling of fear. However, more often than not, as depicted typically in the fictions, artworks or movies, dystopia does not portray a sense of unplanned spaces, nor are there any implications that they were specifically created to arouse fear. Instead, conceptually the term gives a feeling of a utopia that works in the favour of only a handful of people within a community, or of a utopian space that has somehow failed to function and gone awry (Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash, 2010). In most modern representations both dystopias and utopias are relegated to hidden places, like remote cities or islands, while in contrast, we find that owing to unprecedented globalisation, there remains almost no space for ideal societies or strategies to exist and the catastrophe is spreading and affecting the entire human civilisation and not just parts. It is for this reason, we also find utopias and dystopias located in safer places, like the space, which would allow human beings to easily relocate and create an alternative society, since there is no hope for improvement on the earth, which is revealed in the repeated pattern of erroneous decisions leading to apocalypse- like situations. Some of the famous dystopian communities as presented in fictions include the Czech play  R.U.R. (1920), where we see the use of the word ‘robot’ for the first time and the concept of using androids comes into vogue, wherein the play gives a detailed rendition of a society taken over by the machines. The other famous dystopia is seen in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and depicted a super state that is invasive and totalitarian in nature. In Fahrenheit 451, we find an authoritarian state that destroys books in fear that they might incite people to rebel, while in the Brave New world humans are given psychological allocations, and in Blade Runner genetically engineered human replicas attempt to overrule the living world. There are depictions of utopias gone wrong in Solvent Green where the world is suffering terribly from man-made environmental disasters and humans are surviving on processed food (solvent green), and in Logans Run, we find natural resources and human population are contained by forced death of community members reaching a specific age. Therefore, it is evident that dystopias are mostly depictions of utopias gone horribly wrong, due to advent of science and technology, wrong political ideologies, and lack of environmental protection. Within urban studies, much of the recent literature has suggested that the modern city is now made up of an unequal mix of “utopia and dystopian spaces that are ... physically proximate but institutionally estranged” (MacLeod and Ward 2002: 154). Dystopia, despite the name, cannot be simply described as the opposite of utopia. Gordin, Tilley & Prakash attempted to regenerate concepts of dystopia and utopia by treating them as “historically grounded analytic categories with which to understand how individuals and groups around the world have interpreted their present tense with an eye to the future” (2010: 3). Evoking the idea that utopia is the often desired, a better world that is strived for, while dystopia is a type of critique of the present. Dystopias work by way of exaggeration, depicting a terrible place, which is a critique and exaggeration of problems in the present, resulting in dystopia-like images, often being found in literary and cinematic texts where trends and aspects of the present are imagined in a warped, hellish future, as a way of commenting on the present (Prakash, 2010). Dystopia can therefore be understood as a fictional place, situated in a time and space created by the author, whose intention is for a “contemporaneous reader to view as worse than contemporary society” (Mak, 2013: 1). The essay explores the topic urban dystopias by differentiating between dystopia and anti-utopia, examining dystopia in the city in terms of modernisation and lastly examining the visions of dystopia in the movie ‘Blade Runner.’ Discussion Difference between dystopia and anti-utopia, and the themes prevalent within dystopia literature Sir Thomas More first used the term utopia in his fiction Utopia, published in 1516 that described the existence of a society in the Atlantic oceans, while the concept of utopia was first seen in the form of a proposal in Plato’s Republic. In Utopia, the writer set about creating the vision of utopia or an ideal society, and it depicts a vague and ironic portrayal of what constitutes an ideal state. The concept of utopia within literature gained popularity in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In many of the utopian fiction, there are depictions of alternative worlds that are used as tools for embarrassing the current social systems, the implication being not to move to any outer space, but using the picture of another world to depict the current world situation. Majority of the utopian fiction have underhand political messages, using their so-called ideal states to advocate some sectarian ideologies in the present. In a general sense utopia thus depicts the ideal world. On the other hand, anti-utopia signifies a scenario, which is completely the opposite of utopia, or a place where everything is wrong or the system has been designed with a purpose to function in an opposite manner to that of utopia. Dystopia refers to a utopia that has turned dysfunctional or an ideal society gone wrong. While the two terms came into use mainly during the 1950s in the writings of Koestler, Huxley, and Orwell, amongst many others, the terms remained interchangeable and lacked a clear definition. It was during the mid-1970s, during the Utopian renaissance within the fictional literature genre that a conscious effort was made to separate the two terms based on their ideological, political and discursive attributes (Moylan, 2000). In this context it was observed that in his earlier works, Lyman Sargent delineated three core terms within utopian literature, namely, positive utopia, anti-utopia or dystopia, and satirical utopia while his later writings he states that it is inaccurate to use anti-utopia as a supplementary for dystopia (Lyman, 1967). Fredric Jameson from making analyses on the differences between anti-Utopian issues and Utopianism, in his recent writings criticised the clubbing of the two terms anti-Utopia and dystopia and placing them as directly opposite to that of Utopia and contended that it is necessary to examine certain varieties of dystopia and segregate them from the term anti-Utopia. Dystopias can be differentiated from anti-Utopias on certain specific characteristics. Dystopias, unlike anti-utopias, do not go for a complete rejection of things that symbolise the Utopian impulse and aspiration while their criticisms are more subjective in form. Dystopias are primarily narrative in nature, rather than factious, hence do not generally form a part of non-fictional literature type as seen in anti-utopias. Dystopian orientation tends to have ideologies presented in a vague manner since they are part of the fiction literature, and dystopias, mostly do not belong to the science fiction category, but contain more of the gothic and schmaltz, comprising of narrative drama and sensationalism, having varying ideological and political disposition, based on the readers’ views and context. On the other hand, anti-Utopia reflects an interpretative style, where political discourses are generally more conservative in nature. While examining some of the themes within dystopia literature it has been seen that there are some are recurring ones. The prominent among them is that totalitarianism, which is seen in many of the early works that depict the rise of Marxism and authoritarianism (Milner, 2005). Rand and Zamyatin, both Russians, saw the rise of Stalin, which resulted in Anthem and We that, portrayed collectivism within government, and written as an extreme satire for creating maximum impact. George Orwell’s 1984 also portrayed the dangers from oligarchic politics and collectivism within governments, and his novel borrowed ideas from the Stalin government and Hitler’s approach to Nazi propaganda, for brainwashing young minds. In these novels, collectivism is taken to extreme levels where individuals lose their identities completely and exist for serving only the State, the core idea being what helps the State will help them too, and it is never the other way round. In most dystopian works, the lead character gets help from at least from one insider to start an undercover rebellion, which shows that people are always a part of the community, while the main leitmotif of these writings imply that individuals while functioning within communities cannot be turned into machine-parts of the grinder named State. Another indicator of a dystopian state is the ruling party’s ideologies toward humanity, their repressive attitude towards human emotions, such as, love, creativity, spirituality, and the focus on keeping people engaged to their tasks, giving no space for reflections or thinking (Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash, 2010). Here the main mantra is the motivation to love the State and not themselves or any other humans. Along with these, instincts, especially those related to sex are also seen to be repressed, often using medication. Individual rights do not exist and privacy is minimal. The government takes control over an individual right from birth, thus creating controllable and foreseeable human beings. Another recurring theme is related to future predications and the cityscape designs that are often the same, based on mathematical calculations. Buildings have specific patterns, like squares or pyramids, roads are straight, and lives are strictly regulated with no space for the unpredictable (Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash, 2010) In We, the author creates an equation for every incident in order to derive the maximum happiness coefficient. Dystopia stories also typically lack colour, with uniform like clothes and accessories being the order of the day. This picture of mass control has two major effects. First, it brings about a feeling of sameness, which is core to the theory of collectivism. Besides this, it limits choices that can be presented to the individuals, giving the State full power over its citizens and often it has been observed that there is a familial name such as, Big Brother or Father, for the leader (Gordin, Tilley, and Prakash, 2010). The dystopian stories also tend to lack nature and animals are missing or genetically modified, while trees have strange appearances. Escape in such stories often relates to moving out into nature that is shown as untamed and unrestrained, signifying rebellion against the state. Since mathematical figures or charts cannot control nature, it remains out of bounds of the State. Nature also tends to arouse emotions in people, helping them to relax or reflect, and this fails to serve any purpose within a dystopian state. Other prominent recurring themes are sex and religion. Religion in its normal form is absent, as it is associated with a deity, and if at all there is any religion, it would be religion of the State, where the leader is the god and worshiped, thus dispelling any claims that there are certain external laws higher than the State enforced laws. On the issue, often the approach is different but the basic theme is always the same some advocate rampant and free sexual activities, while in others it is completely repressed through us of medication. In both instances the main objective is to eliminate any emotional involvement or longing for a specific individual. Thus, the rule is to follow the law of the State instead of following the law of the heart. Dystopia in the city / modernisation In novels and films if the rural side is synonymous with spectres and ghosts, dystopian writing on the other hand is synonymous within cityscape, and its various urban conflicts which implies a serious problem of the future is created owing to internal disorders and malpractices, and does not emerge from the fear of an unknown external element (Weitz, 2007). Therefore, in modern era the comprehension of reality has no fear of outside elements, but feels threatened by man’s own activities. Dystopian science fiction is based on the fears of the constant threats emanating from reality, and the chief protagonists show an early aggression at the beginning of the story. The advancement of science and technology, can determine the universal nature of the urban space. The city is an integral part of the entire economy for a dystopian narration and is the main source of inspiration, while being the only environment capable of acting as a buttress for modern communication, and the only area where the conflict can take place (Koolhaas, 1998). The city is therefore the display-case for a harsh and infinite future and the subsequent conflict, thus showing both positive and negative effects and playing upon our apprehension of the reality. In the dystopian fictions, the values expounded are mostly from the era of enlightenment, when reasoning excelled, however in a warped manner, to create a prevalent doubt about uman ability to actually comprehend and control reality (Moylan, 2003). Recurrent themes such as space expeditions and colonisation of other planets reflect the desire to explore and conquer the entire world, and the triumph of urban space in all dystopian novels stem from the reality of the industrial era demographics. In dystopian fictions, instead of the triumphalist perspectives, space travel is fraught with uncertainties, while the urban spheres turn into expressions of universal failure. In dystopian fictions, the threat at the core of the narrative is internally created, emerging from the very reality, wherein rationality in its harsh glory attacks humankind using their very own achievements, emanating from scientific and technological advancement (Moylan, 2003). In the context of utopia, the city was supposed to be the highest possible achievement in terms of science and reasoning, which in dystopia turns into an inescapable confinement where humans fall prey to their own advanced and superior achievements. From early twentieth century, dystopic visions are evident in novels, films and in sociological essays depicting the postmodern city. Here the cities are made to appear as subservient, dark, dysfunctional, crushed under capitalist form of economy, and facing serious socio-ecological issues, along with race wars, gender bias and rampant acts of crimes, while the entire city is subjected to complete control by science and technology (Moylan, 2003). Modernism and postmodernism is largely an urban phenomenon and reflects the cultural values of the cityscape. In the initial years during the era of rapid urbanisation, they were feelings of exhilaration among the writers, painters and filmmakers, and they derived pleasure from the chaotic energy of the urban crowd and the daily rhythm of lives so visible among the worker class and officer-goers (MacLeod and Ward, 2002). With the emergence of science and technology based planned cityscape, there were narrations of utopias that presented synchronized streets, houses, and even cars. However, despite the fascination, there were increasing instances of oppression and social inequality and a feeling of individualism and separation that hung over the entire society, stemming from overt capitalism. The beauty in daily life’s rhythm was replaced with routine boredom and the advancement in science and technology that claimed to be capable of creating planned futures soon turned threatening (MacLeod and Ward, 2002). This threat of the modern and postmodern era was expressed in the form of dystopia writings within an urban setting, while the dark portrayal of science and capitalism while not rejecting the modern cityscape turned into a critique of the dysfunctional utopia. In the dystopian fictions, it is important to note that the writers and filmmakers always leave a scope for human intervention to save the dystopic world and usher in a period of utopia. In some of the early twentieth century films such as Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) the filmmakers portrayed dystopia where they created a sense of the urban uneasiness, where there is a hint of dissatisfaction, instability and chaos with the urban veneer of reasoning and technology and this is very apparent in the Metropolis. During this time and in the later years, the visual theme has been further developed through narrations and writings, and offer increasingly darker representations of the cityscape. According to historians and other film experts, the noir style that reflected such harsh and dark images of the city stemmed from the unnerving experience of WWII and subsequent capitalist restructuring the society (Baeten, 2001). The old urban landscape changed rapidly and with increasing globalisation, there came into existence a mixed crowd comprising of various races, culture, religion and creed and this is evident in most of the dystopian writings. Capitalism led advancement and the rise of big MNCs led to opaque and alien social relationships. Another image that frequently appears in dystopic visions is of the slum, where there are many pictures depicting scary images of urban crisis in the ‘poor’ cities of the developing nations (Davis, 2006). In this context, Jennifer Robinson contended that such portrayals show that dystopian fictions are critique of the current situation, where dystopia does not exist in some faraway planet or in outer space in the distant future (Robinson, 2006). Instead, dystopia is already present within the urban spheres of developing nations, reflecting the dangerous impact of excess neoliberal form of capitalist economy, and widespread globalisation (Robinson, 2006). Dystopic images thus provide scope for human intervention while taking into consideration their aesthetic values in the context of historical developments that offer visions that vary from city-based nihilism to a desire for freedom and an utopian existence, from images of dislocation to ‘warped spaces’ where the cityscapes appear harsh and full of horrors. Thus dystopian themes express a crisis where a few handful people are powerful enough to create an apparent utopia where they live, while the majority of the poor and powerless citizens survive in ‘unintended’ urban spheres that house slums and a hard life, and in dystopian narratives the ‘cities of darkness’ are made to show as much as they mask. Visions of dystopia in Blade Runner Science fiction as a narrative form continues to engage readers due to its rapidly expanding subgenres and this form of literature remains caught between the logical world and the world that exists outside the known norms and regulations. This form of literature allows scope for creativity that leads to the creation of different original and imaginative works of fiction, within films and television (Cornea, 2007). Blade Runner is a movie of this genre that has become famous owing to its portrayal of a dystopian future. The movie was released in 1982, and was universally acclaimed for its stunning portrayal of a future postmodern city. Ridley Scott created the futuristic scenario based upon crumbling remains of the present Los Angeles, and developed an extravagant yet limited image of the Los Angeles in 2019 (Carper, 1991). Based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the movie portrayed Harrison Ford (Deckard) as a retired police officer, hired as the ‘blade runner’ to eliminate ‘replicants’ (synthetically created people for serving human beings) that arrived from outer space and was residing illegally on the earth (Dick, 2001). In the Blade Runner, Los Angeles remains visibly impressive, but shows a bleak future, with tall skyscrapers and large advertising billboards that depict a highly consumerist society and reminds the viewer of Lang’s Metropolis. In the beginning, LA appears set within a large industrial arena, with chemical refineries and factories belching out noxious fumes on all sides, while huge glitzy structures rule the urban core. The entire city is depicted as a vast glittering world of neon light, comprising of advertising images placed on top of the skyscrapers, while hovercrafts move along unseen flight paths. However, the view changes with the shooting of the ‘blade runner’ by Leon (a replicant), when one enters the depths of the ‘canyon,’ formed owing to the tall skyscrapers dwarfing over crumbling and dilapidated structures. This move to the ground level shows an antithesis of the glittering urban skyline and the city suddenly turns into a slum, a mixture of ethnic people rushing past shops and vendors. As one looks up from the ground level, one would view wires, smog and constant acid rain, thus revealing the sinuous nature of verticality. Here all forms of city-based travel are controlled through schematics produced by computers, while navigation through visual perspective does not exist, and paths at various levels overshadow the conventional mode of traveling (Staiger, 1988). The chaos at street level and roadways full of fire-pits, garbage, cairns, and carved monoliths is paired with the power and peacefulness of verticality. While looking for the ‘replicants,’ Deckard is forced to look beyond the street-level, and search for answers at a higher level. As the detectives, during their searches, find hierarchy even within corruption and a scale of evil, Deckard discovers the avaricious nature of life within all layers. The vertical architecture, so prominent in the Blade Runner, represents this unequal division of power and the evil hierarchy. As Milner wrote, “It is a class-divided city, vertically stratified between the darkest proletarian depths where the workers live, the intermediary levels where they work in conditions of extreme alienation…[while] the high city of light [is] inhabited by the privileged classes” (2005: 255). Within this scene of apocalyptic gloom, the dystopian city is shown as being complementary to the glowing ‘White City’ that officially depicts utopia and optimism, while the sinister visual theme is made evident through dazzling audio-visual effects (Reid and Walker, 1993). The innocent are made victims, while the city remains fallen and full of complexities, dominated by an evil force that deforms and stops functioning of normal lives (ibid). The movie depicts post WWII situation during the period of depression, and the visual theme reveals a lateral power web depicting increasing industrialisation, cityscape, and emergence of a vertical power hierarchy within ruling political parties, while exaggerating changelessness, wherein the fear and frustration of both the left and the right wings were made a part of the visual theme (ibid). Blade Runner depicts these themes while portraying the futuristic L.A. of 2019, however all incidents take place in a vertical array. While the movie is set futuristically forty years in time, Blade Runner also manages to depict a world that goes back forty years in time (Nezar, 2007). There is a mix of old buildings, as for example, Los Angeles’ Bradbury Building, while neon props are added to create an aura of the future world, and this ‘retrofuture’ theme, which is an integral part of science fiction types that include technologies prevalent in the nineteenth century and is a part of the steampunk genre. By using this theme, Blade Runner manages to create an impression of a crumbling and shabby city that is reeling under the pressures of overt commercialism. The movie was intended to be a prediction of the future resulting from present systems and it aimed at disturbing the viewers (Kerman, 1991). This was achieved by creating a form of illusory utopia at the higher reaches, which turned into a dysfunctional dystopia as one moved down to the street level. This image of a utopia gone awry in the future is what is termed as a dystopia, and is founded on the premises of the current socio-political systems. While in general terms utopian exposition is built on the desire to correct things that have gone awry in the present era, dystopian theories are based on criticisms of rapid urbanisation of the post-modern era and the current economic system. Overpopulated and polluted the crumbling state is shown to have resulted from excess consumerism and the movie depicts post-industrial corrosion owing to capitalism. Such emphasis on commerce has led to rampant destruction of all natural creatures and even the animals seen are artificially created ones, while a perpetual darkness hangs over the city due to pollution. Overpopulation is seen in the multicultural nature of the city, which is full of images from the eastern world, thus setting the third world (developing nations) right within the first world, and here one can move between the two worlds effortlessly, without having to undertake any travel. Thus, Blade Runner’s Los Angeles also includes a China within itself and the city is filled with iconographies from the oriental world with an old and decaying eastern population, and the viewers see advertisements of a geisha woman and shops selling noodles. A police officer is seen to speak in a language that is an amalgamation of various languages, such as, French, Chinese, Hungarian and Japanese. This form of dystopia is signified through urban architecture and city line that represent the evil political and economic orders of the modern era (Staiger, 1988). Blade Runner incorporates this form of dystopia, where the corrupt yet powerful figures live at upper levels (vertically, within the cityscape), while the common people without access to the neo-utopian world and ‘replicant’ servants, survive at street levels, and through Deckard the viewers get to see this vertical strata, depicting both an illusory utopia and dystopia. The city remains poor, with majestic buildings that remain empty while streets are filled with people from the lower social strata. There is a sense of cultural chaos, combined with a scene of constant decay and attempts at reconstructions, which is an integral part of any modern cityscapes (Wong, 2007). Therefore, Blade Runner though depicts one city, the Los Angeles, is actually made of various different cities, all moulded into a single multi-cultural cityscape. The visual images of the cityscape portray a strong sense of dystopia, which is also evident in the various scientific advancements as are seen in the movie. Here, the most prominent scientific advancement is depicted is in the form of the replicants, and it has been observed that in science fictions often existing words are reshaped to describe prospective hypotheses that science has yet failed to achieve. The term ‘replicant’ is a derivative of the word replicate, referring to exact recreation of an object. In this context, replicants are replicas of human beings, created artificially by the Tyrell Corporation and sold as slaves to the inhabitants of the neo-utopian colonies. The replicants are almost the same as humans; however, they have a very short life span, of only four years that allows humans to remain in power. These machines possess nature that is more human than human; hence, can be considered as simulations of the real world, under third order of simulacra as framed by Baudrillard. In Blade Runner, the replicants are shown to exist as carbon copies of humans, however, without an original copy there is a hint of hyperrealism, with evident implications of moral values or lack of it. The replicants lack all forms of basic human rights, such as, no right to freedom, happiness or even life, and their artificial presence keeps on pointing a moral question about the creator’s obligations towards his created objects (here these are living objects) and providing them their due rights (Francavilla, 1991). This issue gains gradual importance in the movie wherein the viewer gets glimpses of an increasingly emotional aspect of the replicants that in turn ‘dehumanises’ the real humans in the movie. This is evident in the movie when Roy Batty, head of Nexus-6 replicants, lets Deckard to remain alive, being aware of his own impending death, and at the end Roy turns into a hero (despite murdering the villain Tyrell), showing the thin line that exists between good and evil. In the movie, a female replicant Rachael is shown to be used by the villain, Tyrell. Rachael was not aware of her hyperrealism in the beginning, and believed herself to be true human, owing to false memories implanted in her by Tyrell. Once Deckard reveals the truth, Rachael tries defending her position with old photographs, which shows the extent to which evil can go using science and technology, and it leads to questions related to one’s sense of humanity and self-identity and whether a replicant can possess a soul or not. Technological advancement is also seen in the form of photographs as observed in ‘Esper machine’, which lets Deckard examine photographs transcending the limits of the camera-captured images. This form of technology though stunning in a visual way, shows the extent of power and the concept of the ‘private eye’ (Kerman, 1991). This depicts stringent surveillance, where the world is policed in a manner where nothing remains private, and freedom is limited for the common citizens. The film also portrays gender issues that add to its dystopian theme. The three main female protagonists play the role of a stereotyped woman relegated to acting as submissive characters or playing the part of prostitutes. While Rachael plays the submissive lover to Deckard, the other two female characters Zhora and Pris were created to please men. The female characters in Blade Runner are all replicants, hence entirely viewed as ‘others’. With their skin-job associates’ statuses, they tend to reflect slavery within the realms of highly patriarchal society. Pris and Zhora are the two female warriors, merciless and violent while achieving their objectives; however also possessing human emotions of faithfulness and love. In contrast to Rachael, they accept their ‘hyper-real’ identity and refuse to bow down before the human pursuers. Rachael on the other hand is opposite to this feeling of ‘free-will,’ representing an oppressed character, while symbolising a cyborg’s confusion on issues of fear and love, as seen in majority of the science fictions. Therefore, Blade Runner shows a dystopian future that is made evident on its cityscape, scientific advancement and gender stereotyped roles. The movie also depicts the overtly consumerist society of LA 2019 faced with issues related to poverty, overpopulation, and rising pollution. While many people are shown to have moved away from the dystopia, the poor and the old remain behind. The use of advanced scientific technologies has produced bioengineered human replicas, which predicts future dehumanisation of technology where scientific creations would spin out of human control (Francavilla, 1991). The movie shows the extent of demoralisation of human beings from an overall perspective (especially in their treatment of replicants), while the portrayal of female replicants show their submissive position in the patriarchal and dystopian world. The movie clearly shows a dystopian world, where a city is facing issues that are distinctly recognisable in the modern context, such as, pollution, overpopulation, poverty, and acid rains (Ruppert, 1989). However, these problems seemingly vanish as one move up the vertical plane. At the top (epitomised by Tyrell’s Pyramid Peak) there is no acid rain or pollution induced smog and darkness that are seen at street-level, and one can view the beautiful sunset from the balconies of such high skyscrapers. The vertical positioning of the storyline reveals the dystopia within the apparent utopia, and vice versa. However, the development of a dystopian setting within a utopia does not take place merely through narration, but also through visual representations, such as, architectural malfeasance in the form of high-tech pyramidal structures along with shabby buildings show that a utopian theme has gone completely wrong. While simulated animals, computerised neon advertising boards and tall skyscrapers, all depict technological advancement, these very images also hint at the presence of an opposite world in the crowded and dirty streets below that show a smog-filled dark sky, in other words, a true dystopia. The rich and the powerful rule from their high-rise utopian positions, while the poor and the powerless citizens live in a dystopian world. Tall skyscrapers and glass towers are seen mixed with retrofit architecture type that reminds one of old urban landscapes. The law enforcement officers do not act towards preventing any crime, and even fail to intervene, while only working towards doing a ‘clean-up’ job once a crime has been committed. The movie thus depicts a future vision of city that in reality is more of a nightmare and creates more anxiety than working towards fulfilment of future hopes, therefore defining a dysfunctional utopia, or the vision of enteric dystopia. Conclusion A dystopian society is ruled by a handful people with a masked motive that remains covered in grandiloquence, or in outright falsehood. The people in power will use force or conditioning for maintaining their control, which is often seen in the various political and religious ideologies, such as, the Roman Catholic Church and Marxism, amongst many others. The ones in power control almost all most aspects of the citizens’ lives, and an individual loses importance, and is merely seen as a part or a mere number within the society. Under such conditions, an individual remains anonymous and he/she is safe within the crowd. However, for dystopia writing, it is necessary to have a conflict, hence dissension is necessary in the form of an individual person or even a group, and typically, there is an incident in the chief protagonist’s life that will show differences between the current situation and the way if things were functioning better. Such incidents generally comprise of emotional turmoil when the protagonist sees the hidden ways in which the ruling party operates, or stumbles upon forbidden things from old days. This emotional turmoil gives rise to feeling of individualism, and creates the belief in human rights and the determination to bring all wrongdoings to light and, rectify the system to achieve utopia. In literature and in movies the ending varies from positive to negative, however the focus is mainly on the journey of the chief protagonist. Often it has been seen in dystopia visual themes, the effect is greater and message easily delivered if the protagonist meets a tragic end while fighting the corrupt system and this is seen in many of these works dealing with dystopia. Owing to these reasons, dystopian works tend to be akin to morality stories, the chief objective being highlighting the flaws of the current system and envisioning them into the future system, creating a vision of utopia. In dystopia literature or movies the viewers and readers have no sides to sort out, they are clearly shown the right side to adhere to and they are left with interpreting and aligning the presented stereotypes within the current systems and societies. Therefore, to summarise a dystopian fiction, it is based on creating an environment where the system within a utopia goes awry, and power moves into the hands of a corrupt few. It takes an individual or a group to experience the evil hierarchy and the corrupt system, and rise in dissention against this apparently ‘perfect’ society and break it to form a new utopia. Therefore, dystopian fictions are critiques of the current times showing a harsh future, urging the viewers and those within the system to remove the defects, establish a new order, and create a better world (utopia), for all human beings. References Baeten, G., 2001. “Clich´es of urban doom. 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