‘For whom, it suddenly occurred to him to wonder, was he writing this diary for the future, for the unborn?’ sourced from the Novel of Nineteen Eighty-Four, representing a strong theme of dystopia. Throughout this essay have chosen four texts that I believe all have significant connections heavily portrayed through the ideas of Dystopia. The four text I chose is the Novel Nineteen Eighty Four, An Episode Nosedive from the series of Black Mirror, the Song Take a bow and the episode the handmaids tale. The reason I chose this text is that I believe that they all present an image of an imaginary society that is as dehumanizing and imperfect. The Four dystopian text gives similar images about what might happen to our world in the near future. The Dystopia is represented through rebellion, oppression, revolutions, wars, overpopulation, and disasters. 

Black Mirror, Nosedive- 

The script of Nosedive was written by Parks and Recreation Michal Schur and Rashida Jones. In this episode of Nosedive, they placed the attention to a ‘hyper validation- seeking’ society that has employed social media ratings as the backbone for the modern-day. for example, while living in this error if you want to upgrade your apartment, you would have to be at least a 4.5 score rating to achieve this. understanding that opportunities in life are limited to your star rating and if you were liked by everyone and have a high social score, you can rise up in your career. Lacie (the main character) finds her social identity, in the beginning, was overall a positive one. Lacie put all her efforts into getting good ratings from randoms and her peers although she had to be careful not to be ‘too fake’ or her kindness would be forced upon and she would get a bad rating. The pressure lacey is under to get a good rating to be able to buy a new apartment is what no one should ever have to go through. I believe it teaches people to get so stuck up on their appearance to assure they get good ratings. This episode of Black Mirror was a very interesting critique of what could happen if social media run your life and if the only thing that mattered is how people superficially see you. the purpose of this society is to encourage politeness and kindness, but also promotes extremely unrealistic expectations. Not everyone has a flawless social media account or fits into the unrealistic beauty standards that media promotes like Lacie’s friends. This system is elitist because only those that fit the social norms of the society are able to succeed. people that are different in any way, like if they don’t like posting pictures an are not cheery or smiling 24/7, would not succeed in this society. this society thinks that this system is the perfect solution to promote a stable community when in reality they are making people live a lie. 

Nosedive helps us understand the dangers of taking social media too seriously, and how it can drive people crazy. In our current society, social media can be a fun tool, but it can also be a frustrating or trapping tool for many. there are so many videos of famous Instagram stars that we have decided to completely delete their accounts because of the constant pressure to put out good content and look a certain way. The difference between social media and this society is that you still have the ability to judge someone for who they are in person, whereas with the society in Nosedive social media transcends into the real world. the only time Lacie felt free is when she was arrested and removed from the system and was able to freely communicate with someone in prison. In this society, prison represented freedom where nothing is held against them, and they have potentially nothing to lose. 

I believe the storyline of nosedive relates to the song ‘Take a Bow’ by Rihanna, my reasons for this lay behind the ideas of creating a false persona to hide your true personality behind because your afraid of what others will think of you. Nosedive shows this through the way everyone puts pressure on themselves to be the person they wish they were. And we see these ideas cross over into the piece of ‘Take a Bow ‘ the two in the relationship live their life like nothing is wrong creating this fake idea of what love is although they are not being loyal to each other. unfortunately this is becoming the reality of our near future where its almost as people forget how to keep it real. The problem is people are being hated when they are real and are being loved when they are fake, and our world id becoming full of small-minded people with their mouth wide open. 

Take a bow is about a woman not wanting to continue giving her relationship with another guy anymore. She feels as if she has been mistreated and betrayed. 

At the very beginning of the song, we see Rihanna sarcastically say well done for betraying her, which she explains in depth in the first verse. The first verse explains the man’s stupidity and dumbness as he desperately tries to take back what he did, where Rihanna, in turn, cannot forgive him for as she feels betrayed enough to kick him out for good. The pre-chorus sees Rihanna telling the man that he is remorseless because really, he doesn’t even care although he is apologetic it is only purely though the feeling of guilt knowing he got caught cheating in the action by his wife. She expresses her feeling for him of remorseless because she knows that he wouldn’t have been sorry otherwise. Presenting a fake persona.n

In the chorus, Rihanna describes how she became susceptible to this man’s deceit, so she uses a sarcastically metaphoric writing style to show this. she furthermore uses metaphors to explain how she ends the relationship, by comparing the breakup to curtains closing at a theatre. she enjoyed seeing this man beg to be forgiven for cheating on her just to be entertained. but she isn’t playing games with this man anymore, so she asks him to leave.

the second verse sees Rihanna telling the man to pack his bags and get out, but he is still at his worst, begging for forgiveness, but she isn’t putting up with his nonsense and pathetic sob-stories and ends the verse by sarcastically saying “what else is on? ‘to explain how she will find a new lover. 

in the bridge of the song, Rihanna plays the role of a prize-giver, and awards “best liar” to the man, sarcastically for being deceitful and two-faced. his “show’ was him trying to reassure her that he was faithful but actually wasn’t. And she asks him to recite a ‘speech’ or what he says is his apology. 

This text has themes of dystopia as it is becoming more common for people to lose trust with there ones who are closest to them, this is when the sorry becomes meaningful and the apology comes without change becoming manipulation. It seems as if there is more lust than love in the becoming world, where the love is fake and the pain is real and we see this expressed through the song as it is clear that if the love was real it wouldn’t of cheated, lied or pretend, hurt or make you feel unwanted. Infidelity it’s not about love but a personal ned system out of whack, an inability to set boundaries, a sense of entitlement, an addiction problem, unresolved internal tension from a long time ago, a deep seated belief of inadequacy plus more. 

The text of “Take a Bow’ relates to the text of the handmaid’s tale, there are similar ideas between the two text when they share the ideas of betrayal towards women. “Pain marks you, but two deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.”   This is a quote pulled from the handmaid’s tale which has relations to both of the text as it resembles the pain both women go through, where they are internally hurting but put on a brave face showing no weakness to the men that are manipulating them. These dystopian texts both relate back to our world today we find that women are getting stronger are we see that strong women try and keep their life in order. Even with tears in their eyes, they still manage to say “im okay” with a smile. This results in women being mistreated because no matter how many times they get beaten they will always get back up and wipe the tears. It disheartens me to see that after this the men think it’s okay to continue with their actions, due to the women showing no emotion. Damaged women become the dangerous kind, because they already know they can survive and in both of these text they manage to overcome the manipulation and move on with their life. 

Handmaid’s tale

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood explores the consequences of a reversal of women’s rights. In the novel’s nightmare world of Gilead, a group of conservative religious extremists has taken power and turned the sexual revolution on its head. Feminists argued for  gender roles, but Gilead is a society founded on a “return to traditional values” and gender roles, and on the subjection of women by men. What feminists considered the great triumphs of the 1970s—namely, widespread access to contraception, the legalization of abortion, and the increasing political influence of female voters—have all been undone. Women in Gilead are not only forbidden to vote, they are forbidden to read or write. Atwood’s novel also paints a picture of a world undone by pollution and infertility, reflecting 1980s fears about declining birth rates, the dangers of nuclear power, and -environmental degradation. Some of the novel’s concerns seem dated today, and its implicit condemnation of the political goals of America’s religious conservatives has been criticized as unfair and overly paranoid. Nonetheless, The Handmaid’s Tale remains one of the most powerful recent portrayals of a totalitarian society, and one of the few dystopian novels to examine in detail the intersection of politics and sexuality. The novel’s description of the controversial politics of reproduction seems very realistic well into the twenty-first century.

The handmaid’s tale shows huge relation to my last text of Nineteen eighty four. The novel Nineteen Eighty- Four George Orwell informs his readers of what the future holds for us with our world becoming almost as corrupt as he has described in the novel through distinct power, control, and manipulation. As readers, we became aware of Orwell’s attention towards what he had suggested would happen further throughout the rest of the novel.

Orwell creates a dystopian society throughout the novel of Nineteen Eighty-Four where the community of Oceania is controlled through the thought of fear. The party pushes its ideas through physical control of the minds of the Oceanian community, constructed to destroy anyone’s personal thought. With the pressure constantly haunting the citizens through the thought of the giant Telescreen in the individual’s bedroom, repeating a constant appeal of propaganda. Through this idea, it now creates an illusion that when the party comes across a failure, through the power it becomes a success. In the novel, we review that the Telescreen also supervises the individual’s behavior with an uninterrupted reminder that “Big Brother is watching you” that the authorities analyzing every action, thought and breath. Constantly looking out for signs of falseness, and with this pressure, it forces people’s nerves to become their biggest enemy. Through this time most individuals let fear take over their body Winston however, did not. Orwell disagreed with the rules of surveillance and privacy throughout Oceania. While placing a Telescreen in the house it enforces instant invasion of privacy, as well as the feeling of becoming unsafe to process your own thoughts at home. We have lines that nobody should cross because that is where our self-esteem is found. Our privacy it where our balance is contained and where our valuable identity resides. The party doesn’t take into account what the citizens feel or believe and their main focus is to keep full control on everything in Oceania.

Nineteen Eighty-Four challenged the thought through fear which has become parallel to our world today our lives are manipulated through the thought of fear. We often find yourself getting stuck in our comfort zone where we feel safe and often don’t want to leave it due to the thought of fear holding us back even though most times if we can leave the comfort zone with confidence we are able to achieve greatness. Our comfort zone is our enemy and one of the biggest fears I can think of is when we live life trying to stay comfortable, although life will send us more and more discomfort. Because people are so concerned about staying comfortable and fear what it’s like to become uncomfortable they keep struggling, we come here to grow and when we don’t make yourself uncomfortable life gives us plenty of reasons and opportunities to get out of our comfort zone. We fail to achieve greatness as a society when we choose to stay in our comfort zone, from Orwell’s warning of Nineteen Eighty-Four need to use this opportunity to get out of our comfort zone as face our fear to grow.
Overall throughout my chosen text are all most recent dystopian pieces of literature and but all follow the same themes where there is loss of individual control and government control taking over the lives of others. Often, the government is the cause of the dystopian world and problems that are encountered by the characters in the novel.  As a result of government control, the population can experience horrible living conditions, environmental destruction or a loss of the individual.  As a result of government control the population will often break out in civil war to counteract the government. 1984 is set in a world that is under complete government control.  The leader of the party has surveillance over everyone. After developing a relationship with Julia, Winston begins to hate the control they are under. After a meeting with another party leader he believes there is hope in sight, but the government may see more than he thinks.