The future is almost always portrayed negatively in movies and TV shows, amirite?

Wouldn't that be a boring story? Man travels to the future, finds out everything is actually pretty good.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Finding out things haven't changed at all would be worse tbh

by EstablishmentSome 8 months ago

maybe that the reason, to make thing so much more tragic:) damned it .. we love drama

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I mean, the way they portrayed the future in the 50's and 60's was very positive, it wasn't boring either. One example is the cartoon "The Jetsons" and it was a very popular show for a long time.

by Puzzleheaded_Lock 8 months ago

Then he travels back to the past and waits for the good future, but it's nowhere in sight. So he takes it into his own hands.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I like that meme where the guy goes to the future and the Christians have been raptured away.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Meet the Robinsons. Back to the future 2. The future wasn't terrible for everyone, and the stories weren't boring at all.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Naw it could be good. Look at Meet the Robinsons

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I've been trying to figure out how to write an interesting story that has no conflict for years, and I haven't had much luck. I mean, even Sesame Street has conflict inmost of their plot lines.

by SpiritualPace 8 months ago

They have suicide booths on the steets dude.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

This. It's usually a rule of thumb that stories are supposed to show the most interesting part of a character's life which usually means they'll be dealing with a lot of conflict.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Star Trek series/movies

by Anonymous 8 months ago

That's true. The lore does say the Earth deals with WW3 (actually starts in 2026 in the timeline) but after it ends and the Earth encounters aliens things start to get better. But I don't think there's ever been a ST series focused on this era.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

There are eugenics wars, there is the time with universal basic income but it's basically slums. But I don't think there's ever been a ST series focused on this era. They go to the past sometimes and see this in some episodes. They have the one where they go back to see the first warp drive. Star Trek Enterprise was originally going to spend a year before they built the first ship.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

The jetsons.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I don't think we've gotten more cynical. I think it just makes sense, from a writing perspective, to write on what you know instead of coming up with a view of the future. History shows cycles of repeating events caused by human nature, so it makes sense that the same events that happened decades/centuries ago would repeat in the future.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

That's one of the things that makes Star Trek unique is that it shows a relatively hopeful future besides the Borg and Cardassians

by Anonymous 8 months ago

TNG read Existentialism is a Humanism and understood the assignment. Even the Borg have a hopeful turn when individuality is introduced into the collective.

by Just-Departure8306 8 months ago

I had to scroll way too far to find someone with the accurate perspective. It's not just a feature of good storytelling requiring conflict, it's a reflection of the zeitgeist. Alexandr Dugin, of all people, has accurately pointed this out.

by Candaceweissnat 8 months ago

It's also a good plot device to tell a story in a familiar (or unfamiliar as you need) setting with a few key (major or minor) changes which can be explored with the story. Sci-fi is basically fantasy but with the thematic change of "magic" replaced with "currently impossible technology".

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Even Trek has gotten darker. Picard as an Old Man has become disenchanted with the Federation.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

One of my favourite quotes: "Science fiction is not a prediction of the future but a critique of the present."

by willmsrose 8 months ago

The entire Star Trek franchise would like a word.

by Anastasia01 8 months ago

Star Trek has entered the chat.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I blame the Jetsons and Back to the Future Part 2

by Optimal-Resort 8 months ago

People's lives were getting better with every year, so they figured the future would be good Our lives keep getting worse each year, so we figure the future is gonna be terrible

by Anonymous 8 months ago

In a similar vein to the "past is good, future is bad" trope, it's much more common for the villains to be technologically advanced and the heroes to defeat them with magic/mysticism/"the forgotten old ways" than it is for the reverse to be true.

by Status-Oil 8 months ago

We've gone from the happy hippie days of the ‘60s and ‘70s singing about spreading love and joy, to the gangster, shoot everybody up days of the ‘90s, and today we have MKG. The future does look bleak.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Ah yes, everyone's favorite TV Show. The one where they travel to the future and everything is better, so they go back and just live life normally so they don't screw that future up. You see the future negatively because they need it to be something the characters want to prevent thus driving a plot. This is called a plot device. You also almost never see purely good mega corporations that just want to improve the world, or shadowy organizations that just want to meet up for tea once a month.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Yeah, because they are cautionary tales. A happy future isn't a guarantee, it's something that requires vigilance. A lesson too many of us seem to not realize. So they turn away from the influences that push us towards ruin instead prosperity. These tales are meant to remind us of those dangers. And to make a bunch of money lol

by Anonymous 8 months ago

It probably wouldn't be a very interesting show if there were no problems.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

What about the Jetsons? Badd example. Old dhow

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Because everyone thinks art is angsty

by Anonymous 8 months ago

True... but there are movies like Meet the Robinsons that are hopeful.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

well someone's not a trekkie. Also, The Expanse. Humanity is in a better spot technologically but still with the same problems.

by Hairy-Chair6548 8 months ago

Not sure if Interstellar would apply

by Odd-Tradition 8 months ago

Yeah. It's called drama.

by Eldridgeryan 8 months ago

Two words to dispute this: Star Trek.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Star Trek is pretty optimistic

by johnstonkenneth 8 months ago

With the way we are going, I am surprised it isnt portrayed as worse tbh.

by kundecaleigh 8 months ago

Meet the Robinsons, Back to the future, Star Trek, the Martian, Doctor Who, Futurama, all had pretty positive views of the future. It all depends on where you look.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Except for the Jetsons. Oh, and Star Trek. But that is all. Well... Maybe 2001 a Space Odyssey, if you still consider it the future.

by veumjackie 8 months ago

Whoever controls the media controls the mind

by Traditional_Car 8 months ago

"The future is bright, and no one has to do anything about it." isn't really a compelling plot...

by Anonymous 8 months ago