+21
The future is almost always portrayed negatively in movies and TV shows, amirite?
by Anonymous2 months ago
Wouldn't that be a boring story? Man travels to the future, finds out everything is actually pretty good.
by Anonymous2 months ago
Finding out things haven't changed at all would be worse tbh
by EstablishmentSome2 months ago
maybe that the reason, to make thing so much more tragic:) damned it .. we love drama
by Anonymous2 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_Lock2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
I like that meme where the guy goes to the future and the Christians have been raptured away.
by Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
Naw it could be good. Look at Meet the Robinsons
by Anonymous2 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 SpiritualPace2 months ago
They have suicide booths on the steets dude.
by Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
Star Trek series/movies
by Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
The jetsons.
by Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 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-Departure83062 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 Candaceweissnat2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
Even Trek has gotten darker. Picard as an Old Man has become disenchanted with the Federation.
by Anonymous2 months ago
One of my favourite quotes: "Science fiction is not a prediction of the future but a critique of the present."
by willmsrose2 months ago
The entire Star Trek franchise would like a word.
by Anastasia012 months ago
Star Trek has entered the chat.
by Anonymous2 months ago
I blame the Jetsons and Back to the Future Part 2
by Optimal-Resort2 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 Anonymous2 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-Oil2 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 Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 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 Anonymous2 months ago
It probably wouldn't be a very interesting show if there were no problems.
by Anonymous2 months ago
What about the Jetsons? Badd example. Old dhow
by Anonymous2 months ago
Because everyone thinks art is angsty
by Anonymous2 months ago
True... but there are movies like Meet the Robinsons that are hopeful.
by Anonymous2 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-Chair65482 months ago
Not sure if Interstellar would apply
by Odd-Tradition2 months ago
Yeah. It's called drama.
by Eldridgeryan2 months ago
Two words to dispute this: Star Trek.
by Anonymous2 months ago
Star Trek is pretty optimistic
by johnstonkenneth2 months ago
With the way we are going, I am surprised it isnt portrayed as worse tbh.
by kundecaleigh2 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 Anonymous2 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 veumjackie2 months ago
Whoever controls the media controls the mind
by Traditional_Car2 months ago
"The future is bright, and no one has to do anything about it." isn't really a compelling plot...
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by EstablishmentSome 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Puzzleheaded_Lock 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by SpiritualPace 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Just-Departure8306 2 months ago
by Candaceweissnat 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by willmsrose 2 months ago
by Anastasia01 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Optimal-Resort 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Status-Oil 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by Hairy-Chair6548 2 months ago
by Odd-Tradition 2 months ago
by Eldridgeryan 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by johnstonkenneth 2 months ago
by kundecaleigh 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago
by veumjackie 2 months ago
by Traditional_Car 2 months ago
by Anonymous 2 months ago