DYSTOPIAN MADNESS AND FEAR

A part of me feels like one of the reasons there is so much dystopian content, movies, and series across different platforms is that it plays into the rising fear and anxiety, but as a person, what do you do with that? As I said in the previous article about delusions with permanence, we often fear change. There is comfort in the familiar, and we want to hold so much in that comfort; most will try to avoid the consideration of something different—good or bad.

The news headlines these days do very little to help, and things that make us anxious are constantly thrown at us, so we want to have some sort of control over everything—we want that protection and that perfection we have worked so hard to surround ourselves with.

This is also why outlandish media content and salacious stories capture the attention of millions. Nothing can quite beat the hook that comes from the rush of adrenaline from bad news—as long as it does not directly impact us. In a bid to be different, too many folks are pushing abnormal stuff to go viral. People make up crazy stories to get views, but how much of these stories can we verify? The other one is that conspiracy theories and propaganda are stretched out thin and embraced by the hysteria and panic.

Sometimes, underneath all that chaos and noise is a smokescreen and nothing.

Hence, our fascination with bad news, the worst things that could happen, does not seem far-fetched. Our fascination goes as far as it does not directly affect us. We watch from our screen, and it feels like it is far off from where we are, but the reality is that these things can sometimes be closer than we imagine. Some of those dystopian imaginations are happening right before our eyes. People are now letting their wildest imaginations play into the fantasies and fears of millions. We desperately want saviors in flawed creatures. We hold onto the materials around us so much that they become a burden, and those dystopian imaginations suddenly make us think, what if all that is taken away from us? What then remains of our existence?

Many of us have built our happiness around stuff. Things we have accumulated that we have defined to ourselves as a form of happiness or that somehow our lives are better than someone else's—so we want to protect that with everything. The dynamics of the transformation across different spheres of life—social, financial, political, psychological, spiritual, and cultural—have led us to question many things we thought were the norm. We see the unshakable foundations of many systems shaken to their core—those things they said no one could question—all suddenly seem like a lie.

Folks who thought oppression or deprivation was never in the design of their generations are now having a taste and are having a hard time processing their new reality—suddenly, they understand the pains of others; empathy in all its practical forms stares them in the eye—there is very little room for fake alliance and performative affection. Brutal things are happening; policies change every day, and those things no one can say in some “sacred places” are now screamed from the rooftops of those institutions and the people entrusted with power and influence. The things they say can’t happen are happening. The shadiness of people held to “higher standards” is now obvious to even the most naïve persons.

On the side, there is the spice of religion, which is even now a more potent weapon. Too many folks walking around brainwashed, but I feel it is fear that is holding more people back from facing the question of asking, "What if I have been brainwashed all these years?" What if my approach to religion has just been a performative farce? Just what if I need to sit down and find my way out of this madness? Fear of what that would look like or do to them is a barrier because there can be comfort in just accepting things as they are. There is also fear of the pain that there is a chance the beloved that "Man of God" you admire so much has just systematically brainwashed you all these years to accumulate wealth and power.

That feels so evil for anyone to cook up, but just what if you have been a victim of brainwashing or you have been used as a pawn in someone’s game plan? But we would watch that in a movie: monsters out in the dark, a serial killer playing mouse and cat games with traps, people trying to survive, and the world coming to an end. We think such dystopian madness should stay in the movies and as far away from us as possible.