Why Do We Love Dystopian Movies? “An Inquiry through the Lobster & Ideocracy Movies” Cover Image

Distopya Filmlerini Neden Severiz? “The Lobster& Idioctracy Filmleri Üzerinden Bir Sorgulama”
Why Do We Love Dystopian Movies? “An Inquiry through the Lobster & Ideocracy Movies”

Author(s): Esra Keloğlu İşler
Subject(s): Aesthetics, Sociology of the arts, business, education, Film / Cinema / Cinematography, Sociology of Art, History of Art
Published by: Serdar Öztürk
Keywords: Dystopia; Utopia; Idiocracy; The Lobster; Greek Weird Wave; Satire; Black Comedy; Absurdity;

Summary/Abstract: Unlike utopias, dystopias often depict a terrifying and terrifying society. According to the basic assumption of the study, dystopias show our fears, worries and anxieties in the age we live in. The Lobster is a 2015 drama film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, which can also be defined as a black comedy. Idiocracy, on the other hand, is a sci-fi comedy film made in 2006 by Mike Judge and satirizes the future as rather dark. Both films are rooted in social issues and spin their storylines with radical changes for socio-political impasses. The starting point of the study is the assumption that utopia is far from modern man and dystopia is close. In this article, it is aimed to find answers to the following questions based on the examples of two dystopian films, one of which is a film noir and the other in the style of satire/ comedy: 1) Why are these dystopias popular despite the experience of watching a dark and scary society? 2) Although the two films are completely different dystopias, what do they have in common? 3) Can dystopias enable people to question the social situation? Both dystopian movies were not made for box office success, but they were valued by the audience. In this analysis, the dystopian elements in the film, the situation and radical changes in the past-present-future times, the absurd elements, the elements they criticize will be analyzed.

  • Issue Year: 7/2022
  • Issue No: Sp. Iss.
  • Page Range: 273-284
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Turkish