A few weeks ago, my colleague asked me which fictional world I would live in, and my response was none of them. In recent years, dystopias have been very popular, ala Hunger Games and Divergent — teenage girl saves the world from an oppressive government. But to actually live in one scares me. Never mind the fact that I can be good at archery or have some special abilities — an oppressive government is terrifying enough, and in all plausibility, I would not be able to stop such government. Moreover, it seems like reality is mirroring fiction more and more these days.
Another example would be Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, in which women are nothing but slaves who serve to only give birth to children. There’s also Oryx and Crake, where, as a liberal arts major, I would probably end up with the same fate as Snowman — I’d be working as a humdrum copywriter until a plague destroys the world and everything goes to the dogs.
Naturally, there are the classics, such as Brave New World and 1984, which are being read more than ever in light of recent events. More people are getting addicted to drugs and yes, we are being surveyed all the time, so we have to learn how to deal with it.
Naturally, there are also fantasy worlds that depict some version of old England, which I do not want to live in because indoor plumbing hadn’t been invented yet. I also don’t like the idea of my human waste being thrown out of windows. Moreover, I don’t like the idea of being a gong farmer, which is the guy who catches all the waste as it’s flung out of the window. Apart from that, the world is mostly white, and they’re written by people who have lived there.
So, that leaves worlds from my culture. Do I want to live in an ancient China type world or some wuxia world? Sexism is rampant in those two worlds, too, but I suppose it’d be really cool if I could throw poison darts at my enemies, wear cool robes and have my hair done up in pretty styles. I guess I’d make a cool wuxia warrior, even if there was no internet and technology. Or maybe I’ll just write one and include technology in it. There are so many TV series with anachronistic technology and bad CG that make it hilarious and sometimes difficult to watch.
Fictional worlds always have problems because stories are supposed to have problems. The protagonist is supposed to resolve them, or deal with them at the very least. So I suppose I’d be the mysterious old hag who lives in a temple and is part of some crazy sect that deals with poison darts. Oh and also one who would show those all male schools of kungfu who’s boss.
Now that would be fun.
Image from the official Divergent movie website.