Dystopia: the April update
A short list of good reading at thehaughtyculturist, plus a peek into dystopian fiction
Hello, you. Here’s this month’s update of fresh content and highlights at thehaughtyculturist.com. Don’t be misled by the size: it’s a short list, but there’s lots of good reading. Hope to see you there!
Trending » As Bestas (The Beasts): the psychological drama inspired by true events that’s both horrifying and moving
New to the site
Fresh takes on retro stories, and reviews of new films
1. Minority Report (2002) and the paradox of precognition
Unpacking symbols of seeing and not seeing – and the unbearable weight of grief – in sci-fi thriller Minority Report.
2. Soul, man: borrowed Blackness in The Commitments
It don’t matter if you’re Black or white … or does it? Talking about race in Roddy Doyle’s 1987 debut novel, The Commitments.
3. Sex and sanguination: decoding Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Making sense of the sizzling sexuality in Francis Ford Coppola’s high camp horror, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
4. God’s Creatures: comfort and claustrophobia | Review
A woman tells a lie for her son in evocative, slow-burn drama God’s Creatures – and it shatters their tiny coastal community (Glasgow Film Festival screening).
5. Columbo | Playback
Part of a long-term series making sense of symbol and storytelling in Columbo.
Grime and punishment
Dystopian fictions that go to off-kilter worlds that, somehow, look a lot like our own. Here are five worth revisiting.
1. Tender is the Flesh
Argentinian novelist Agustina Bazterrica serves up a future in which animals are off the menu … and eating humans is the norm.
2. Earthlings
Dystopia doesn’t have to be futuristic to be frightening. The world of Sayaka Murata’s novel is both instantly recognisable and disconcertingly strange.
3. The Stepford Wives
Ira Levin imagines a town in which women are man-made and feminism doesn’t exist.
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel asks if androids dream of electric sheep because they’re just like us … or because they’re smart enough to fake it.
5. Fahrenheit 451
The colour white appears an awful lot in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 – but what does it mean?
A huge thanks to everyone who supported me last year. I write, edit and pay all costs on my own, so the site runs on a shoestring and a miracle! If you’d like to support thehc, donations help me keep the site online and create content. If you can’t stretch to it but still want to show support, please give me a mention in your social circle :)
Thanks for reading! Until next time,
Ruth / The HC
Pic credit: Christian Lue on Unsplash
» thehaughtyculturist.com: how we tell stories, and what they mean