Personally, as is often noted, “Idiocracy” is probably tops for current events… but for the farther future, I’d go Blade Runner Universe, most likely… just for the sheer scale of total biosphere degradation and megacorp control. How about you?
Idiocracy 💯
Lots of great answers here but the first that came to my mind is Gattaca.
We’re in that part in the Star Trek timeline where everything is shitty.
Tomorrow I might as well see a manifestation of Q and watch a bewildered Picard shout “You can’t judge all of humanity by this barbaric time!”
Back to the Future 2’s bad timeline.
wow. Surprisingly awesome answer. Biff’s Casino IS America right now
We’re not there yet, but I could see a bit more fear-mongering smashing us into V For Vendetta territory
Not exactly sci fi, but the TV adaptation of Handmaid’s Tale bears some striking parallels to the current renaissance that extreme right ideologies are currently enjoying. Off the top of my head…
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It shows how quickly and easily street-level enforcement of an authoritarian system can be implemented, and that there is no shortage of people willing to take on that role.
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It shows that the architects of an oppressive system aren’t necessarily “true believers” in such a system, nor are they held to the standards demanded of the average citizen.
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It shows how extremist ideologies bleed beyond the borders of one country and begin to infect others.
You can see examples of all three of these in what’s happening now.
I agree with you
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Okay I’m gonna sound like an optimist, but I think The Expanse timeline, without the blue goo stuff, is a possible future.
I know it still doesn’t sound good since um… there are still human rights issues and corruption, but hey, at least humans didn’t go extinct. And we get to go to space.
I’m jealous of your optimism… and in the end of Caliban’s war right now! I loved the series. I can only hope…
It seems like we’re shifting into Minority Report. There are actual pre crime divisions in police departments now and the surveillance state continues to grow exponentially.
…and it was wrong.
I forget what series of events lead to the future of Futurama.
Time travel.
Right now it’s like Johnny Mnemonic.
In the future possibly Wall-E or Elysium (most likely Elysium).
Neuromancer and that shit is all too real it feels
Cyberpunk 2077 but without any of the cool tech shit.
THX 1138. The police robots force us to build them and beat us if we don’t. We have no idea who controls them.
I’ve not watched this yet, but that is terrifying.
George Lucas’s first movie. It’s pretty remarkable. They also keep everyone perpetually drugged up, strip everyone of their identities, and prohibit sexual relationships. The police robots will stop chasing you when it stops being cost effective, though
Children of Men
Feels like Judge Dredd
Maybe recency bias, but a lot of stuff from the new Running Man hits home. Maybe not the murder TV show but (obviously minor worldbuilding spoilers):
Bifurcated society, where the have nots have to check in to enter the nice part of town. (Related story: A couple years ago, I visited America for a wedding. After the pre-wedding reception, I was walking back to my hotel through an upscale neighbourhood, in a suit. Within a half hour private security drove by, got out of the car, hand on gun and explained they’d received calls about me walking on the sidewalk. The guy then insisted he drive me to a more suitable area.)
Unions existed but reporting to them gets you blacklisted, people need work so safety regulations only exist on paper.
Veterans Affairs is taken over by the Y and reduced to a miserable hostel and not much else.
Time in a green park is awarded by lottery and only briefly.
Ubiquitous private security.
One media network, that is free and mostly exists to pit haves vs have nots. (Pretty much social media already)
Etc. I think the part that really gets me is you don’t have to imagine particularly hard to see us getting there.
