[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.95,0:00:09.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever tried to picture\Nan ideal world?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.86,0:00:12.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One without war, poverty, or crime?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.68,0:00:14.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If so, you're not alone.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.64,0:00:19.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Plato imagined an enlightened\Nrepublic ruled by philosopher kings,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.21,0:00:22.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many religions promise \Nbliss in the afterlife,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.08,0:00:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and throughout history,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.38,0:00:27.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,various groups have tried to build\Nparadise on Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.45,0:00:32.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thomas More's 1516 book "Utopia"\Ngave this concept a name,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.93,0:00:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Greek for "no place."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.52,0:00:37.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though the name suggested impossibility,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.71,0:00:40.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,modern scientific and political progress
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.08,0:00:44.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,raised hopes of these dreams\Nfinally becoming reality.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.07,0:00:48.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But time and time again,\Nthey instead turned into nightmares
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.01,0:00:50.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of war, famine, and oppression.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.84,0:00:53.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as artists began to question\Nutopian thinking,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.99,0:00:58.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the genre of dystopia,\Nthe not good place, was born.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.77,0:01:03.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the earliest dystopian works\Nis Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.42,0:01:06.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Throughout his journey, Gulliver\Nencounters fictional societies,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.74,0:01:11.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of which at first seem impressive,\Nbut turn out to be seriously flawed.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.73,0:01:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the flying island of Laputa,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.63,0:01:18.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,scientists and social planners\Npursue extravagant and useless schemes
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.29,0:01:22.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while neglecting the practical needs\Nof the people below.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.15,0:01:25.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the Houyhnhnm who live\Nin perfectly logical harmony
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.17,0:01:30.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have no tolerance for the imperfections\Nof actual human beings.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.13,0:01:33.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With his novel, Swift established\Na blueprint for dystopia,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.49,0:01:37.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imagining a world where certain trends\Nin contemporary society
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.18,0:01:38.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are taken to extremes,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.93,0:01:42.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exposing their underlying flaws.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.26,0:01:46.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the next few centuries would\Nprovide plenty of material.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.95,0:01:50.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Industrial technology that promised\Nto free laborers
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.13,0:01:54.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imprisoned them in slums\Nand factories, instead,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.53,0:01:57.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while tycoons grew richer than kings.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.86,0:02:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the late 1800's, many feared\Nwhere such conditions might lead.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.70,0:02:06.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine" imagined\Nupper classes and workers
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.49,0:02:09.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,evolving into separate species,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.21,0:02:13.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while Jack London's "The Iron Heel"\Nportrayed a tyrannical oligarchy
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.84,0:02:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ruling over impoverished masses.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.40,0:02:22.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The new century brought more exciting\Nand terrifying changes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.61,0:02:26.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Medical advances made it possible\Nto transcend biological limits
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.68,0:02:29.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while mass media allowed instant\Ncommunication
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.35,0:02:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between leaders and the public.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.98,0:02:36.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World",\Ncitizens are genetically engineered
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.16,0:02:39.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and conditioned to perform\Ntheir social roles.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.91,0:02:42.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While propaganda and drugs keep\Nthe society happy,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.69,0:02:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's clear some crucial \Nhuman element is lost.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.49,0:02:52.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the best known dystopias\Nwere not imaginary at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.02,0:02:55.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As Europe suffered unprecedented\Nindustrial warfare,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.10,0:02:57.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,new political movements took power.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.67,0:03:01.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some promised to erase \Nall social distinctions,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.10,0:03:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while others sought to unite people\Naround a mythical heritage.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.33,0:03:07.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The results were real-world dystopias
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.62,0:03:11.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where life passed under the watchful eye\Nof the State
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.57,0:03:16.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and death came with ruthless efficiency\Nto any who didn't belong.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.90,0:03:19.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many writers of the time didn't\Njust observe these horrors,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.81,0:03:22.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but lived through them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.23,0:03:26.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his novel "We", Soviet writer\NYevgeny Zamyatin described a future
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.78,0:03:30.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where free will and individuality\Nwere eliminated.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.65,0:03:34.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Banned in the U.S.S.R., the book inspired\Nauthors like George Orwell
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.83,0:03:39.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who fought on the front lines\Nagainst both fascism and communism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.53,0:03:43.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While his novel "Animal Farm" directly\Nmocked the Soviet regime,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.36,0:03:50.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the classic "1984" was a broader critique\Nof totalitarianism, media, and language.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.44,0:03:54.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in the U.S.A., Sinclair Lewis's\N"It Can't Happen Here"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.01,0:03:59.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,envisioned how easily democracy\Ngave way to fascism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.41,0:04:01.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the decades after World War II,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.29,0:04:03.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writers wondered what new technologies
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.21,0:04:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like atomic energy, \Nartificial intelligence, and space travel
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.96,0:04:09.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meant for humanity's future.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.55,0:04:12.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Contrasting with popular visions\Nof shining progress,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.42,0:04:18.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dystopian science fiction expanded\Nto films, comics, and games.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.04,0:04:21.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Robots turned against their creators
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.40,0:04:25.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while TV screens broadcast\Ndeadly mass entertainment.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.49,0:04:30.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Workers toiled in space colonies\Nabove an Earth of depleted resources
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.15,0:04:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and overpopulated, crime-plagued cities.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.00,0:04:36.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet politics was never far away.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.64,0:04:42.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Works like "Dr. Strangelove" and "Watchmen"\Nexplored the real threat of nuclear war,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.06,0:04:44.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while "V for Vendetta"\Nand "The Handmaid's Tale"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.64,0:04:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,warned how easily our rights could\Ndisappear in a crisis.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.63,0:04:53.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And today's dystopian fiction continues\Nto reflect modern anxieties
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.29,0:04:54.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about inequality,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.64,0:04:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,climate change,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.63,0:04:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,government power,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.70,0:04:58.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and global epidemics.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.91,0:05:01.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So why bother with all this pessimism?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.56,0:05:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because at their heart, dystopias\Nare cautionary tales,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.98,0:05:08.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not about some particular government\Nor technology,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.10,0:05:14.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the very idea that humanity can be\Nmolded into an ideal shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.34,0:05:17.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Think back to the perfect world\Nyou imagined.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.66,0:05:20.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did you also imagine what it would\Ntake to achieve?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.94,0:05:24.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How would you make people cooperate?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.36,0:05:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And how would you make sure it lasted?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.06,0:05:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now take another look.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.06,0:05:32.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does that world still seem perfect?