My Journal #2

Good, bad and ugly

Utopia and Dystopia are imagined worlds in which humanity lives in the worst possible or best possible conditions. If you were to write about either, which one would you choose and what would your version of that world look like?

Good, bad or ugly? Either place could have these characteristics. We all seem to be drawn to the dystopian writing. We like to promote the underdog. Give those less fortunate a chance at survival and maybe even a chance to overcome and win.

Utopia, a desired state is perceived to have less physical conflicts and more character conflicts. When you have it all what more do you want? If you don't have enough, who are you going to take it from? When you then gain your desire, what lengths will you go to keep it or take from someone else their fortune?  Life is like this now. We don't have to dream it or make it up. There are those who have achieved great wealth through hard work, tickery, rich family or a winfall of the lottery. Again you still have the choice of,  what to do to keep it?

Either place will need the same things. A city/state or universe with some kind of living space. Be it the Taj Mah Hal or a burned out warehouse, you will need to have a base of operation. We have seen on TV and movies dystopian worlds. Not too many movies are made up of Utopia. Jim Carey's TV Land is one I think of. Stepford Wives. Now I ask, what about Iron Man? Would you say he lived in a Utopian world? How about Gotham? Dystopian? Jurassic Park? What kind of world would that fall into? Untopia is my vote, but you might see it in a different light.

You will need some kind of outside influence. These worlds will need a "take over" mentality group. You are in the group or you are fighting them. Either world has to have this conlict medium. You choose based on the story you'll write. I mentioned movies in the previous paragraph. These movies all had some kind of outside attack made on their world or those in it.

At first when I read the prompt I almost skipped it. I'm glad I didn't. This question has sparked a lot of deep thinking into the worlds we build that aren't like WALKING DEAD. They aren't handed to us with the total wipeout of a known existence. What if that didn't happen? What if you were set into a world of glitter, champaigne and caviar? What if you had to fight just as dirty and underhanded to keep what you had? Or you are the servants in this world collecting others to do a take over. You probably know more about your bosses weakness' than they do.

This prompt should trigger a lot of feedback mentally and conversationally with others. I'd love to read it