The idea of decline is most evident in the two hit fantasy sequels. HBO’s “House of the Dragons” is set before the events of its fantasy behemoth “Game of Thrones,” Amazon Prime’s “Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power.” ‘ takes place centuries before ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
“House of the Dragon” chronicles the process leading up to a nasty civil war rooted in family dysfunction.
The Targaryens, once the legendary conquerors of Westeros, are in decline. When a king who is more interested in studying history than his current reign dies, his second wife and her family move in to usurp his chosen heir. Readers of George R. R. Martin’s material, on which “House of the Dragons” was adapted, know what will happen: a bloody, destructive conflict that only hastens the extinction of dragons and the Targaryen dynasty. is.
“The Rings of Power” is also about the end of an era. As the title suggests, the show is a troubling jewelry origin story that causes a lot of trouble in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies. Embedded in an even broader arc about the decline of Elven power in Middle-earth and the event that eventually sees most of them abandon their shores.
The tendency toward downfall is, in some ways, unique to prequels. Any story that’s meant to explain the chaos other heroes have had to grapple with — the Galactic Empire in ‘Star Wars’, the end of the Targaryen dynasty, or the nasty glittery scourge — will inevitably be a little disappointing. .
However, this trend is showing up elsewhere in pop culture as well. His two latest sci-fi epics to get glossy dramatizations have the same dark vibe.
Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation,” recently adapted for the Apple TV Plus series, is about a mathematician trying to preserve civilization’s collective knowledge in anticipation of the collapse of the empire in which he lives. In Frank Herbert’s “Dunes,” interpreted by director Denis Villeneuve, calamity first visits the noble Atreides family and then the empire that targets them. Even the rise of a new regime is presented as a tragedy.
Elsewhere, Netflix has finished filming the film adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem. The story began when China’s Cultural Revolution convinced scientists that humanity did not deserve to survive and invited a hostile alien race to destroy the species. Even the Marvel Cinematic Universe feels unnerving. That super-his hero has discovered the multiverse, but these diverging timelines are a threat, not an opportunity.
Sure, a new splinter of Utopia’s Star Trek is in the works, but it’s airing on a minor streaming service. Optimism is now a niche product rather than a culture-wide phenomenon. To give fans something familiar, his latest trilogy brings back empires and emperors, and rather than exploring how a victorious republic would rule in an attempt to reunite the galaxy. We set our heroes to fight the same old battle.
These shows and movies have no direct political similarities in the most obvious sense. Family civil war is no valid substitute for contemporary political polarization. Peter Thiel may have named his data analytics company Palantir after the magical crystal ball in the fictional world of JRR Tolkien. Unless I’m missing something, it’s not that very powerful female secret societies secretly shape world history.
Yet pop culture’s pervasive sense that things are getting worse is in sync with the prevailing moodiness in the real world. Residents of 15 large, wealthy countries told the Pew Research Center earlier this year that they believe the next generation will be financially destitute. People overwhelmingly believe that climate change will “harm them personally”, but they are less certain that governments will act effectively to mitigate it. Thousands of people have died in the covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has renewed the specter of a nuclear disaster, and the United States’ brief turn as hegemon and guarantor of global stability is already coming to an end.
But there’s more to fiction and life than the defeatism of the dwarven kings of “The Rings of Power.” He tells his son: But fire envelops the truth. All things will someday be consumed and disappear into ashes. ”
It’s good to deconstruct old ideas and harmful metaphors. But there is a difference between self-examination and the embrace of annihilation. Instead of falling into decadence and despair, pop culture needs to regain its power to show audiences what is possible.
in real and fictional worlds Something Remains after the old order wears off. Fiction also plays a useful role in sparking the creative imagination, especially in moments when real-world politics and governance are feeling particularly depressed. These genres assume that progress is possible and that human nobility can shape the world.
Let’s take the example of For All Mankind, another history of Ronald D. Moore’s space program. He said that when the Soviet Union won the race to land a man on the moon, the United States suffered a crushing defeat. But rather than give up, Americans are harnessing the talents of previously overlooked people to bring a new competitive zest to space exploration. It becomes fuel.
And true epics help give perspective to the viewer. Young adult author Tamora Pearce’s Totoll novels, Lionsgate’s selection, tell centuries-old stories of social progress, backlash, and renewed momentum for progress. US activists concerned about the erosion of women’s and LGBTQ rights can use the affirmation that even when the moral arc of the universe seems incredibly long, persistence and organization can bend it towards justice. .
Maybe we’re getting to the point where a mindset of optimism without banality is more fantastic than dragons and elves, and progress seems more distant than the moon. But fiction does not have to follow rules that burden reality. And we can remind our viewers that we can be the heroes of our own stories if we choose to.
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