Skip to main content

In what ways have aspects from Thomas More's Utopia been appropriated into popular culture?

Though Sir Thomas More's Utopia was written hundreds of years ago, it has become very fashionable to explore aspects of Utopian society within modern day popular culture. In his book, he explores what it would be like to have a "perfect" society, one which is devoid of anything that currently plagues us in modern society. There is no greed, because there is no personal property, for instance. These ideas were inspired by freedom of knowledge, discovery, and the revolution against the monarchy, the catholic church, and the nobility, which is symbolized by wealth. While the idea of such a society is alluring to many, More's book is both idealistic and unrealistic in many ways. Still, the idea of a Utopian society is reflected in modern-day movies, T.V. shows, books, and even in real life.


One real-life example of an attempt at Utopian society is a popular music festival known as Burning Man. Far from being just a music festival, it is a two-week long, immersive event in which about 60,000 people gather in order to live a "vacation" from the realities of society. While there, they live by a certain set of ethics values, which are also present in More's Utopia. It is a microcosm where they can live away from society's rules, expectations, and judgements if they agree to participate, to practice communal sharing and effort, and to value civic responsibility.


Social justice and social responsibility are two values which are present in Utopian society in More's book and which are definitely demonstrated throughout modern works in pop culture. One notable examples include Aeon Flux, a show which features an ongoing conflict between two societies, one of which is an anarchist state known as Monica. The other state is a police state which doesn't understand the values of Monica and constantly tries to bribe them with money and "valuable" objects.


Another notable example is the edenic society of the Na'vi, a people from the movie Avatar who live in a peaceful, community-oriented society that lives in fear of the progress-driven "bad guys" who are constantly surrounding them. This Utopia is sort of a "natural Utopia" in which human-like creatures live in harmony with their environment. Still, just as in More's book, they appear to be at odds with modern human society and their preoccupation with money, possessions, and progress at the expense of one's connection with nature and community.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more