When the next dystopian movie or television show happens, where a group of people are put into a situation where civil society is supposed to break down to some contrived "kill or be killed" situation, I want one of the people in the group to say, "Stop, wait a minute!"
And then in a very Monty Python way this person goes on to explain Jean-Jacques Rousseau's theory of the social contract and how they don't actually have to kill each other, and how, in fact, they would do better if they worked together and engaged in fighting their mutual antagonist.
Then the whole situation diffuses and it becomes a very different movie. They take all their weapons and start organizing a committee for making shelter and organizing their resources. Then, when the misanthropic super villain is childishly throwing a fit, his would be victims start breaking down the door to his evil lair. I would find it very refreshing. In all those battle royale genre stories I find the plot to be ultimately not just overly bleak but an unrealistic depiction of human nature.
It would also be really nice to totally bait and switch it. Make all the marketing explain the villain's intended plot and show the people fighting each other. Then, when the show actually starts, you have them instantly come together when reason presents itself.
I mean that's the thing right? All this society stuff was contemplated and figured out by the Enlightenment thinkers years ago. It was the Hundred Years war, the bloody English civil war, that was the precursor to the Enlightenment. They stared that nightmare in the face and when they survived they had to explain how that happened. Bing. The Enlightenment and The Age of Reason.
Society doesn't fall part unless people stop thinking and reasoning. But these kind of stories continue to be popular, because I guess there are a lot of people who write stories that think other people just aren't smart enough not to fall for their pessimistically constructed plot devices.
If you really wanted to make it a comedy you'd have the villain keep throwing faux theoretical dilemma's at the group. They pause for a moment, look at each other and say "well, I guess we have to kill each other now." The villain smiles and says "Really?" The group laughs and says "No!" and comes for the villain. You could probably drag with out for a good two hour screenplay.
These are just some of my thoughts in the wake of 2020 and the start of 2021.
