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9The Dystopi a • Bureaucrati c Nightmare s The dystopia s presente d i n th e previous chapter use d communica tion technolog y a s thei r primar y o r sol e mean s o f control . Below , we shal l encounte r dystopia s tha t enslav e human s throug h a "sci ence of fear." Th e thre e movie s I examine ar e all, interestingly an d ironically, permeate d b y th e presen t an d th e past—while , per haps , dealin g wit h th e future . Bot h Brazil an d 1984 presen t th e past-as-future. I n The Handmaid's Tale, a movi e se t i n th e not-too distant futur e i n th e Unite d States , traditiona l values , suc h a s family an d religion , hav e wo n th e da y an d th e new , mal e ruler s have ushere d i n th e Christia n millennium , th e Cit y o f God , th e early Christia n "state " re-create d i n th e imag e o f th e religiou s right. And i t is , of course, a nightmare : a rigi d clas s state , a worl d in which wome n ar e reduce d t o either prett y ornaments , domesti c workers o r surrogate mothers—breedin g machines . The notio n o f th e Utopia l goe s bac k t o Thoma s More' s wor k o f the sam e nam e an d ha s bee n applied , retroactively , t o such work s as Sain t Augustine' s City of God an d Plato' s Republic. A Utopia i s an imaginar y idea l stat e expresse d a s word s o n paper . A Utopia n society ha s n o flaw s an d run s accordin g t o a singl e principl e an d with th e ful l agreemen t o f all citizens . Religions an d politica l ideologie s hav e alway s bee n majo r pro 187 188 Th e Dystopi a ducers o f Utopia n visions . Th e Christia n millenniu m i s a Utopia , as is the Marxist visio n o f the classless society where human s hun t in th e morning , atten d a concer t i n th e afternoon , an d hav e bee n liberated foreve r fro m gree d an d exploitation . Bot h o f thes e Uto pias , th e Christia n an d th e communist , presum e a different , "im proved ," rac e o f humans. The Christia n visio n see s humans trans formed int o docil e an d peacefu l sheep , grazin g contentedl y a t th e feet o f thei r divin e shepherd . Society , i n th e sens e w e kno w it , i s not a par t o f th e millennium : i t woul d see m tha t bot h th e toil s and sorrow s an d pleasure s o f th e huma n worl d ar e gone , peopl e are virtua l bodiles s spirits . I n th e Marxis t vision , human s hav e acquired ne w an d bette r characteristic s b y livin g throug h th e various stage s leadin g u p t o th e Utopia , th e communis t societ y (which ha s don e awa y wit h th e stat e an d wit h traditiona l notion s of wor k an d production , an d s o forth) . I n bot h visions , th e back bone i s th e emergenc e o f a ne w race , a mor e docile—becaus e conflict ha s bee n removed—rac e o f beings tha t accep t th e "politi cal " realitie s a s infallibl e an d unavoidable . Ther e ar e goin g t o b e no dissenters o r terrorist s i n heaven no r i n th e communist Utopia . To a lesse r degree , the sam e hold s tru e o f Plato's, Augustine's, an d More's Utopias : th...

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