People can be very creative, especially when it comes to the future of mankind. The 20th century was filled with stories, books and movies about the way the world will be in many years. As we have reached the times described in these stories, we have noticed that our current present is nowhere near the imagination of the people of the past. We haven’t moved to other planets and we don’t have all these incredible devices. Our top 10 alternate realities list comprises the most famous depictions of the future, regardless of their nature or origins.
1. Back to the Future
The top 10 alternate realities starts with one of the most popular movies about the future. The world that Marty McFly visits has a positive twist featuring an immense technological advancement. From hoverboards to zero-gravity boots and pizzas capable of dehydrating and rehydrating, this is what the people of the 1980s imagined it would be like in 2015. Not much has come to pass, although we do have those quirky hoverboards with wheels.
2. A Clockwork Orange
The next futuristic society showcases a much bleaker landscape. In Anthony Burgess’ vision, our society will be overrun by violent youths who enjoy beating the vulnerable and the old. They all speak some sort of Russian dialect and love drinking Moloko, milk with knives off tables that are shaped as women. The novel was adapted into a movie by director Stanley Kubrick, who was prepared to ban the motion picture in case it influenced its viewers to resort to the same type of violence.
3. Wall-E
Do not be fooled by the animated aspect of this Pixar movie, since it depicts perhaps the most accurate direction of our society. In this alternate reality, planet Earth has been completely abandoned by the human race, which has left enormous piles of garbage. A nice touch are the signs of the Buy N Large corporation. All people have retreated on a huge space cruiser, where they have become obese and move around with the help of hovering chairs.
4. 1984
Next in our top 10 alternate realities is George Orwell’s novel named “1984”, which was published in 1949. The author presented a dystopian world where the state controls every activity of its citizens, including their thoughts. One man dares to confront the government and ends up locked in Room 101. After many struggles, be becomes a slave of the state again, but his fate has a better ending than the ones of other characters.
5. Total Recall
Total Recall started as a novel written by Philip K. Dick and was adapted for the big screen in 1990. The main character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger lives in the year 2084, and his biggest dream is to move to planet Mars, which has been colonized. Apart for setting a grim society, the story has a special particularity: people could plant virtual memories in their heads. Thus, instead of taking a real two-week vacation, you could spend five minutes in the machine and get the same result.
6. 2000AD
The British comic named “2000AD” depicts Mega-City-One, which extends over America’s East Coast. Most of the action takes place in a future New York in 2099. The city is overpopulated with civilians living in apartment blocks of 50,000 inhabitants. Citizens travel by using mo-pads, some sort of suspended streets. Mega-City-One is surrounded by nuclear wasteland, and its laws are severe but that is not all: almost the entire city gets destroyed in a Soviet attack.
7. Logan’s Run
Not everyone imagined the future as being grim. The world featured in “Logan’s Run” features a happy society that thrives inside a dome. Every citizen who turns 30 years old must go through the ritual of being vaporized or renewed. Everyone receives a crystal, and when it turns red they know they will die soon. Logan, the main character, refuses to accept his fate and is the first to fight the system, which inevitably leads to the downfall of the entire society. The conclusion seems to that if you are blessed to live in a perfect world, you shouldn’t ask any questions.
8. Battlestar Galactica
One of the most original 10 alternate realities featured in our article has to be the one from Battlestar Galactica. Its particularity lies in the fact that it wonderfully combines elements of our past, present and future. Even though the story takes place in space, in a time when humans are living on other planets, they still dress as we do, eat the same food and have the same style. However, the protagonists of the story also enjoy drinking ambrosia and worshiping several gods like the ancient Greeks once did.
9. The Matrix
The top 10 alternate realities list would not be complete without The Matrix trilogy. Life in this story is all a huge illusion, as people are plugged into a computer program that generates a normal society, where everybody goes to work. However, they all need to take their blue pills to keep the illusion alive. If someone decided to take the red pill instead, they would fall into the real world. Furthermore, they are able to manipulate the program and gain superpowers, as well as fight the system.
10. Brave New World
Last but not least, there is the novel by Aldous Huxley which has set the term of a “brave new world”. Even though the expression refers to positive and flourishing societies, the world from the novel was terrifying: humans no longer formed families and had children, but babies were rather hatched in conditioning centers, and were closely selected and monitored. It all ends when a hero decides to rise and fight the leaders of the society.
