Friday, May 10, 2013

What's next for Utopia?

On the final day of our class, students were asked to propose the next "big" utopian text. One group proposed an interactive video game; the second suggested a blockbuster film; the third a trilogy of YA novels. Here are the pitch letters they drafted. Enjoy!

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Dear EA,
Imagine having the ability to completely control your world and potentially even those in it. We want to introduce your company to the idea of the future, or maybe even the past. Our new video game concept allows the player to have complete control over his or her world.

In the first phase of the game, the character will create their own world or scenario. They will create their own country- first choosing a time setting, medieval, modern or a futuristic space age. They will be able to decide on key resources, land masses and the basic lay out of their main city.

In the second phase of the game, the user will create a character persona to interact with their world. They will then enter their city as a ‘guardian’ figure. Thereafter, the character will follow a lose plot involving inner and outer influences. They will fight to protect their nation from invaders, become an integral force for creating laws and deal with many of the day to day problems and crimes of their nation.

The users will be presented with a wide array of choices in every situation. Their actions, selfless, selfish or somewhere in between will materially alter their world as time goes on. They will be directly responsible for the success or failure of their civilization. The happiness of their people will be under their control, but also the city. If they do not work to keep the city safe and profitable, it will decline, crime will increase and the city will appear shabby. If the character becomes overly tyrannical, there will be rebellions and radicals to deal with. If their city is too wealthy and well kept, the character will have to battle outside forces that are attempting to capitalize on the situation.

In short, the new video game, Parable, will allow users to create and protect a utopia, or to take advantage of a dystopia for their own gain.

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Dear Mrs. MB Producer,

We would like to approach you concerning a proposal for a new movie. The tentative title is iPocalypse. The main theme of the movie satirizes consumerism.
The government started investing in various projects and eventually fell way under debt. They turned to Apple for bailout money, and soon after, Apple took over many aspects of the government, due to their control of the market.
This movie will take place in a futuristic world that is highly reminiscent of todays world. The culture is similar to todays society, except Apple is now in control. People have lost personal freedom for personal protection from the East Asians, who have lost billions of dollars in assets from debt owed by the USA. One of the many methods ofkeeping the safety of the citizens of the United Statesis the so-called iChip, which is implanted in the skull.
Because consumerism is rampant throughout all ages, from children to the old, the target demographic will appeal to the majority of people within capitalist society.
This project follows the protagonist George Huxley, who is hunted by the United States for not purchasing an iChip. Heres the twist: when fleeing from the Apple-funded military, he flees on a jail broken iBoat. When he lands in East Asia, he finds that it is run by Utopian Google, who has bailed out East Asias toxic assets from the USA. This is a sad, deep ending, because this shows that all of humanity is inherently consumerist. As George is taken back to the USA, he wonders if Utopian Google will turn out the same way as Apple.
The subtitle of the movie, "An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, can show us the evils of consumerism. This line is repeated by the evil presidential CEO as he sends the military iBoats after George. The purpose of the film is to show how consumerism is bad for society.

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Ms. Stephanie Meyer:

After the success of Twilight and the Host, we believe that your writing style is ideal for the newest book series that we have created in order to educate young adults about the dystopian world as well as create a mainstream media production that can show the importance of equality. We believe a young adult novel three-part series will be the ideal format of this, and with your success we will be able to produce movies in the future. With this, we present to you the pitch for what we hope will be your next novel series for young women between 18-35: Riley2322.

In a dark but sterile future, Riley2322 lives her life in a suburbia outside of Chicago. Within this series, the children are named with the first two digits based on their year of birth, and the last two digits are based on their time of birth (females are always given an even number, men are odd numbers). They have parental partners and live in simple housing, always staying within the cities. Outside, within the wild forests, are the evil monsters that are keeping them in fear: Genetically Enhanced Vampires. Cameras always watch them, and if they near the forest, tiny robotic spiders climb out of the lampposts and attack and kill the people, in order to "protect" the city so that the Vampires can't find them.

Riley2322 is 17, and at the age of 18, she will be paired with a breeding partner and sent to Chicago to work. Since she is intelligent, she is expected to be paired with an unintelligent man in order to produce "average" offspring. Sam2359 is her best friend and has become extremely dissatisfied with his life. He believes that their lives within the city are too controlled and that there are no Vampires out in the forest. Riley2322 doesn't know what to think, until one day she sees someone out in the forest and runs out to try to help her. When Sam2359 arrives, the spiders are already after Riley2322. He throws himself into the spiders and dies, leaving Riley2322 to take up the torch and discover the secrets behind this city. The first thing she must do is find out who the mysterious woman within the city is, and why is Riley2322 so attracted to her?

Characters:

  • Riley2322 – Protagonist. 17. Intelligent, beautiful, athletic, capable.
  • Sam2359 – Best friend. 17. Intelligent, rebellious, handsome, tragic.
  • Veronica - The woman from the forest. Vampire. Beautiful and tormented by her past, all she wants is what the Vampires want: Freedom and equality. She falls deeply in love with Riley2322, but the two of them can't be together because of their differences. And who would understand the love of two women in a world that focuses on breeding?
  • Lindon1016 – Villain for first novel. She starts out as Riley2322 and Sam2359's mentor, but she turns them in, betraying them to the government. At the end of the first novel, Riley2322 is sent to Chicago in order to allow the second novel to take place in Chicago.


We hope that you will consider this series, and please don't hesitate to contact us in the future.


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