The Joy of Escapist Catastrophism

Apocalyptic and dystopian myths today are different from the ones we used to have. The dystopian stories of yesteryear were tragedies—dark cautionary tales with unhappy endings. In The Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston’s character discovers that the dystopian world ruled by apes he’s been trying to escape was actually Earth all along. Brave New World, 1984, and Animal Farm all end with the dictatorships and dystopian worlds they portray either triumphant or replaced with new ones.