Why I Read Dystopians

I go through different phases of which kind of books I am really loving at different times and right now I am definitely in the phase of dystopians. For those who do not know what a dystopia is, it is defined in literature as: "an often futuristic society that has degraded into a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian." Dystopians have become pretty popular recently which has provided me with many good books to add to my To Be Read list. I have found myself explaining to different people why I like reading them so much because, I admit, it sounds pretty weird to say you like books about the world falling apart, a corrupt society being formed, etc. It sounds like it might be pretty depressing as well, but it's not for me. I find them inspiring and thought provoking for a couple different reasons.

First, the dystopians that I read usually take one or a couple different elements of our current society and exaggerate them in a futuristic setting in order to caution against those things getting out of control and the possible consequences. For example, in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield (which I have read the first book of and am now reading the second one) the author takes the obsession with physical beauty that our society has and exaggerates it to create a future society in which every person when they turn 16 years old receives an operation that makes them beautiful(according to what the society has defined it as) and anyone before that age is considered and treated as ugly. Many interesting ideas are explored throughout the book about what beauty is, how people's perception of beauty and other things can be altered by what they are told is the standard, etc. It is an exaggerated world, but the ideas it is based on are very prevalent. The amount of cosmetic surgery in our country is steadily increasing and the 'ideal image' that we are all told we should strive after is constantly portrayed in advertisements and fashion magazines. Another example is The Alliance by Gerald Lund. In the dystopian he creates, crime and other emotions like anger and prejudice are eliminated because of the computerized control the society has over the citizens through a computer chip that they implanted in everyone. A world without crime, anger, and hate may sound like a pretty good idea; however the book explores the importance of agency and how people are not really good if they are being forced to be good.

Another reason I read dystopian is because it gives me a greater appreciation for certain things that I may take for granted. I think a lot of the time people get caught up in all of the things that are wrong with America and lose sight of some of the many great privileges that we have by living in this free country. For example, when I read Matched by Ally Condie I realized how much freedom I have in so many different aspects of my life that I hadn't even really thought about. The society in Matched is one in which everything is taken care of by the officials...where to work, what to eat, and who to marry. Everything is based on statistics and probability and there is a pretty narrow limit on what the people are able to make decisions about, but in return they are guaranteed a safe and predictable life. In their society they had an approved list of a 100 poems and 100 songs that they were allowed to read or listen to. I read Matched right before going home for Christmas break, and when I went home I was excited to see all the new books that my dad had added to the family's bookshelf. They were books that he wanted to read and not anything at the top of my list but I still love looking at books and seeing everything that there is out there. It makes me happy and so grateful knowing that I will never run out of books to read instead of being confined to a list. I also found myself appreciating little things like being able to choose what to eat for a meal. The mere ability to choose is such a blessing, one that I sometimes take for advantage.

Another example of this is Delirium by Lauren Oliver. In this book, which takes place in future United States, love has come to be considered a disease because of all the pain, craziness, unpredictability, etc that it causes. They said that love kills you both when you have and when you don't. The society has developed a cure to eliminate love and each person receives it at their eighteenth birthday. I do not believe that we, in this country, will ever get to the point that we are fed up enough by the pains caused by love that we would actually try to eradicate it, but I have known people that have been scorned by love that, through many different variations, try to close themselves off from love and any future pains or vulnerability. And how often to people try to numb the pain through various means such as drugs and alcohol? To some small extent we already try to block out love. This book was largely a romance as the main character, who previously was very excited to be receiving the cure soon, falls in love and starts reevaluating everything she had been taught by her society. I of course liked the love story and everything it was saying about falling in love, but I also really liked all the other aspects of love that it portrayed. The main character's mother had been taken away for being considered 'infected' by love when the main character was young and as she had memories of her childhood, laughing and having fun with her mom, it was clear how different her childhood was from her peers due to the love her mother had. So many small, simple things would be lost if we did not have love...things we take for granted every day. There was one point in the story when one of the main characters, talking about a loved one who had passed away, said something about how pain serves as a reminder of the love we have for people. I really liked that perspective.

Finally, dystopians can be very inspirational as the main character decides to think for themselves, sees the flaws in the society, and makes a stand against it. The way a lot of the characters fight for their beliefs when they are not popular and there is a lot of opposition is pretty courageous and inspiring. I like the idea of society being made up a lot of individuals who can think, act, and fight for themselves rather than being pieces of a machine churning away in order to achieve the desired result.

Tangled

2 posts in 3 days...I am doing better! Last night I finally saw the new Disney movie "Tangled." People had been telling me ever since the movie came out that I would love it. But due to frugality I had never seen it in the main theaters and was waiting for it to come to the dollar theater. Well last night was the first night it was showing there and so Samuel and I went to see it. Everyone was right, I loved it! It was so cute and funny and had great characters, music, and storyline. I loved the whole movie but I am going to have to say the lantern scene was my favorite because it was so beautiful! I attached the video below, the sound is not super good, but it shows the general idea at least:




When we saw the movie they were only offering it in 3D which I am not that fond of, but I have to say, it was perfect for this scene and made it even more beautiful. Back when Tangled first came out I saw a 'Tangled list' that a friend had created and put on facebook with a list of their dreams, inspired by a quote from the movie. After seeing the movie and reading the list I realized that I was thinking a lot about my own dreams and wanted to make my own list, so here it is...

Quote from the movie:

Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?

Flynn Rider: It will be.

Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?

Flynn Rider: Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.

My list of dreams:
-Go to New Zealand- I would love to travel the world in general, but right now that is the country at the top of my list
-Never stop reading, and loving it as much as I have from when I was a child until now
-Go back to Chile with Samuel (it is where he served his mission)
-Serve a mission with Samuel
-Go scuba diving, and it would be really great if my dad could come along too since that is also one of his dreams
-Be a marriage and family therapist
-Have a library in my future home, full of all kinds of books
-Have all of my future children get married in the temple
-Keep writing in my journal regularly the way I do now throughout the rest of my life
-Go back to the London LDS temple, and this time actually go inside
-Ride in a horse-drawn carriage through the snow
-Have a porch swing at our house that Samuel and I will sit on when we are old and gray... holding hands, watching the world around us, and not having to say anything at all
-Do some sort of humanitarian mission in a foreign country
-Never lose my "aww" reaction to cute or touching things, and never lose my love of love
-Work/volunteer at a library when I am older
-Have a piece of artwork done by Rachel hanging in my house
-Attend a masquerade ball
-Read to my kids regularly... and anyone else who will listen :)
-Go skydiving
-Go on a Church History trip
-When I am old, having a house covered with pictures of my children and grandchildren
-Never lose touch with my closest friends

Some of the dreams are a lot more important/meaningful than others, but for better or for worse, these are my dreams.

Masks

Something that has been on my mind a lot this week is the masks that people wear around, hiding pain and secrets from all those around them. For the last several years I have had in my mind this metaphor of masks which people wear to conceal their pain. I don't know what first planted it in my mind, but I do remember the first time I wrote about it. It was for my sophomore English class in High School when we had to write a poem that was modeled after the style of some other poet. This was my poem:

The disheartened maiden looked afar
The tears grew silently in her eyes
She bore a Mask of confidence
But the tears the mask defies

Her emotions are an open Book
A single glance could not perceive
But through assessment is apparent-
A Pain that could not leave

If one would look across the room-
A handsome Man you'd see
Who through unfaithfulness-
Caused her this way to be

A break in her Heart
The kind you can not mend
Shall forever stay-
An Everlasting Pain

And then for my creative writing class in freshman year of college I wrote this poem about masks. Poetry is definitely not my thing, so it's not too great, but it portrays the idea:

Masks to hide pain
Appearance of control and peace
Unbreakable, complete

When eyes turned away
Mask swiftly falls, pain exposed
Can pretend no more

But audience is gone
And no one will ever see
Truth forever hidden


From my experiences in life I have seen this to be true. People always throw around statements about how you can't be too quick to judge because you have no idea what's going on in the person's life. It is definitely true and I think most people would agree with that idea and have had stories of it with people in their own lives. But I think it oftentimes is so much deeper and more true than we think. I have written before about how one of the reasons I like to read books is so that I can gain a deeper understanding and empathy for people in certain situations and trials. And my dream of being a marriage and family therapist, or even of just being able to serve as an informal version of it by being someone who can listen, care, and offer support, in large part comes from this idea of masked pain. How exhausting it must be to always be holding on a mask, partially wanting to allow people to see who you were without it, but more afraid of the vulnerability, pain, and judgment that might result from exposure that makes it too much of a risk. I think of the scene in the later part of the Phantom of the Opera movie in which Christine is able to take away the Phantom's mask and look at his disfigured face without disgust or fear. As a therapist, I feel like I would in some way be able to fulfill that role- be able to remove the masks people cling to, and then see and accept what has been hidden beneath.

This metaphor is something that I always kind of have with me, but there are a couple reasons that it has been more on my mind this week than normal. On Tuesday in Human Development class we had someone come in to talk to us about eating disorders. She had suffered from bulimia for about 15 years, and now she is going to school to become a therapist like the one who helped her. To me that is very inspiring. She told us a lot about her personal experience- how it first began, the progression of it, the times she tried to end it, the treatment process, and how it still effects her now. I learned a lot about the emotions and thoughts behind eating disorders and feel like I gained a better insight into people struggling with similar things that I am likely to encounter in the future. When she was talking about her experience it was interesting to hear how she had hidden her problem from everyone. Literally everyone, including her parents and her husband. No one had any idea of the immense pain and struggle she was facing alone. Her presentation and story combined with recent experiences I have had of learning truths about people I care about have brought these thoughts of masks and concealed pain to the front of my mind. People have said it over and over, to the point of it probably becoming cliche, but the truth is: you really never know what is going on in the parts of people's life that you can't see. It is something to always remember when tempted to pass judgment, when someone's life appears to be so perfect and easy, or when maybe someone is attempting to take off their mask and is looking for an understanding and loving person to accept them. They are things I strive to remember and apply but, of course, always have so much room for improvement and an increase of understanding.