When Fiction Inspires Reality

Needless to say, we live in dark times. 2020, the cursed year, has shown us how fragile our everyday lives can be. Who would've thought that billions of people all across the globe were going to be confined for months in an era where liberty was taken for granted in wealthy countries? Who would've believed that the USA was going to crumble under anarchy for a video showing racist police brutality? Worst of all, who would've guessed that the supposed world's strongest powerhouse was going to be led by a madman? In fact, all of the above has been displayed for years right before our eyes through art and entertainment. But when fiction becomes our reality, we find ourselves back against the wall. No writer or director can decide the outcome of the chaotic plot in which we are the actors. We have the imagination to create infinite intrigues and the cleverness to culminate them into good endings, but when the chips are down in reality, when we have to rethink the codes, the systems and the social norms, things get out of hand fast and finding solutions to the numerous crises that we're facing is far more challenging than in books, video games and movies.

In Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), a very similar situation to the COVID-19 crisis unfolds. However, when the real thing stuck us, we found ourselves lacking human resources, healthcare funding, medical institutions and above all, lacking preparation.

In Todd Phillips' Joker (2019), we see an oppressed, inferior class uprising against the elite, reminiscent of the actual black community's revolt. In both cases, anarchy and chaos are being used as tools to be heard once and for all. In Joker, ''We are all clowns'' and ''Kill the rich'' become ''I can't breathe'' and ''Black lives matter'' in real life. Comparing both scenarios raises striking and chilling resemblances.

I won't even bother identifying a single piece of media where the government is tyrannic since there are so many, which kind of makes you think if Trump's election doesn't come from the population's morbid desire to watch the world burn.

So, if the dark fiction we write is actually cautionary tales, maybe we should be listening to our collective fears more. Because after all, books, video games and movies' plots intrinsically come from our dreads, anxieties and angst. Beyond the ludic aspect of art, we should see warning signs of a society that is sadly more reactive than preventive. The ideas of today may just be tomorrow's waking nightmare.