What is a dystopian sci-fi comedy?

As far as genres go, dystopian sci-fi comedy may not be a very broad one. There is no Dystopian Science Fiction Comedy section at Barnes and Noble, although there probably should be.

While writing one of the few novels in a genre is liberating, it leaves people wondering: What the heck is a dystopian sci-fi comedy?

Let’s tackle it piece by piece.

DYSTOPIA

Quite literally, a dystopia is the opposite of a utopia. A utopia is an imagined society where everything is just about perfect. It's an idealized concept to aspire to, because a utopia has never occurred in reality – except perhaps for brief periods during an Oktoberfest or two.

A dystopia, on the other hand, is an idealized society where people, institutions, and societal norms have run amok. The prototypical example of a dystopian novel is George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Written in the 1940s, it was set about 40 years in the future and depicted a society trampled under by ubiquitous government monitoring and intrusion justified by nebulous external threats. (Thank the heavens that never happened!) 

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a keen analysis of the threats posed by unchecked government and the sheepish nature of people when properly corralled.

It’s a classic work. But it has one major weakness in my opinion. It’s not particularly funny.

In fact, it is quite serious and downright depressing at times. Three words: Rat Face Torture.

DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI

The dystopia serves a vitally important interest. And this interest is directly in line with all good science fiction. Good sci-fi takes a problem, situation, or an element existing in the present, distances it from the audience by setting it on an alternate timeline, and gives the audience the proper distance to have some perspective on the problem.

The grass may be greener standing on the other side of the fence, but the grass is greenest when looking in a mirror.

But a good dystopian sci-fi story doesn't shatter that mirror. It creates a hall of mirrors. It gives the sensation of detachment. It gives the audience the freedom to observe without judgment.

DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI COMEDY

That’s where the comedy comes in. Having a good laugh from time to time helps to keep those pages turning. And cackling while writing hilarious scenarios is one of the things that keeps this dystopian comedy writer typing.

And there is no more comedy-worthy target than the triple-distilled, 190-proof sanctimony that is early 21st Century political correctness. And that is just what Slow Boil Rising sets its sights on.

In SBR, tolerance is the virtue that is twisted and contorted to fit the needs of the powerful, and draconian rules designed to stop feelings from being hurt dominate the land. (Thank the heavens that never happened!)

In the Slow Boil Rising universe, tolerance is used to justify forced relocation, wars of conquest, fire-bombings, summary immolations of askers of forbidden questions, and a new calendar system. The year is 0039.

In 0039, tolerance justifies a ubiquitous state, fully equipped with a Department of Free Speech that ensures the freeness of speech; a Department of Equally Treating Animals that enforces the equal rights of animals with para-military violence; a Department of Protests that organizes and regulates protests by the government against itself; and a Department of Coexistence that is responsible for maintaining the nation’s prisons and military-industrial complex.

There is also a Department of Everything Else for, you know, those powers not specifically enumerated.

For a more concrete example of what I'm talking about, check out the online sample of Slow Boil Rising, featuring the “Trial of Reginald Bowperson” at the hands of the Department of Equally Treating Animals.