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Imagining race and neoliberalism in young adult dystopian cinema
(Lethbridge, Alta. : Universtiy of Lethbridge, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, 2018) Rickards, Nicholas Geoffrey; University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science; Brayton, Sean; Helstein, Michelle T.
The second decade of the 21st century saw a unique surge of young adult dystopian media from Hollywood and other popular entertainment industries. Trending after the release of The Hunger Games, the genre would continue to produce film and television series towards the turn of the decade. This thesis explores the intersection of politics, film, and television, and examines how young adult dystopian media transcoded tumultuous discourse of race, colonialism, capitalism, and neoliberalism which were circulating at the time. By reading three popular media texts, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and the television series The 100, I suggest that these cultural artifacts, and the young adult dystopian genre as a whole, provides a spaces for exploring issues of concern in our own society by projecting them on the landscape of a dystopian future.