Audio Plays
Peri: Tog, are you sure we're going the right way? It looks like we took a wrong turn east of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Tog: Pay no heed to it, Peri. This place confounds the senses, masks its dark intent with gaudy colours and bright lights. The plague that turned my world on its head is here, corrupting everything.
Tog: Pay no heed to it, Peri. This place confounds the senses, masks its dark intent with gaudy colours and bright lights. The plague that turned my world on its head is here, corrupting everything.
Comic Books
Rung: You're saying the more outwardly peaceable and well-adjusted a society, the greater the likelihood—
Rewind: Of it having a sinister underbelly. Yup.
Rewind: Of it having a sinister underbelly. Yup.
"What's wrong with these people?" Charlie wonders— meaning, how can a civilization so outwardly advanced produce such a collection of fiends? That question is no longer asked of Krypton. The dark side of the human heart is taken for granted— and its transgressions punished.
Film — Animated
"You probably think this world is a dream come true, but you're wrong."
— The Cat, Coraline
"Sunnyside is a place of ruin and despair, ruled by an evil bear who smells of strawberries."
— Mr. Pricklepants, Toy Story 3
"What's going on in this candy-coated heart of darkness?!"
Film — Live-Action
"I've seen the future; you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing 'I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener'!"
— Edgar Friendly, Demolition Man
Literature
The old Baron had decreed a meridian-to-meridian rest from labors, and effort had been spent in the family city of Harko to create the illusion of gaiety: banners flew from buildings, new paint had been splashed on the walls along Court Way. But off the main way, Count Fenring and his lady noted the rubbish heaps, the scabrous brown walls reflected in the dark puddles of the streets, and the furtive scurrying of the people.
— Dune
9: Dystopia
Medicine: Disease has been eliminated, and people live to be 120 in perfect health. As a result, your world is overpopulated and resources are scarce.
Agriculture: Food is mass-produced so that there is plenty for everyone. Special additives in the food guarantee obedience to the government.
Employment: Everyone is guaranteed a job that pays a living wage, so that people are trapped in nightmarish jobs that they can't leave.
Housing: No-one is homeless. People without homes live in institutions, where they are subject to conditioning and experiments.
Education: Citizens may study any available information. The government provides the information that citizens are authorized to see, and records who is reading it.
Law: All issues are decided by fair courts. Mistakes, of course, are never made. How could they be?
Government: The government wants to make sure the citizens are happy.
Medicine: Disease has been eliminated, and people live to be 120 in perfect health. As a result, your world is overpopulated and resources are scarce.
Agriculture: Food is mass-produced so that there is plenty for everyone. Special additives in the food guarantee obedience to the government.
Employment: Everyone is guaranteed a job that pays a living wage, so that people are trapped in nightmarish jobs that they can't leave.
Housing: No-one is homeless. People without homes live in institutions, where they are subject to conditioning and experiments.
Education: Citizens may study any available information. The government provides the information that citizens are authorized to see, and records who is reading it.
Law: All issues are decided by fair courts. Mistakes, of course, are never made. How could they be?
Government: The government wants to make sure the citizens are happy.
— Civilization, by Vylar Kaftan note
...Fillory was cruel, as cruel in its way as the real world was. There was no difference, though we all pretended there was. There was nothing fair about Fillory, just as there was nothing fair about people's fathers going to war, and their mothers going mad, and the way we among all animals were cursed with a longing for somewhere better, somewhere that never existed and never would. Fillory was no better than our world. It was just prettier.
— Rupert Chatwin, The Magician's Land
Music
"When you look with your eyes,
Everything seems nice,
But, if you look twice,
You can see it's all lies."
Everything seems nice,
But, if you look twice,
You can see it's all lies."
— Lily Allen, "LDN"
"If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
I wish I had a lawnmower
— Talking Heads, "(Nothing But) Flowers"
Warm glow with a golden shine
Come to rest under the virile vine
Dark flow from the oldest shrines
Blight and blood under the wealth and wine
Come to rest under the virile vine
Dark flow from the oldest shrines
Blight and blood under the wealth and wine
— Miracle of Sound on Toussaint, "Blood and Wine"
Look around this world we've made
Equality, our stock in trade
Come and join the Brotherhood of Man
Oh, what a nice, contented world
Let the banners be unfurled
Hold the Red Star proudly high in hand
Equality, our stock in trade
Come and join the Brotherhood of Man
Oh, what a nice, contented world
Let the banners be unfurled
Hold the Red Star proudly high in hand
Tabletop Games
But like a gilded goblet made by a shoddy craftsman, the glittering surface of Mousillon hid a rotten interior.
— Warhammer: Bretonnia Army Book (5th Edition)
I prepared to enter his realm, expecting to encounter guardians who would seek to tear into me with talons and fangs. At the least I assumed I would find bastions to bar my progress. I found none. The land before me was open and pristine. Its fields shimmered like gold and its forests bore fruits of sapphires and emeralds. I took a step into this place and instantly knew I was lost just as surely as if I had been impaled on a debtor’s spike.
— Cardinal Wogalta, on Slaanesh's realm, Black Crusade: The Tome Of Excess
The cult compound looks like paradise, at least compared to the rest of the world. It’s well kept; the people are clean, friendly, and organized, and there’s even fresh food. It’s also secure, with fences, gatehouses, and armed guards on duty at all times...
— "No Room In Hell - Post-Apocalypse," The End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse
Video Games
The world that so enchanted me was rotten to the core.
— Atrus, Myst: The Book of D'ni
Welcome to the paradise of the eternally lost. In times past, this place was called Eden. Now it is an accursed site of war, where vengeful spirits are lost, wandering the paths of life. Those who enter Eden, do not make light of this place.
"Ilium is just Omega with expensive shoes."
— Tela Vasir, Mass Effect 2
It is most likely the smiles. Maybe. Carnivore expressions, syrupy and gleaming, faultless mirrors of the Couturier's dazzling grin. Or maybe it is the second-rate souvenirs cobbled from haberdashery and children's nightmares. The arsenic aftertaste of the candyfloss, the wine-wild quality of the local perfumes. Could be anything. Could just be your insecurities, the error of your existence. Whatever the case, the Lanes continue their watch. Politely, of course.
Web Original
You know the stereotype of Hawaiians liking that disgusting canned meat? It's because that's the only thing that won't deplete your entire paycheck.
— A blogger on why Hawaiʻi can be this.
Web Video
"But how can we enjoy the bright sunshine when we know the terror that lurks beneath the game? It's not fooling us anymore. We have seen what it becomes. YOU ARE ALL DEMONS! You are all horrible demons and I hate you, walking monsters! Go! Expire! Away, away from us! You wretched demons! You won't take me! Stop your cheery lies! STOP YOUR CHEERY LIES!"
— DeceasedCrab upon witnessing what lies beyond Eversion's exterior...
"What is Hobie's unique outlook on the events of the story that generates Hobie's unique plans in the story? What is he seeing that we are not seeing through Miles and Gwen?
"So let's compare and contrast that, starting with Gwen. She is our first main character who is introduced to the Spider-Society, and she sees it as a new home. And that is something that she is desperately in need of. Gwen sees it has a place where she fits in after being thrown out of her own universe, and she sees it as a place to receive guidance. Which she is thrilled about— we hear the enthusiasm in her voice in her conversation with Miles in this scene— Gwen is flourishing here. And sure, it's not all great, there are things about it she doesn't like, but for the most part she focuses on the good and doesn't concern herself too much with the bad.
"And Miles, at first, is in basically the same position; he is floored, this is everything he's always wanted. It's grand, it's sciency, he gets to make all these new friends, and best part of it all, he gets to be around Gwen. So in Miles' eyes, it's a place where all these Spider-People, all these people like him, all these friends, people he loves, people he likes, everyone is dedicating themselves to doing good for the multiverse in glorious superhero fashion.
"And what does Hobie think? 'A bit much, innit?'
"Hobie sees fascism, pure and simple. True Hobie, the revolutionary, sees the Spider-Society as a fascistic cult, founded and meticulously controlled by one megalomaniacal leader— 'I have been the only one holding it all together!'— we got the surveillance state, Big Brother is definitely watching you, as we see Miguel doing right here, or sometimes it's big sister watching you. We got the imprisonment of people who don't belong, followed by forced deportation, cleansing of all these people who will destroy the world, and the whole idea of the 'canon'. This dogmatic ideology about making everyone the same for this grand purpose of saving the universe.
"Allow me to quote Mein Kampf directly here, tell me if you can see how this matches up to Miguel's rhetoric. Dolfy here in this passage is talking about me and my people, the Jews, as he likes to do. And he's saying the result of not fighting against the Jew is, quote, '[The Jews'] crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity. And this planet will, as it did millions of years ago, move through the ether devoid of men.' Tell me that doesn't sound similar. And as a result of that, we get this world of extreme conformity based around sacrifice, based around the same, once again, happens to be Nazi-esque ethic of 'hardness', where being able to commit horrific acts or stand by stoically while horrors are happening in front of you was considered a value in Hitler's Germany, that is what forges you into a strong, capable soldier for the cause. (…) 'We gotta make sacrifices so we can have a unified society with no one who acts out of line and no one who doesn't belong.' I think that's how Hobie sees what's happening in the story.
"(And to be clear, this is how I think Hobie sees things, not necessarily how I see them.)"
— Schnee on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse from Hobie Brown's perspective
on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse from Hobie Brown's perspectiveWebcomics
"Slap some rainbows everywhere, and boom! The world's still fucked up, but boy is it CUUUUUTE!!!"
— President Meat, Sparklecare
Dan: Ah. There it is. The daily reminder that the world I live in is a bleak hellscape.
Aaryanna: At least it's a colourful one?
Aaryanna: At least it's a colourful one?
Western Animation
"In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia. The last one on earth."
— Long Feng, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Real Life
All utopias are depressing because they leave no room for chance, for difference, for the 'miscelaneous.' Everything has been set in order and order reigns. Behind every utopia is a great taxonomic design: a place for each thing and each thing in its place.
— Georges Perec
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
The main residential camp for Neom's 2,000 employees is tucked among rocky hills 2 miles from the coast. To enter, I had to pass two checkpoints manned by private security guards. My face was also scanned by machinery bearing the logo of Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., a company accused by activists of helping the Chinese government surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Past the barbed-wire fence, Neom Community 1 unfolds in a series of neat lawns and identical white homes. Each is about the size of a shipping container, identified by a series of letters and numbers—Block 15, C-83, for example. Meals are served in a central dining hall, and employees zip between buildings on electric scooters. The overall aesthetic might be described as a cross between a Google campus and a minimum-security prison.
Past the barbed-wire fence, Neom Community 1 unfolds in a series of neat lawns and identical white homes. Each is about the size of a shipping container, identified by a series of letters and numbers—Block 15, C-83, for example. Meals are served in a central dining hall, and employees zip between buildings on electric scooters. The overall aesthetic might be described as a cross between a Google campus and a minimum-security prison.
— "MBS’s $500 Billion Desert Dream Just Keeps Getting Weirder", Bloomberg
The hundred million self-confident German masters were to be brutally installed in Europe, and secured in power by a monopoly of technical civilization and the slave-labor of a dwindling native population of neglected, diseased, illiterate cretins, in order that they might have leisure to buzz along infinite Autobahnen, admire the Strength-Through-Joy Hostel, the Party Headquarters, the Military Museum and the Planetarium which the Fuhrer would have built in Linz (his new Hitleropolis), trot round local picture galleries, and listen over their cream buns to endless recordings of The Merry Widow. This was to be the German Millennium, from which even the imagination was to have no means of escape.
— Hugh Trevor-Roper, on the world Hitler intended to create.
The more gentle and nice we make it look, the more vicious the story can be.
— Edmund McMillen on the Meat Boy iOS game
RELENTLESSLY LIGHT-HEARTED.
