In the short film “Children” by Takuya Okada, there is no individuality. Everyone looks the same, get the same grades, and are even equal in games, with always having a tie. They are in a continuous cycle which is represented by a dog that gets run over everyday by the same train. One of the children breaks out of the cycle, breaking open their zipped up mouth and screaming, which causes a sort of riot and the other children follow suit. To illustrate breaking this cycle, the dog gets saved by that child. This short film is speculative fiction. It is a what-if scenario with fictional characters and events. It fits under the subcategory of dystopian fiction or dystopia which has different characteristics like being, “an imagined community or society that is dehumanizing and frightening” (What Is Dystopian 2022). One can see that the environment is dehumanizing and there is also fear involved in being the same as everyone else and continuing the cycle. The environment is destroyed, there is lack of freedom and individuality. The figurehead, the teacher, is watching them at all times. It is also somewhat of a corporate/bureaucratic control depending on how one views it and what is controlling them. This world is a dystopian future that will hopefully never come but might already be slowly approaching.
Work cited:
“What Is Dystopian Fiction? 20 Examples of Dystopian Fiction” MasterClass, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-dystopian-fiction-learn-about-the-5-characteristics-of-dystopian-fiction-with-examples. Accessed 9 February 2023.