The past decade has witnessed a gradual shift in young adult (YA) media from dark, dystopian worlds to more modern, realistic landscapes. Film, literature and other art and storytelling forms have long been tools to process, document and protest modern issues, and this genre shift continues the tradition of reflecting the thoughts and fears of society as a whole.
In the 2010s, when people were still new to the internet and unsure of what to do with the world at their fingertips, dystopian stories served as physical representations of society’s anxieties. Tales of overcoming oppression and surviving physical and mental hardships resonated deeply with young adults, who saw their own struggles paralleled in the battles fought and won by gritty dystopian protagonists.
Since its publication in 2008, “The Hunger Games” trilogy has cemented itself as a cornerstone of YA literature. Set in a world where the wealthy elite govern the lives of the general public, the social inequality and manipulation of media were easily connected to aspects of reality. Combined with the immersive story, fast-paced storytelling and strong characters that don’t back down in the face of a tyrannical government, “The Hunger Games” was met with great acclaim, with a movie series based on the books being released in 2012.
The series’ popularity prompted a wave of literature and film media set in similar post-apocalyptic settings, tackling related societal fears while also telling action-packed narratives. Although some media released as part of this trend have been criticized and called a shallow copy of “The Hunger Games,” many stories have successfully engaged in political commentary. The adults writing these stories could convey their concerns about the world they were passing on to their children, and the teens reading them could grapple with real-world concepts, from oppressive governments to global crises, through the safe lenses of fiction.
As with any trend, however, the same premise eventually got old as new genres caught people’s attention. Around the mid-2010s, interest slowly started shifting toward realism. The YA movie “The Fault in Our Stars” was released in 2014 and immediately met with great acclaim. Based on a popular 2012 novel of the same name, the movie presents real-world issues that contrast with the physical fight for survival of the dystopian genre. “The Fault in Our Stars” and other such stories marked a turning point in the genre of popular YA media, opening the gates for explorations in love, grief and bittersweet endings.
With the new popularity of the realism genre, audiences locked onto the heavier themes rarely seen in apocalyptic fiction. While dystopias served as strong metaphors for complex political and social issues, the action-packed environment and constant fight to come out on top made it difficult to convey the slow process of mourning. The realism genre allowed characters and consumers alike the chance to take a step back and indulge in a gradual journey towards acceptance – of emotions, of identity, of death. The backbone of dystopian fiction was the protagonist’s staunch rejection of the status quo; there had been no room for acceptance in the previous genre, and that deficiency was remedied with realism.
Then came 2019, and the world was thrust into an apocalypse of its own. Coming out of the pandemic, popular media shifted to embrace the introspection and intimacy reminiscent of the years spent inside. Conflicts turned inwards, with YA literature and TV grappling with themes of identity, vulnerability and mental health. Along with the newfound attention to such ideas, queer media also saw a rise in popularity, with shows such as “Heartstopper” and “Heated Rivalry” reflecting Gen Z’s search for stories that better reflect life as it is now, with diverse perspectives and experiences.
In the past, shifts towards realism have nearly always been preceded by genres defined by grand narratives and heroic stories, while the transition into the mundane marked consumers’ desire for realistic representation. Within the context of our modern world, this turn towards realism was very likely fueled by the chaos and confusion of current events, from the pandemic to global unrest. While dystopian fiction may have served as a safe way for young adults to process social issues, post-apocalyptic stories of glamorous journeys and hardened heroes didn’t show audiences what they really wanted to see: themselves.
