Dystopian Mandel Station 11 Analysis

It's safe to say that the end of the world has been a topic of speculation and fascination throughout human history. I would guess that's what makes it such a popular theme in the media. Most often, the post apocalyptic narrative shows up in genres like dystopian fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Recently, I finished reading a dystopian fiction by Emily St. John Mandel entitled, Station Eleven. Although I don't actively read dystopian fiction, the few that I have read were impressionable, and Station Eleven was not much different. The story moves back and forth between two worlds, pre and post collapse, wherein a deadly epidemic left behind a desolate and uncivilized world. Although I enjoy dystopian science fiction films and literature, the vast majority of the ones I've encountered, seem to be set in fictional worlds where whiteness, maleness, and straightness are pre-selected standards. In all fairness, it might come off as a bit strange to be constantly pointing out a character's race in literature, so while it shouldn't be exempt from criticism, representation in dystopian science fiction film is much more a concrete and direct phenomena. For that reason, I'll be centering on dystopian and science fiction film for this blog post. …show more content…
As demonstrated in the image below, there is a clear lack of diversity in science fiction and fantasy. The fact that there were zero protagonists played by women of color and LGBT actors is beyond disappointing. What's more, out of the eight movies featuring black male protagonists, six of these roles were played by the same actor, Will Smith. Lastly, it was recorded that women occupied twelve of the protagonist roles while people with a disability occupied only