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Futurism Is Certainly Not A Thing Of The Past

Jordan Bryant (JDmichael)
Sep 22, 2014
2 min read

If one heads over to my 'Writings!' page, they will realise one thing. All but one of my projects (including the poetry) are set in the future.

But WHY...?

My interest in the future is not about how the world will become, but the multitudinous avenues man could take, and therefore the many possibilities and forms the world could take in the near or distant future. The Prophecy was set in a futuristic and fictional landscape. Asylum Island I also forged from my mind and didn't base on the past. The Illusionists is focused around London 2101 and onwards, and the protagonists venture around the world. Having been to London on several occasions it was an obvious choice to futurise; to develop somewhere I enjoy and am excited by.

The future raises countless questions, and I don't intend on answering any of them. I intend to enlighten audiences with my possibilities. I present utopias and dystopias; my characters can stroll through fields of gold, caressing the barley (reminiscent of Gladiator) or they can be parasitical, feeding off scraps in the foreground of post-civil war Scotland (The Illusionists). The future presents infinite possibilities, and futurism is certainly not a thing of the past.

As former American President John F. Kennedy remarked; "For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future", and I intend to realistically depict my dreams of the future: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" (Eleanor Roosevelt).

To me, the past acts as an easy escape for authors, who can use events or eras as their inspiration and build on it there and then. The past limits them. The present is more useful and liberating. The future is most liberating. Of course everybody is unsure about the future, but it is the tide of ambiguity that authors can ride; forging their own paths; inviting others on their journey to revealing the future's beautiful possibilities.

My favourite futuristic films are: Children of Men, I am Legend (The Omega Man), the Back To The Future franchise, Gattaca, and Blade Runner, for example.

Some of my favourite films are adaptations of the past too, and when done in an innovative fashion, such films or novels are spellbinding! For example Shutter Island.