Talk:List of dystopian films

The arrangement is not in order of year ascending

Can someone please correct it Raymondjohn1234 16:37, 28 November 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Raymondjohn1234 (talk • contribs)

it's a self-sorting table by either year or alphabetical. You have to click the section header. MartinezMD (talk) 18:35, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

Dystopian Films?

I am attempting clean this list up of films that, by their own admission, do not belong on this list. For instance the page for the film 'The Terminator' does not state anywhere that the film is depicts or is thematically a dystopian film, but a post-apocalyptic one, therefore do not belong on this list.Mborchardt1977 (talk) 03:37, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

You are missing the sources in this article that support the films being on the list. MarnetteD|Talk 04:09, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

I get that but if an author writes and publishes a book and then along comes another person and lists this particular book in their list of Top Ten door stops, you wouldn't site this book as a door stop. Their isn't a single mention of these films being dystopian films on these sites' pages, so they simply aren't right? I mean it would be different if their page was sited as being a dystopian film but their not. Mborchardt1977 (talk) 04:14, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

There is a huge overlap between dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. For example, all the Mad Max films are dystopic fiction but the first one isn't post-apocalyptic. Off hand I cannot think of any post-apocalyptic films that are not dystopic. The Category:Post-apocalyptic films is even a sub-category of Category:Dystopian films. Betty Logan (talk) 04:25, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

You are totally correct in that they do share some similarities but the bulk of them do not. Such as 'The Terminator' would be a post-apocalyptic film as there is not a society of any kind established within the film, where 'Blade Runner' is a dystopian film as society's state is from a natural evolution taken to it's current point in time and was not driven by an event involving destruction/damage on a catastrophic scale. Now a film, such as, 'Planet of the Apes' is both. Where we are to believe that humanity suffered an apocalyptic event in the past and natural evolution of the species propagated apes to sentience allowing them to create a society that would seem dystopic from the humans point of view. The 'Mad Max' franchise is a good argument for both as well. In any case, these are not my opinions driving the edits but the homepage for these films' own descriptions.Mborchardt1977 (talk) 04:38, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

You are still missing the fact that all of the films on this list have a source. Wikipedia operates on info from WP:SECONDARY sources not on an editors personal interpretation. MarnetteD|Talk 04:46, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

So you're saying that it doesn't matter what it is self identified as, as long as someone with a website claims it one thing than that's what matters? So I can write an article on these films, contradicting the Wikipedia page, and post it on my weekly site on ScreenRant and that's fact? These "references" you are clinging to are other people's opinions to begin with.Mborchardt1977 (talk) 05:08, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

They're reliable secondary sources, and it's usually from many of them that films are labeled as dystopian, or as anything for that matter. El Millo (talk) 05:10, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Mborchardt1977: Wow, you really, really don't understand how Wikipedia works at all do you? We don't take opinions from anyone "with a website". We go by WP:RS. In short, if you were an established critic or film scholar writing for a notable publication (one that meets the criteria over at WP:RS), then yes, you could write a contradictory genre for the film, and then cite it. We might even be able to add information about how different notable critics had varying opinions about genre. But you're (presumably) not an established writer at such a site, so your personal interpretation is meaningless. Someone needs to go through and mass revert this user's edits. Damien Linnane (talk) 05:15, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

I was just trying to clear up some things. I figured that if the reference was that important than it would have been sited on the films own Wikipedia page and not just thrown on this list. That this list was populated by the films own verified information from it's own page. Seems contradictory to me.

On a related note, Mborchardt categorized multiple films as Dystopian that didn't have any clear indication of being such in their respective article text. I've done some work to unwind that, but more hands would be helpful. If post-apocalyptic is a subcat of dystopian, that's...debatable to me...but post-apocalyptic can be added as a category on its own merits, if supported by article text, without dystopian being added as well; in fact, if post-apocalyptic is a subcat then dystopian arguably shouldn't be added as it's a parent cat, and dystopian isn't indicated as being non-diffusing. DonIago (talk) 05:27, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

What do you mean "multiple films as Dystopian that didn't have any clear indication of being such in their respective article text." I'm not creating anything new or adding anything new. Just organizing this debatable list. The only "verification" that's needed is that it's on this list. The list's existence claims that these films are dystopian and site the years they were released in, therefore they can be categorized as being a dystopian film created in a particular decade, can they not?Mborchardt1977 (talk) 17:53, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

As I mentioned at your Talk page, please review WP:CATV; an article having an entry here is insufficient for adding dystopian film categories to the article itself. The article needs its own text discussing how it is a dystopian film, with an appropriate source (which you may be able to find here). DonIago (talk) 03:11, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

It is easy enough to add missing cites, and rather than removing the entry, it is more appropriate to simply tag them as needing a citation with {{fact}} and you will see . I reverted your edit and added cites. If I missed some, tag them so that editors have the opportunity to add the cites. MartinezMD (talk) 03:54, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

With all due respect, your use of the phrase "more appropriate" is, to the best of my knowledge, inaccurate. From WP:CHALLENGE - "Any material lacking a reliable source directly supporting it may be removed and should not be restored without an inline citation to a reliable source." It may not be the nicest approach to remove uncited material, nor 'best practice', but there's no policy or guideline I'm aware of that refers to "appropriateness". Regards. DonIago (talk) 05:25, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

From an editing standpoint, it is better to fix a problem instead of delete something valuable. See WP:BABY which, while not an official policy, is an essay discussing something I would regard as common sense. Also, the official policy at WP:NOCITE says "In any other case consider finding references yourself, or commenting on the article talk page or the talk page of the editor who added the unsourced material. You may place a or tag against the added text." MartinezMD (talk) 05:36, 22 August 2020 (UTC)

should this film be in the list

Fido_(film) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:C7F:80C:8800:F5EF:19D9:3833:99D6 (talk) 18:32, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

It doesn't sound dystopian from the plot description. Looks more like zombie comedy along the lines of Zombieland but without an apocalypse. MartinezMD (talk) 18:38, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Another film to consider - The Stranger (1973 film), an NBC made-for-TV film. Wiki has a long description. 2600:1700:E420:2E50:DC7A:E89C:3677:CDB4 (talk) 09:15, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Looks like it to me. Add it to the article. MartinezMD (talk) 16:07, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

We should be going by what reliable sources say, not exercising our own judgment. DonIago (talk) 17:26, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

As editors, we can use some judgement, see WP:Consensus. When disputed, policies like WP:RS do supersede it. That aside, there are at least one or two sources tagging is as dystopian. MartinezMD (talk) 18:16, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

References

Where is Starship Troopers?

... Dturb (talk) 13:59, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

Waiting for you to add it with a reliable source? DonIago (talk) 14:34, 1 October 2023 (UTC)