The latest example of dystopian fiction-turned-real is the recent announcement of the upcoming Hunger—er, Patriot Games, where teenage boys and girls will compete on behalf of their U.S. states/territories in yet-to-be-determined athletic endeavors. Spurious claims of copyright infringement aside, the latest incident got me wondering: are dystopian writers predicting the future, or are we somehow conjuring it?

In other words, could dystopian authors be planting ideas in the minds of our leaders, who then implement them, perhaps believing they have created some innovative, society-advancing policy? We all know where that leads—utopian ideals are the first steps down the path to dystopian societies. 

If true, that would make dystopian fiction a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. And maybe it would also mean that dystopian authors aren’t holding up a torch to tyranny, so much as giving despots their bright ideas.

Given the ubiquity of The Hunger Games, it’s not a stretch to imagine a government official—some lowly bureaucrat, RFK Jr., or even the Big Cheese himself—innocently replicating Suzanne Collins’ premise in a misguided attempt to better the world. It would have been unintentional; nobody sets out to create a dystopia on purpose. (I really hope I’m right about that last part.)

But what about unconsciously? If The Hunger Games never existed, would Trump’s Patriot Games have ever been conceived?

Dystopian Life Imitating Dystopian Art

The answer is unknowable, but it got me thinking about other cases of dystopias turned real. Here are some I wonder about:

Did The Running Man predict the rise of humiliation-fueled television, or was some up-and-coming reality TV producer taking notes?

What about 1984’s depiction of media manipulation and government surveillance programs?

And how much of today’s book-burning fetish has been influenced by Fahrenheit 451?

Those are the first three I could think of, but the predictive ability of dystopian fiction goes on and on, from gene editing and eugenics (Brave New World) to sex robots (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). 

What other dystopian fiction-turned-real examples can you think of? Did they inspire reality or merely prophesy it?

Let me know what you think in the comments.