Hey.  Y'know what's starting to grind my gears?  Dystopian fiction.

The way that the future is depicted in fiction acts as a barometer for how our planet is doing and how humanity feels about our prospects for the future.  When I was a kid in the 90's, there was still a good amount of utopian science fiction, like classic Star Trek.  People seemed interested in exploring potential futures in which humanity got everything right.  My childhood marked the tail end of that era of fiction.

Starting in my teenage years, and for my entire adult life, all depictions of the future in fiction have been dystopian--futures in which humanity failed and destroyed the planet, and the few remaining inhabitants had to either flee to another planet if able, or try to survive the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good dystopian future story, but they're getting old, man.  I've had my fill of futuristic fiction that's nothing but bleak, broken, grim, dark, drab, filthy, grungy, grimy, rusty, hellholes teaming with murderous rapists.  Oh my gaaaawd, every one of these dystopian stories features the obligatory band of thugs kidnapping a poor woman and raping her to try to repopulate their f*ckin' sh*t village.  I can't take anymore!!

And then you've got the zombie apocalypses.  I love those, too, but Sweet merciful Celestia, how many of them do we need?!  Between movies, shows and games, I've had enough zombie apocalypse for a lifetime!

Okay, I know that the outlook for our little blue rock isn't good, but does that mean that every future story has to be nothing but gloom and doom??  Can't we have a nice depiction of the future again?  Like classic Trek?  Even that new Star Trek Picard fiasco had to go and ruin and dystopify the world.  It's like show and filmmakers think that no one will be interested unless it's depressing and apocalyptic.  C'mon, dude, a little optimism in sci-fi would be nice!