Paradise

Oh how a dystopian world seems more than likely what our immediate future holds. After watching Paradise, (Hulu) it got me wondering not only about survival but also renewal. Right before Covid launched a pandemic on our world, I had an idea of a dystopian world and what that would look like. Paradise is a cinematically beautiful show and I'm happily anticipating season 2! If you haven't seen it, please go see it before reading this!

Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) is one of the producers and I'm so proud of him for venturing out into sci-fi. It's still very realistic and I think that's what makes it really work. It would've also made a great 2 hour or even 3 hour long movie, remember Barbie and Oppenheimer? I really don't mind 3 hour movies, as long as it has the "what could be," to transport me into another day, time or world. Or to inspire a really thought-provoking storyline that seems eerily realistic.

There are some aspects of the Truman Show present, another of my favorites that make you really see the possibility of our world as an actual simulation. To put things into context, we are deeply entrenched in manipulated narratives especially with a President who lives in an alternate reality than the rest of the world. Lies cost lives in the show Paradise.

The soundtrack of this movie is also just to die for, such nostalgia. Cue Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise" song. There is also the sweet, sentimental, familial relationships, the themes of sacrifice and of course survival. I'm trying really hard not to give too much away!

What would you do with the impending news of a meteor approaching with survival of the world in jeopardy? What if those in "power," knew the actual date and timing of worldwide destruction down to where it would hit first? What if it was a few years out and we had no clue until it became public news leaving us with no where to go and no time for preparation? Makes the meaning of trust even that more triggering because we want to trust that things will get better, it's in our nature to, but what if we're all doomed and only a super small percentage, let's say, the population of one state in the USA is able to survive the end of the world?

Where do we begin in the above scenario? Let's say only the residents of the White House know of this catastrophic end to our world order and the astronomers and scientists monitoring outer space. ("Don't Look Up," another great movie with a similar storyline) To put things in layman's terms, suppose Elon Musks quest to inhabit Mars is because he knows something that we don't about the end of our planet? You know, some people think that we somehow control the weather. The weather has been very, very, notably unpredictable this year and we are only in the third month of the year. Three states with brush fires who don't usually have brush fires (with the exception of California) Also, why are planes falling out of the sky every week? Really makes you wonder what in the world is really going on? Is it only happening in our neck of the woods? If so, that's really "suspect," isn't it? Speculation aside, what do we really know?

In the show Paradise, the people who are aware of impending destruction have resorted to building a bunker in a mountain but not just any bunker... It makes you wonder, how long is safety guaranteed before you consider starting over? If it were me, I would move to another part of the world yet still, is anywhere safe or is it just a matter of time? It's been speculated that the Chinese are building bunkers in the mountains, in some of the Caribbean Islands... Do they know something we don't?

There are a million ways to bring about the end of a civilization, starting with a flood (Noah's ark story) in our day it probably looks like a tsunami. Natural disasters like the fires, earthquakes and hurricanes... War, poverty, genocide, disease, A.I. (maybe) some of which is within our control as human beings. It really makes you wonder, how much are we paying attention to our lives and livelihood today and not just ours but our communities as well.

There is so much distrust in our government today, in our politicians and those who hold positions of authority. Sure, they withhold information from us or control how that information is shared and it's considered to be in our best interests. One of the first executive orders Trump signed was to exit WHO- the World Health Organization, who was instrumental in communicating the world over of the covid pandemic. A lot of people especially on the right think that they lied to us, fabricated numbers of those infected and dying, and forced immunization on us. The beginning of polarization happened as we made decisions on how to protect ourselves when our lives seemed to be at risk. Then the segmentation of which countries would receive the vaccine first and who is most at risk like the vulnerable. Medicine and morality clashed.

Let's push the envelope to say that suppose the vaccine was a way of choosing who were deserving of survival, had the world been doomed to destruction, do you think the response would've been any different? Of course, it wasn't quite communicated that way, was it? What does renewal look like in a dying world? It's no secret that we are destroying our world and contributing to climate change, or so we are taught to believe. How much is in our control, are we aware of what is in our control and if we are, what are we doing about it? What about each other? Are we contributing to our own demise?

It seems like there is an action, maybe even a global action on our part as human beings inhabiting this planet, that needs to happen to secure a more safe future for the generations to come. Whether it is activism, humanitarian efforts, joining the military, protecting our identity with cybersecurity, living a healthier lifestyle, making choices such as diet, exercise, recycling, not littering, taking care of animals, finding safer and more efficient ways of doing things like EVs, building more sustainably, mentoring, fostering kids, bringing awareness to things that are harmful to a specific community that may be targeted by the majority... We can use our voices (I love listening to podcasts and deep discussions) We can learn something new every day by listening to each other. We can build up our convictions from listening to each other and we can make the "right" choice based on what we have learned. More than anything as catastrophic as the end of the world, Paradise made me consider not only the meaning of paradise but the choices that can be made to change our world to resemble our version of paradise.

What does "paradise" mean to me? Is a question that we can ask ourselves... For some of us, it's campaigning for gun safety, the expansion of Medicare, gender equality, closing the pay gap, paying teachers more, making mental health more accessible, censoring social media/making it age appropriate, fixing immigration processes, clean water initiatives. The list goes on and on, and each demographic's needs vary the world over but the point is that if we are able to advocate for the changes we believe in are instrumental to our survival, by all means let's get to it! For as long as it lasts and for as long as we are willing to create it, paradise can be ours, right here where we are right now. Thanks to the brilliant creator of Paradise, Dan Fogelman and the brilliant actors for inspiring this article with their imagination and art, I can dream...