The Kafkaesque -or- Black Comedy in the Global Village
The Dystopian Imagination -or- Laughter in Hell
The dystopian imagination of the 20th century was sublimely crafted in Franz Kafka's tale of Metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is not only an individual poetic experience, it is a collective one. Many dreams received by the International Institute for Dream Research (IIDR) speak in the same literary and poetic voice. Much as in a black comedy these dreams talk of topics such as alienation, stigmatization, demoralization and genocide to name a few. Read about some of those living on The Boulevard of Broken Dreams in the Global Village;
- Kidnapping of Caylee Anthony
- The Kafkaesque of Everyday Life
- General Hospital
- Greed is Good
- Alienation Effects
- Theatre of Cruelty
- Requiem for a Dream
- Apocalypse
- Rwandan Genocide
- Collective Dissociation
- Rape
- Padophilia
- Autopsy of a Marriage
- Girl Interrupted
The image in the theatre above is from the black comedy film Dr Strangelove. Major "King" Kong (Slim Pickens) is riding a nuclear bomb (watch video) towards the inevitable apocalypse of the planet. The lyrical nuclear holocaust ending to the film is furnished by Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again (watch video). For more black humor, read IIDR article Laughter in Hell.