A Door to Reality (Spoilers)

So, for my senior thesis, I wrote about the aesthetic of social realism in contemporary British television drama. Utopia, a sci-fi conspiracy thriller, is not a 'normal' example of the aesthetic. However, by eschewing more fantastical flourishes associated with science fiction, I argued that Utopia was an example of the 'evolution' of the social realist aesthetic.

Apologies that it is a bit long and academic. Still, hope you enjoy! Spoilers Aplenty!



A Dark Future: Utopia and the Hyper Stylization of Reality


Ian: ‘It’s like opening a door into another world. I don’t need to diminish it by pretending it’s real.’

Wilson: ‘It’s opening a door, all right, but what you don’t realise is that it’s opening a door… to reality.’

[Ian and Wilson discuss the graphic novel, ‘The Utopia Experiments’; Utopia]



Three strangers, Becky, Wilson, and Ian, sit in a largely empty pub. They are waiting for two other guests, Grant, and Bejan, who is in possession of a long fabled second volume manuscript of the graphic novel, ‘The Utopia Experiments.’ As they wait, the group of three argue about the supposed conspiracy theories regarding the manuscript. Wilson staunchly believes that the graphic novel has accurately predicted numerous global disasters, while Becky is more neutral, although she states she finds certain aspects of the graphic novel ‘odd.’ Ian is the sceptic of the group, saying he is only interested in the artwork and storytelling of the graphic novel. Their light, jovial banter is interspersed with scenes of Bejan being terrorized by two members of The Network, a shadowy governmental organization that wants the manuscript and a woman named ‘Jessica Hyde.’ Before Bejan is pushed to his death, Grant, an eleven-year-old hacker who broke into Bejan’s flat, steals the manuscript. This sets off a chain of violent events that affect Becky, Ian, and Wilson, in addition to Michael Dugdale, a government health minister who is blackmailed by the Russian mafia for allegedly impregnating a prostitute, and the mysterious Jessica Hyde, a ruthless woman with her own secret connections to the manuscript.


Utopia is a six-part conspiracy thriller that presents a unique challenge to the aesthetic of social realism. The program’s genre is science fiction, and its hyperstylized visuals give the drama a surreal, graphic-novel appearance. Nevertheless, the program engages with a narrative complexity and exploration of controversial social issues, like government surveillance and torture, that adhere to the definition of the social realism by simultaneously following and bringing news of pressing social issues that require acknowledgement and discussion (Dunleavy 2009: 76). This provides a different aesthetic; social realism through hyperstylization. This concept is not completely alien; the 1982 drama serial, Boys from the Blackstuff, subverted ‘the resulting stylistic expectations [of social realism] by incorporating elements of surrealism, comedy, and reflexivity… which had hitherto been uncharacteristic of realist dramas,’ (84). However, Boys from the Blackstuff, despite its subversive, surreal elements, was grounded within realistic setting and storyline: five unemployed men in Liverpool. The fantasy elements enhanced the serial’s stark, despairing view of reality. Utopia engages with similar surreal tactics, but pushes the concept even further into the realm of fantasy; the program uses social realist elements to ground the fantasy and make it believable and thought provoking to the audience. The aesthetic of social realism in Utopia can be found in its subversion of visual imagery, its incorporation of social issues, and its neutral narrative viewpoint.


The darling Alexandra Roach:



The Subversion of the Social Realist Aesthetic: Visuals and Genre





It has already been stated by Jordan that social realism is an ‘aesthetic priority… to efface the overt signs of constructedness sufficiently to ‘“suggest an unmediated, unprejudiced and complete view of reality,”’ (Dunleavy, 110). Social realism is a subcategory of realism, which can be succinctly defined as ‘the aim for representation to reproduce reality faithfully,’ (Bignell 2013: 177). Utopia takes the social realist aesthetic and pushes its ‘boundaries into elements of fantasy, stylisation, and anti-naturalist techniques,’ (Creeber 2009: 429). The visual style of the social realist aesthetic is a large component of the ‘traditional’ ideology of the term, and Utopia is the most subversive with this particular component. From a cinematographic perspective, classical examples of social realism, such as Cathy Come Home or Up the Junction, were filmed in ‘grainy 16 mm film… aiming to strengthen the visual connection between drama and real news footage,’ (Dunleavey 2009: 76). The blurring of lines between fiction and nonfiction is a debate within itself, as reality is constructed itself in the documentary form. However, Utopia subverts the ‘traditional’ ideology of the social realist aesthetic by nestling reality within the context of fantasy. In doing so, Utopia critiques important social issues but does so in a more implicit, subtle manner.


One of the two most subversive elements of Utopia is its cinematography. Utopia follows some aspects of the visual aesthetic of social realism, in that it is filmed on-location and uses single camera cinematography rather than a multi-camera setup. However, these elements are no longer synonymous with the social realist movement from the 1960s; on-location filming and the use of single camera cinematography have become de rigueur for most contemporary television programs, with the exception of some sitcoms. However, the cinematography of Utopia consists entirely of an oversaturated color scheme, which gives each scene a graphic novel feel. This visual choice can be interpreted as a continuation of the program’s narrative; the series concerns a graphic novel manuscript, and by using a deliberately stylized visual style, Utopia can evoke an atmosphere of being within a graphic novel. Similarly, the hyperstylization serves to increase the atmospheric dread of the narrative. In comparison to Cathy Come Home and Up the Junction, which sought to present a fictional story as if it were news, the oversaturated color scheme in Utopia deliberately adds an artificial veneer to the program, which subtly implants a nightmarish sense of dread into the narrative. The cinematography of Utopia allows reality to be distorted, as to heighten the both the narrative tension of the story, and to serve as a subversion of the idea of reality in television.




It has already been mentioned that the appeal of 60s social realist pieces came from the blurring between reality and fantasy, via grainy, documentarian cinematography. In Utopia, the visual aesthetics subvert the idea of social realism hiding the ‘constructedness’ in television drama by deliberately embracing an artificial, hyperstylized portrait of reality. The visuals decrease the idea of reality via exaggeration; however, the stylized visual aesthetic draws attention to the narrative representation of the different social issues. Utopia is not a ‘message series’ in the same way that early social realist single dramas, like Cathy Come Home and Up the Junction, used television drama to humanize and increase awareness regarding pressing social topics. In contrast, the hyperstylization of Utopia creates a highly structured presentation of reality, while the narrative explores the horrors of society beneath the glossy façade.


Cathy Come Home:



Utopia continues to subvert the social realist aesthetic through its own genre. Television studies theorists, like Bignell and Jordan, never equate the aesthetic of social realism to a particular genre. However, Utopia presents a provocative critique how the social realist aesthetic, in both visual and narrative form, is incorporated into different genres of television drama. The depiction of different contemporary social issues is commonplace in long-running soap operas, like Coronation Street and EastEnders, or in the police procedural/crime thriller genre, as evidenced with Prime Suspect and Cracker. In contrast, Utopia is science fiction, which complicates the idea of how reality can be code-ified when genre itself is almost completely fictional. Science fiction is frequently used for social critique via metaphor, often through the guise of a futuristic setting, as evidenced in pieces like 1984 or Blade Runner. Utopia uses this ideology to a point, in that it presents a fantastical scenario, in this case, one involving a conspiracy hidden within a graphic novel manuscript, and as it is revealed later in the series, a worldwide project to reduce overpopulation via a secret sterilisation drug. However, with the exception of the graphic novel itself, Utopia engages with different social issues, like overpopulation and government surveillance, directly. The program is not speculative fiction; each scenario presented in the series carries a degree of plausibility. Plausibility, according to media theorist Alice Hall, is one key component of realism, and social realism in particular. Plausibility is defined, within the context of a television narrative, as whether the narrative events could happen (Haggins 2013: 17). However, ‘plausibility’ is a subjective, which is further complicated by Utopia’s engagement with more fantastical content. Utopia’s plausibility stems from its narrative complexity, and seemingly neutral viewpoint regarding its characters and their actions.


Reinforcement of the Social Realist Aesthetic: Narrative Complexity and Social Issues





While Utopia subverts the visual expectations of social realism, its narrative complexity can be seen as a reinforcement of the contemporary social realist aesthetic, which was first evidenced in the 1980s and 90s. Similar to Boys from Black Stuff, Utopia continues the trend of ‘contemporary social realism’s refusal to offer neat political or moral solutions to complex social problems,’ (Creeber 2009: 429). Utopia presents a paradoxical representation of reality; the hyperstylized visual aestheticism distorts reality into a fantasy setting, while the narrative itself captures a bleak portrait of society. The bleak atmosphere is exacerbated by the hallucinatory visuals.


This is evident from the first scene in the first episode of Utopia. The episode opens with shots the English countryside. The cinematography of the scene employs rich, oversaturated colors, while a radio report detailing the rising costs of food and the government’s implication of different social policies to prevent possible riots. The scene transitions to the interior of a comic book shop. The scene is filmed with the same oversaturated color scheme. Two men enter, and are told in a brusque manner by the clerk that the shop is closed. Lee, the man dressed in a light suit, bludgeons a man to death with a piece of pipe. Arby, the second man, asks for the manuscript for ‘The Utopia Experiments,’ and asks the shopkeeper, ‘Where is Jessica Hyde?’ The shopkeeper nervously gives him the name of the purchaser, but stammers that he does not know Jessica Hyde. Arby kills the man with gas canister, before he and Lee puncture a gas line, to frame their homicides as accidents. Arby spies a young boy hiding in the corner. He tells Lee, ‘Don’t put the gas away yet.’




The juxtaposition between the radio narration and the oversaturated visuals in the opening scene, followed by Arby and Lee’s interrogation in the comic book shop, succinctly captures what would become a signature blend between social realism and fantasy in Utopia. The scene incorporates real, social issues, like rising food costs and potential riots, within a heavily stylized setting. The radio reports serves as an anchor to reality, thereby giving the interrogation scene, which indulges in its own stylish absurdity, an atmosphere of dread and gravitas.


The program would incorporate an assortment of different social issues, some over the course of the series, while others are contained to single episode or two, even if the aftermath regarding these events permeate the following episodes. The overarching social issues represented in Utopia were government surveillance and bureaucracy, public health and disease control, and the philosophy of ‘the-greatest-good-for-the-greatest-number.’ The series also explored controversial social topics of school violence (‘Episode 3’: Jan 29, 2013), overpopulation (‘Episode 5’: Feb 12, 2013), and torture (‘Episode 1’: Jan 15, 2013). The overlap between series-long representations of different social issues versus topics that are depicted for an episode or two, create a complex, multi-layered narrative, which places certain social issues within the context of larger themes. In episode three, the opening scene depicts Arby methodically walking through a primary school, shooting both teachers and students. This scene echoes the 1996 Dunblane School Massacre, in which a Scottish man went on a murderous rampage in a local primary school. On a micro level, the scene captures a stark realism in the horror of school violence, which is contrasted with he hyperstylized visuals. This creates an individual scene that captures the heightened reality of Utopia; the visual aestheticism of the program, juxtaposed with the program’s ambiguous narrative viewpoint, captures a horrifying ‘reality’ within a hyperstylized scenario.




The characters and their motivations are another central component to the seemingly ‘neutral’ narrative point of view of Utopia. There are three distinct groups of characters within the series: the ‘Innocent’ (Ian, Becky, Wilson, Grant, Alice), the ‘Mercenaries’ (Jessica Hyde, Arby, and Lee), and the ‘Bureaucrats’ (Michael Dugdale, Milner, and the other Government officials). In a review for The Independent, Kelly remarked,

I thought it would be interesting if we had ordinary people…. Most conspiracy thriller protagonists tend to be either journalists or cops and I was more interested in what if it was someone who was like me, a person who doesn't really know what they're doing. (Gilbert 2013: 1)

His statement positions Ian, Becky, Grant, Wilson, and Alice as the protagonists. However, Utopia avoids depicting its characters as static ‘good’ or ‘bad’ entities. Alexandra Roach, the actress who portrays Becky, notes, ‘the limits that normal people are pushed to is interesting, but with this we had to gradually build it. Becky becomes much harsher and brutal as you go through the series',’ (Arnold 2013: 2). The first episode depicts the characters of Ian, Becky, Wilson, and Grant as innocent individuals who were entrapped in circumstances beyond their control, while the Network is portrayed as an all-powerful, ‘evil’ bureaucratic entity. The ‘Mercenaries’ in the first episode, Arby and Lee, are extensions of the Network, so they are seen as evil by default. Jessica Hyde, the remaining Mercenary, is introduced as a mysterious in being the closing moments of the first episode. However, over the course of the series, each character’s motivations and alliances shift. The actions of all the characters become shades of grey.




From the narrative conventions of the conspiracy thriller genre, this is expected. The tension of conspiracy thrillers comes from the unknown motivation of the characters, and how their actions will affect those around them. Utopia gradually teases apart each character’s motivations, and by incorporating a multitude of subjectivities regarding the characters and their action, the series avoids a dichotomous portrait of ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ This is particularly clear when the Network’s desire for the manuscript is revealed. The manuscript contains information relating to a genetics project that would sterilize the majority of humanity, but in doing so, it would solve global issues such as famine and overpopulation. Throughout the series, the viewer is aware of the brutality of the Network’s methods, as evidenced by Wilson’s prolonged torture or the school shooting by Arby. However, the audience is presented with two unique sides in the representation of these social topics. The characters are presented as uniquely human in that their subjective views of right and wrong are clearly expressed to the viewer.


A Different Aesthetic: Social Realism in Hyperstylization


The visual aestheticism and narrative ambiguity in Utopia are a continuation of the ‘heightened realism’ trend in British television. I would argue Utopia takes this ideology even further and forms a new aesthetic: social realism in hyperstylization. This aesthetic is still rooted in the narrative aesthetic of social realism, but the surreal visual aestheticism, in addition to the program’s genre, challenges how this program can be seen as a continuation of contemporary example of social realism. Utopia confirms that even within the context of social realism, reality is constructed, whether it is through narrative or visual aesthetics.