We Have Imagined Dystopia Wrong
People often imagine dystopia like this:
A society where
the same spaces remain, but prices rise,
gradually pushing ordinary people out.
But the change we are witnessing now works differently.
The public is not being pushed out.
The public leaves first.
The Public Disappears Not by Being “Expelled,” but by “Not Choosing”
Those who left movie theaters were not expelled.
They chose cheaper, more convenient, and faster alternatives:
OTT platforms, delivery services, online shopping, streaming, remote consumption.
The public is not being deprived of access —
they are shrinking their own domain
by choosing not to access it.
As a Result, Public Spaces Quietly Disappear
The problem comes next.
Spaces abandoned by the public
cannot survive by “lowering prices to bring the public back,”
because superior default consumption methods already exist.
So spaces change direction:
- smaller
- more expensive
- quieter
- targeting more selective customers
Spaces abandon the public
and choose survival through premiumization.
This Is How Dystopia Appears
The transformation looks like this:
- general screening rooms decrease
- only private screening rooms remain
- average prices continue to rise
- the belief that “this place was always expensive” solidifies
At some point,
people delete these spaces from their basic life options.
Dystopia is not
a society where you cannot go —
but a society where you no longer even consider going.
We Are Already Inside It
This is not a future prediction.
It is a structure that has already begun.
Movie theaters, bookstores, cafés, performance halls, exhibition spaces, department stores.
Public spaces are steadily shrinking,
while premium spaces grow ever clearer.
And average prices rise faster
as the public disappears.
Dystopia does not arrive
with walls or prohibition lines.
It arrives quietly,
in the name of choice and convenience,
in a way no one opposes.
Leave a Reply