When I was a little kid, my dad sat down with my siblings and me to watch all of the “Back to the Future” films, and I was entranced by the future it painted. What little kid wouldn’t be in awe of the far-flung year of 2015, having flying cars and hoverboards? 

The future seemed vivid and brilliant, and I couldn’t wait for it to arrive.

However, even though I was only twelve once 2015 finally came around, I had already known for a while that the future wasn’t going to be as bright and wonderful as Marty McFly had made it out to be. While obviously there weren’t flying cars soaring by my house, the real evidence was in our DVDs. 

“Terminator,” “RoboCop” and “The Matrix” – all horrible futures. Even “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which was released that year, undermines the initially hopeful ending of “Return of the Jedi” by showing the return of the Empire. 

This was when the trend of portraying horrifying futures was in its heyday with teen dystopian movies like “The Hunger Games”, “Divergent” and “Mazerunner.” These movies were all immensely popular and centered on future societies that relied on child exploitation and violence to function. Pretty far away from hoverboards if you ask me, but what changed? We did.

When was the last time you looked to the future with optimism? Believed that we were all on an upward trajectory? Are you excited for what awaits humanity? If you struggle to answer those questions, it’s easy to see why most narratives paint a bleak future.

How can an artist create a film with an optimistic future when we all seem to dread the future? I miss when it seemed bright. 

This isn’t to say there are no narratives with an optimistic view of the future. “Big Hero 6” shows a vibrant and technologically advanced city in San Fransokyo, and “Meet the Robinsons” takes the main character, Lewis, to an advanced future with talking frogs, time machines and, of course, flying cars. 

Obviously, these are children’s movies and were a part of my childhood, so the childlike part of me misses the fantastical futures they describe. However, even the adult part of me longs for a brighter future. I miss when I could think about our future positively, and I miss when our media portrayed an optimistic future. 

We cannot be what we cannot see, and I wonder what we as a society are destined to become when the majority of our thoughts and portrayals of the future are dystopian or apocalyptic.

How can we work for a brighter future when we don’t believe it can exist? What am I nostalgic for? I’m nostalgic for believing we’ll improve. 

That idea is hard to swallow, but as I was brainstorming this article and coming up with dystopian movies and hopeful movies, there was one movie that fit into both.

“Wall-E” begins in the ruins of society after the climate catastrophe makes Earth unsustainable for life and with mankind fled into the stars, where they now relax on a galactic cruise ship, satisfied with all of their needs being met and constantly entertained by screens. 

Wall-E, a robot left behind to clean up the planet, eventually discovers a living plant: proof that Earth has recovered enough to sustain life again. At the end of the film, humanity returns to Earth and accepts the challenge of cleaning up the mess left behind by their ancestors.

Wall-E starts desolate, but it ends optimistically with humanity having the courage to try and build a new society. That courage is the first step to making a change, to imagining a better future. I miss believing we could change. But there is hope.

Sherry can be reached at [email protected].