How do stories set in a post-apocalyptic future look back at our present world: are characters nostalgic for the affluence and convenience? Or do they look back in disgust, understanding that many of these luxuries were built on exploitation and environmental destruction? Or a little of both? I look at Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven (the 2014 novel and the 2021/2022 TV show), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (the 2014 movie) and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Wild Shore (a 1984 novel) as three differing approaches to this question, and argue that while we can appreciate civilization's comforts, we shouldn't lose track of its costs.
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