It's a formula for conflict involving cops, Karens, and the threat of a dismal, uncertain future -- and dystopian fiction has given us prescient previews.

With the coronavirus lockdowns and the fear they spread both causing massive economic and emotional damage in this country, Americans have been strained to the breaking point. This country's founding promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have every appearance of being betrayed. Three high-profile incidences of police (or police-adjacent) killings of unresisting people in just the month of May lit the fuse, but the explosion was primed and ready to go well before that.

The echoes of dystopia in today's reality are clearly heard. Movies like "V for Vendetta" and the genre of dystopian fiction in general are incredibly important to our way of thinking about and our reaction to the world around us. Here's why.