History Main / AdvancedCivilizationHollowImagination

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' has the ''Axiom'', a gigantic luxury cruise liner in space; ships like the ''Axiom'' were used to evacuate all of humanity with the promise of coming back to Earth after it had been cleared of the massive heaps of garbage that had piled up. With the help of robots to do all the manual labor and levitating hover chairs initially designed to aid less-mobile people in getting around, humanity has reached a peak...but it's resulted in a BigFatFuture where everyone is, in essence, a massive infant: they eat liquid meals from cups, stare at screens all day (to the point of talking to one another via video chat when they're literally sitting next to one another), and have no imagination or creativity. WALL•E's presence helps to shake a few residents from their stupor. [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Captain [=McCrea=] summons the strength to walk to defeat the evil [[BigBad AUTO]], and other humans begin doing the same, freeing themselves from reliance on technology and starting a new era.]]

** In ''Endwalker'', [[spoiler:the Endsinger shows the Scions a similar civilization called the Plenty, which eliminated all suffering. But in doing so, they eliminated all desire and ambition. The entire race [[GoneMadFromTheRevolution goes mad]] and is DrivenToSuicide when Meteion [[ArmorPiercingQuestion innocently asks what brings them happiness]] and they realize that they could not give her an answer. All of this strongly implies that the ancient mankind would have eventually wiped itself out in a similar way even if it hadn't experienced the Final Days.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerHordePrime Horde Prime's]] race has an advanced technology that allows him to destroy planets, teleporting and transferring his mind to other bodies. His culture, however, couldn't be more sterile, for it's basically a cult of him. The name of his original race never is mentioned. His people are clones of himself, programmed even before birth to devote their lives to him; they dress in the same uniform and are not allowed to have names, feelings, or think by themselves. If one clone does any of these forbidden things [[spoiler: (like Hordak)]], he has his memories erased and is submitted to a torturing ceremony known as "reconditioning".
* A proposed animated series (before ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' was ever an idea), called ''Star Trek: Federation'', would have set the United Federation of Planets as this. The UFP would have become lacking in its exploration, nothing new would be discovered for several centuries, its fleet would have become stretched thin, corruption would develop within the ranks of its government, and because of all of this, several member worlds would leave.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Horde Prime's race has an advanced technology that allows him to destroy planets, teleporting and transferring his mind to other bodies. His culture, however, couldn't be more sterile, for it's basically a cult of him. The name of his original race never is mentioned. His people are clones of himself, programmed even before birth to devote their lives to him; they dress in the same uniform and are not allowed to have names, feelings, or think by themselves. If one clone does any of these forbidden things [[spoiler: (like Hordak)]], he has his memories erased and is submitted to a torturing ceremony known as "reconditioning".

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': The Gem civilization is an intergalactic empire where each gem is created for a specific utilitarian purpose and is not allowed to deviate in any way. The only forms of art allowed are those that venerate the civilization's rulers, reinforcing the status quo. The opportunity for self-expression is one of the reasons Gems were drawn to Rose Quartz's rebellion. [[spoiler: By ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'', the Crystal Gems have successfully ended this period of Gem life, and the planet is a much happier, stabler, and flourishing civilization as a result.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' has the ''Axiom'', a gigantic luxury cruise liner in space; ships like the ''Axiom'' were used to evacuate all of humanity with the promise of coming back to Earth after it had been cleared of the massive heaps of garbage that had piled up. With the help of robots to do all the manual labor and levitating hover chairs initially designed to aid less-mobile people in getting around, humanity has reached a peak...but it's resulted in a BigFatFuture where everyone is, in essence, a massive infant: they eat liquid meals from cups, stare at screens all day (to the point of talking to one another via video chat when they're literally sitting next to one another), and have no imagination or creativity. WALL-E's presence helps to shake a few residents from their stupor. [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Captain [=McCrea=] summons the strength to walk to defeat the evil [[BigBad AUTO]], and other humans begin doing the same, freeing themselves from reliance on technology and starting a new era.]]

* Invoked with the Vogons, but without the cleanliness, in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', where the cities of Vogsphere consist of [[VastBureaucracy nothing but brutalistic, bureaucratic office buildings]] (that can also launch and be used as spacecraft), and the population does nothing but work, and even simple actions are dictated by the filling and filing-away of documents; one Vogon is offended when he discovers from his underling that the crew of the ''Heart of Gold'' didn't file the proper paperwork to activate their ship's FTL drive. Later, Arthur Dent is able to save Trillian from being fed to the Bugblatter Beast of Traal by filling out a document to free her but first has to go through all the steps (including waiting in a long line/queue). The culture of the planet, as well as the general appearance of the Vogons in this version, is explained away by a plant-like creature that zips out of the ground and slaps the offending individual on the face, with an appendage that looks like a fly-swatter, whenever they have an idea or thought.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

[[folder:Tabletop Gaming]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The fallen empires embody this trait to a T, being unwilling to do or accomplish anything other than self-defense until the end of the game.

An IndubitablyUninterestingIndividual may come from this kind of civilization. An EasilySwayedPopulation may overlap with this trope as well. A civilization of this type may have also distilled their [[NondescriptNastyNutritious food into the basic elements necessary to sustain life, but without the taste and texture necessary to enjoy it.]] Equally, the civilization may also have moved into an AsceticAesthetic, with their architecture, internal design, and clothing further showcasing how sterile and overly-lacking they've become.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Virtuoso", the ''Voyager'' crew encounters the Qomar, a race who are brilliant when it comes to mathematics and science, but limited in terms of creativity, to the point that they have never developed the concept of music. Consequently, the Doctor becomes a huge celebrity to them just because he is capable of singing and almost considers leaving Starfleet to capitalize on this. Eventually, one of them, Tincoo, attempted to compose her own song, but the resulting composition, while extremely popular with her peers because of its mathematical design, was tuneless and unlikely to be appreciated by anyone else. The song also happened to be unsingable by most species, as it used notes well above the normal vocal range; Tincoo had to design a dedicated hologram in order to perform it.

Other times, their culture has either, again, faded away, naturally, or has been engineered out of them, whether by choice or by outside influence, or even by fanatics that espouse TheEvilsOfFreeWill.

An IndubitablyUninterestingIndividual may come from this kind of civilization. An EasilySwayedPopulation may overlap with this trope as well. A civilization of this type may have also distilled their [[NondescriptNastyNutritious food into the basic elements necessary to sustain life, but without the taste and texture necessary to enjoy it.]]

* ''Film/MonOncle'': A meta example, about a closer future and advancement than most; The film is meant as a commentary on how post-war France in the 1950s was developing into a hyper-modern/futuristic sterile shadow of itself. The house of the Arpels, heavily featured as the centerpiece of the film, is [[AsceticAesthetic modern in design, but is also very user-unfriendly; controls have no labels, devices are not easy to recognize, and the furniture is as uncomfortable as it looks.]] It's spick-and-span, but is also very imposing and brutalistic. The Arpels, barring their son, Gerard, are just as uptight, hollow, inflexible, and insincere as their house.

Other times, their culture has either, again, faded away, naturally, or has been engineered out of them, whether by choice or by outside influence, or even by fanatics that espouse TheEvilsofFreeWill.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WALLE}}'' has the ''Axiom'', a gigantic luxury cruise liner in space; ships like the ''Axiom'' were used to evacuate all of humanity with the promise of coming back to Earth after it had been cleared of the massive heaps of garbage that had piled up. With the help of robots to do all the manual labor and levitating hover chairs initially designed to aid less-mobile people in getting around, humanity has reached a peak...but it's resulted in a BigFatFuture where everyone is, in essence, a massive infant: they eat liquid meals from cups, stare at screens all day (to the point of talking to one another via video chat when they're literally sitting next to one another), and have no imagination or creativity. WALL-E's presence helps to shake a few residents from their stupor. [[spoiler: By the end of the film, Captain [=McCrea=] summons the strength to walk to defeat the evil [[BigBad AUTO]], and other humans begin doing the same, freeing themselves from reliance on technology and starting a new era.]]

** Inspired by the One State in ''Literature/{{We}}'', where art is subjugated to cold logic and pro-government propaganda, and the scientists are working on, among other things, a means of destroying the part of the brain responsible for imagination. Sex is still encouraged -- the State's official position is that every citizen belongs sexually to every other citizen -- but strictly rationed; you need to ''pay'' for it with tickets from your ration book. The residential buildings are almost all windows so that everyone can see what everyone else is doing (when they're not lowering the blinds to have sex).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WALLE}}'' has a gigantic space station that humanity evacuated to. Everything is advanced to the point that people don't need to walk, but it's gotten to the point that they no longer think for themselves due to their laziness they got from their reliance on the technology. It's almost their downfall, as [[spoiler:Captain [=McCrea=] is almost unable to fight off AUTO, but is able to summon the strength to walk even though AUTO tilted the ship to keep the robots from retrieving the plant from Earth.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': The gem civilization is an intergalactic empire where each gem is created for a specific utilitarian purpose and is not allowed to deviate in any way. The only forms of art allowed are those that venerate the civilization's rulers; reinforcing the status quo. The opportunity for self-expression is one of the reasons gems were drawn to Rose Quartz' rebellion.

But... something's wrong.

* ''Creator/MarvelComics'': Part of the reason the Kree Supreme Intelligence has such interest in Earth is because it has come to the conclusion that the Kree Imperium, as powerful as it is, has become stagnant and an evolutionary dead-end. So desperate is the Supreme Intelligence to jumpstart evolution, intuition and innovation that it has on several occasions engineered BackFromTheBrink situations in the hopes this would force the Kree as a whole to rekindle their fire. Captain Mar-Vell, despite officially being an exiled traitor, is exactly the kind of person the Supreme Intelligence wishes more Kree were like.

* One of the main elements of ''Film/DemolitionMan'': Despite humanity reaching a peaceful apex, everything that was once enjoyed is now considered evil and harmful, and is thus banned. Emotions are kept in check, food portions are similarly kept small, everything is spick-and-span, and entertainment is kitschy, overly-safe, and droll. The humor of our then-current culture, viewed through this futuristic lens, is that it's treated as if it happened ten-thousand years, or more, ago, when it only happened 3-to-4 decades prior.
* Invoked with the Vogons, but without the cleanliness, in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', where the cities of Vogsphere consist of [[VastBureaucracy nothing but brutalistic, bureaucratic office buildings]] (that can also launch and be used as spacecraft), and the population does nothing but work, and even simple actions are dictated by the filling and filing-away of documents; one Vogon is offended when he discovers from his underling that the crew of the ''Heart of Gold'' didn't file the proper paperwork to activate their ship's FTL drive. Later, Arthur Dent is able to save Trillian from being fed to the Bugblatter Beast of Traal by filling out a document to free her, but first has to go through all the steps (including waiting in a long line/queue). The culture of the planet, as well as the general appearance of the Vogons in this version, is explained away by a plant-like creature that zips out of the ground and slaps the offending individual on the face, with an appendage that looks like a fly-swatter, whenever they have an idea or thought.

** Inspired by the One State in ''Literature/{{We}}'', where art is subjugated to cold logic and pro-government propaganda, and the scientists are working on, among other things, a means of destroying the part of the brain responsible for imagination. Sex is still encouraged -- the State's official position is that every citizen belongs sexually to every other citizen -- but strictly rationed; you need to ''pay'' for it with tickets from your ration book. The residential buildings are almost all windows, so that everyone can see what everyone else is doing (when they're not lowering the blinds to have sex).
* ''Literature/ParisInTheTwentiethCentury'', originally written by Creator/JulesVerne in 1863, depicts a year 1960 where artistic creativity has been smothered by emphasis on cold science and commerce.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The fallen empires embody this trait to a T, being unwilling to do or accomplish anything until other than self defense until the end of the game.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Horde Prime's race has an advanced technology that allows him to destroy planets, teleporting and transferring his mind to other bodies. His culture, however, couldn't be more sterile, for it's basically a cult of him. The name of his original race never is mentioned. His people are clones of himself, programmed even before birth to devote their lives to him; they dress the same uniform and are not allowed to have names, feelings or think by themselves. If one clone does any of these forbidden things [[spoiler: (like Hordak)]], he has his memories erased and is submitted to a torturing ceremony known as "reconditioning".

* Invoked with the Vogons, but without the cleanliness, in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', where the cities of Vogsphere consist of [[VastBureaucracy nothing but brutalistic, bureaucratic office buildings]] (that can also launch and be used as spacecraft), and the population does nothing but work, and even simple actions are dictated by the filling and filing-away of documents; One Vogon is offended when he discovers from his underling that the crew of the Heart of Gold didn't file the proper paperwork to activate their ship's FTL drive. Later, Arthur Dent is able to save Trillian from being fed to the Bug-Blatter Beast of Traal by filling out a document to free her, but first has to go through all the steps (including waiting in a long line/queue). The culture of the planet, as well as the general appearance of the Vogons in this version, is explained away by a plant-like creature that zips out of the ground and slaps the offending individual on the face, with an appendage that looks like a fly-swatter, whenever they have an idea or thought.
* ''Film/THX1138'': In an underground, futuristic civilization, the concepts of family and love are forbidden. People live in sterile apartments with roomates chosen by government. They wear the same white uniform, their heads are shaved and their "names" are three random letters with four digits. The closest they have to sex is watching erotic holographies while engaging with a pumping device. Worst of all, they have to take diarily drugs that suppress their feelings and keep them compliant. THX, the eponymous protagonist, sets the plot in motion when his roomate swaps their medication and they fall in love.

* The One World Order in ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' has shaped society into being thoroughly uncreative in the name of maximizing efficiency. All popular activities are based solely on sensory pleasures (scent concerts, drug-fueled orgies, etc.), high art is non-existent, classic literature can only be found in "savage reservations," and anyone who's too nonconformist for their own good gets ReassignedToAntarctica. In fact, a significant portion of the population is literally incapable of higher thought, being [[GeniusBreedingAct bred for (un)intelligence]] as servant castes.

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' has a gigantic space station that humanity evacuated to. Everything is advanced to the point that people don't need to walk, but it's gotten to the point that they no longer think for themselves due to their laziness they got from their reliance on the technology. It's almost their downfall, as [[spoiler:Captain [=McCrea=] is almost unable to fight off AUTO, but is able to summon the strength to walk even though AUTO tilted the ship to keep the robots from retrieving the plant from Earth.]]

* Invoked with the Vogons, but without the cleanliness, in ''Film/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', where the cities of Vogsphere consist of [[VastBureaucracy nothing but brutalistic, bureaucratic office buildings]] (that can also launch and be used as spacecraft), and the population does nothing but work, and even simple actions are dictated by the filling and filing-away of documents; One Vogon is offended when he discovers from his underling that the crew of the Heart of Gold didn't file the proper paperwork to activate their ship's FTL drive. Later, Arthur Dent is able to save Trillian from being fed to the Bug-Blatter Beast of Traal by filling out a document to free her, but first has to go through all the steps (including waiting in a long line/queue). The culture of the planet, as well as the general appearance of the Vogons in this version, is explained away by a plant-like creature that zips out of the ground and slaps the offending individual on the face, with an appendage that looks like a fly-swatter, whenever they have an idea or thought.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': On the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey, the society of Time Lords is one of the most advanced in the universe, being so knowledgeable about time travel that they've become, as the name implies, the overseers of keeping time itself stable. However, they've stagnated over the years and are holed up in Sisyphean bureaucracy and a xenophobic attitude towards other civilizations, motivating the Doctor to steal a TARDIS from a museum and flee throughout time and space, kickstarting the events of the series. When the Doctor returns to Gallifrey as a wanted criminal in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]], most of the Time Lords are so interchangeable that he easily
masquerades among them simply by stealing a set of robes and keeping his head low.