hellscape

Writers have sometimes described wartime environments as hellscapes,{{Cite web |last=Hanks |first=Tom |date=September 2, 2020 |title=We Are Still Living the Legacy of World War II |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/magazine/world-war-ii-end-tom-hanks.html |access-date=2021-02-26 |website=New York Times}} and after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cities were defined as such by its survivors.{{Cite web |last=Rothman |first=Lily |title=Survivors of the Atomic Blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki share their stories |url=https://time.com/after-the-bomb/ |access-date=2021-02-24}} Writers have also used hellscape to describe the scene of a natural disaster such as a drought, plague, flood, or wildfire.{{Cite web |last=Cullen |first=Art |date=September 15, 2020 |title=Wildfires, Drought, Plague, Apocalypse |website=TheGuardian.com |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/15/west-coast-wildfires-drought-plague-apocalypse}}{{Cite web |last=Greig |first=James |date=December 21, 2020 |title=The UK Is a Hellscape, and We're All Stuck in It |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/uk-mutated-covid-travel-ban-christmas/ |access-date=2021-02-23}}{{Cite web |last=Lynn |first=Kristy |date=September 22, 2020 |title=Americans Are Living In A 'Hellscape' |url=https://medium.com/change-your-mind/americans-are-living-in-a-hellscape-2871c4fcd766}}{{Cite web|title=Blazing Fires Turn West Coast Skies into Post-Apocalyptic Hellscape|date=9 September 2020 |url=https://www.sunset.com/travel/california/blazing-fires-turn-west-coast-skies-into-post-apocalyptic-hellscape|access-date=2021-02-26}} Projections of the consequences of global warming have been described by journalists as hellscapes.{{Cite web |last=Dahl |first=Kristy |title=Will the U.S. Be a Dystopian Hellscape in 2100 if Emissions Keep Rising? |date=22 July 2019 |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/us-climate-change-2100-emissions-2639301785.html}}{{Cite web |last=Madrigal |first=Alexis C. |date=November 13, 2018 |title=Gadgets for the Climate Hellscape |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/california-wildfires-climate-change-and-disaster-capitalism/575794/ |access-date=2021-02-23 |website=The Atlantic}}{{Cite web |last=Illing |first=Sean |date=February 24, 2019 |title=It is absolutely time to panic about climate change |url=https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/2/22/18188562/climate-change-david-wallace-wells-the-uninhabitable-earth |access-date=2021-02-23 |website=}}

The usage of recreational drugs such as heroin has been described by its users as creating hellscapes.{{Cite web |last=Farr |first=Stephanie |date=February 19, 2017 |title=A Hidden Hellscape |url=https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/inq/hidden-hellscape-20170219.html |access-date=2021-02-25}}{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Sam |date=April 18, 2017 |title=Dr. Oz's tour of Philly's heroin hellscape airs today |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/health/addiction/Dr-Ozs-tour-of-Phillys-heroin-hellscape-airs-today-Badlands-Conrail-encampments.html |access-date=2021-02-25}}

In the tech press, journalists have defined Internet disinformation as a hellscape.{{Cite magazine |last=Phillips |first=Whitney |date=February 3, 2020 |title=The Internet Is a Toxic Hellscape—but We Can Fix It |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-internet-is-a-toxic-hellscape-but-we-can-fix-it/ |access-date=2021-02-23}} Some have speculated the replacing of human labor with intelligent robots could lead to a future hellscape,{{Cite web |last=Drum |first=Kevin |date=October 30, 2017 |title=A Different Take: Our Robot Hellscape Awaits Us |url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/10/a-different-take-our-robot-hellscape-awaits-us/ |access-date=2021-02-23}} as well as child sex dolls.{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Alice B. |date=March 15, 2018 |title=Child Sex Dolls |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/congressman-child-sex-dolls-are-coming-mdash-and-were-not-ready |access-date=2021-02-23 |website=Washington Examiner}}

Vox wrote that postmodern philosophers have predicted a post-truth hellscape.{{Cite web |last=Illing |first=Sean |date=November 16, 2019 |title=The post-truth prophets |url=https://www.vox.com/features/2019/11/11/18273141/postmodernism-donald-trump-lyotard-baudrillard |access-date=2021-02-23}}

In October 2022, after purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk stated that it couldn't become "a free-for-all hellscape".{{cite web | last=Pitofsky | first=Marina | title=Elon Musk says Twitter can't become 'a free-for-all hellscape,' should be 'warm and welcoming' | website=USA TODAY | date=2022-10-27 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/10/27/elon-musk-says-twitter-hellscape/10616726002/ | access-date=2022-10-28}}

The United States Department of Defense has a significant drone program called “Replicator” to counter China’s military mass and capabilities. This program aims to create many thousands of low-cost, highly autonomous drones for deployment by the United States Indo-Pacific Command in the Indo-Pacific theater by 2025. “Hellscape” refers not to the program itself but to the complex and intensely contested battlespace environment that these drones are intended to navigate and dominate. The strategic intent is to enable U.S. forces to quickly identify and engage up to 1,000 targets within 24 hours using a network of land, air, and sea drones. These drones are designed to enhance the U.S.‘s operational flexibility and deter potential Chinese military actions, particularly regarding Taiwan’s security against a Chinese invasion force.{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=Patrick |date=August 28, 2023 |title=‘Hellscape’: DOD launches massive drone swarm program to counter China |url= https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/08/hellscape-dod-launches-massive-drone-swarm-program-counter-china/389797/ |access-date=2023-08-28}}

In movies, depictions of hellscapes are common.{{cite web |url=https://www.ranker.com/list/creepiest-depictions-of-hell-in-movies/orrin-grey |title=The Creepiest Depictions Of Hell In The Movies |last=Grey |first=Orrin |date=3 August 2024 |website=Ranker |access-date=8 December 2024 }}

Apocalypse Now depicts earthly hellscapes, during war.{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Brian |title=A Journey Back Into the Nihilistic Hellscape That Is 'Apocalypse Now' |website=The Ringer |date=14 August 2020 |url=https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/14/21368458/apocalypse-now-summer-blockbuster-francis-ford-coppola}} Other notable examples in cinema include Blade Runner 2049,{{Cite web |last=Emerson |first=Sarah |date=October 9, 2017 |title=Is 'Blade Runner: 2049' GOOD or BAD? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-01/blade-runner-is-set-today-the-future-is-now/11504502 |access-date=2021-02-24 |website=Vice}} Alien,{{Cite web |last=Scherstuhl |first=Alan |date=May 21, 2015 |title=The Immersive Dark Star Plunges Into H.R. Giger's Hellscapes |url=https://www.westword.com/film/the-immersive-dark-star-plunges-into-hr-gigers-hellscapes-6735438 |access-date=2021-02-26 |website=The Westword}} Mad Max: Fury Road,{{Cite web |last=Vary |first=Adam B. |date=November 10, 2016 |title=Invasion Of The Big-Brained Sci-Fi Blockbuster! |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/invasion-of-the-big-brained-sci-fi-blockbuster |access-date=2021-02-26 |website=Buzzfeed}} as well as all of the Mad Max series.

Hieronymus Bosch's The Last Judgement depicts a religious hellscape.{{Cite web |last=Blackburn |first=Gabe |date=May 1, 2020 |title=Hieronymus Bosch on Heaven and Hell |url=https://www.pcc.edu/harts/2020/05/17/hieronymus-bosch-heaven-and-hell/ |access-date=2021-02-23}} Other examples are Jan van Eyck's Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Dull Gret.{{Cite web |last=Gotthardt |first=Alexxa |date=November 1, 2018 |title=The 11 Most Nightmarish Depictions of Hell in Art History|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-nightmarish-depictions-hell-art-history |access-date=2021-02-23}}

Dante Alighieri's Inferno is one of the best-known examples of a hellscape. The Great Gatsby depicts the "Valley of the Ashes" as a hellscape.{{Cite web |title=Corruption In The Great Gatsby |url=https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Corruption-In-The-Great-Gatsby-P3GZKQNHZA6 |access-date=2021-02-23}}

A number of video games depict hellscapes,{{Cite magazine |date=December 22, 2020 |title=Video Game Hell Isn't Nearly Agonizing Enough |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/video-game-hell-hades-doom/ |access-date=2021-02-26 |last1=Rivera |first1=Joshua }}{{Cite web |title=10 Horrifying Hellscapes That Video Game Heroes Call Home |url=https://whatculture.com/gaming/10-horrifying-hellscapes-that-video-game-heroes-call-home?page=7 |access-date=2021-02-26 |website=WhatCulture| date=9 December 2020 }} including Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.{{Cite web |last=Bolding |first=Jonathan |date=January 18, 2021 |title=Ninja Theory's upcoming game takes place in an absurdly photorealistic apartment |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/ninja-theorys-upcoming-game-takes-place-in-an-absurdly-photorealistic-apartment/ |access-date=2021-02-26 |website=PC Gamer}}

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wiktionary|hellscape}}

• [https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2023/08/hellscape-dod-launches-massive-drone-swarm-program-counter-china/389797/ ‘Hellscape’: DOD launches massive drone swarm program to counter China]
• [https://www.pastemagazine.com/politics/robots/san-francisco-to-use-security-robots-to-break-up-h/ Security robots break up homeless camps]
• [https://futurism.com/robot-nuclear-hellscape-fukushima-reactor Japan Sends Robot Into the Nuclear Hell of the Fukushima Reactor]
• [https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/02/20/explained_why_a_nuclear_war_would_be_hell.html Nuclear war would be a hellscape]
• [https://qz.com/168705/westerners-are-so-convinced-china-is-a-dystopian-hellscape-theyll-share-anything-that-confirms-it/ Westerners are so convinced China is a dystopian hellscape they’ll share anything that confirms it]
• [https://time.com/10727/china-smog-nuclear-winter/ Nuclear winter in Beijing]
• [https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/4/27/15420306/polarization-politics-american-war-omar-el-akkad If America becomes a dystopian hellscape, it might look like this]
• [https://www.wired.com/story/the-architects-of-our-digital-hellscape-are-very-sorry/ The Architects of Our Digital Hellscape Are Very Sorry]
• [https://nypost.com/2020/11/04/astronomers-discover-hellscape-planet-that-rains-rocks/ Astronomers discover hellscape planet that rains rocks, has lava seas]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2PUYVBU7aM A Youtube video, Heroin Hellscape in Kensington, Philadelphia]
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2018/08/07/on-the-ground-in-phillys-heroin-scene/ Opinion: On the ground in Philly’s heroin scene]

Category:Hell