The Apocalypse stories aren't fun anymore. We need hope, Hollywood

The perennially favorite End of the World storytelling device has exploded spectacularly over the past few years: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Hunger Games, Age of Ultron, World War Z, The Maze Runner, The Walking Dead, Last Man on Earth, The 100 ... too many movies and TV shows of mass destruction to name. But these stories were created when dystopia felt less like a looming reality -- and more like sweet, sweet permission to discard the digital devices that weight our pockets with the woes of the world. SEE ALSO: What would aliens think of present day Earth? Think about it: Through the vast diversity of modern post-apocalyptic narratives, the obliteration of mobile communications technology was a common thread. After the outbreak, or the war, or alien invasion, our heroes are forced to become present, survival-driven, with millennia-old instincts reawakened and put to the uses for which they evolved.