Why are dystopian stories so popular and what do they say about society?

Dystopias are societies that seem perfect but are really twisted

One reason people would like them is that it’s artificial and disconnected; they offer a new perspective. Another reason is that technology controls them. The last reason is that government has total control

Reason One: it’s artificial and disconnected; offers a new perspective

A quote showing this is from Harrison Bergeron, it goes,

“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.”

People are pushing for forced diversity and equality. This is the direction SOCIETY is going in.

"then other people'd get away with it-and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn't like that, would you?" "I'd hate it,"

This shows how people don’t normally think how their actions will influence others (especially other adults)

Reason Two: technology controls them. A quote from The Veldt.
“They walked down the hall of their HappyLife Home, which had cost them thirty thousand dollars with everything included. This house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them. Their approach was sensed by a hidden switch and the nursery light turned on when they came within ten feet of it. Similarly, behind them, in the halls, lights went on and off automatically as they left them behind.”

“Lydia, it’s off, and it stays off. And the whole damn house dies as of here and now. The more I see of the mess we’ve put ourselves in, the more it sickens me. We’ve been thinking of our machine assisted selves for too long. My God, how we need a breath of honest air!”

The story emphasizes how they worked hard to buy the house that does everything for them.

“Open the door!” cried George Hadley, trying the handle. “Why, they’ve locked it from the outside! Peter!” He beat at the door. “Open up!”

When we have things too good for us we become dependant, and we will do anything to get them back.

The third and final reason:Government has total control, a quote from Ten with a Flag shows this.

“How do you get a ten and a flag?”
The government chooses your child’s social status, like how the government controls us.
“No one said we’d let you go through with it, though. The flag is an option not a right.”

The government can twist their words for their gain, not yours

In conclusion dystopias reflect a more grim and exaggerated version of society.