All these points are valid, and I must say they are helpful for fleshing out rebel movements in my own stories, especially considering I tend to write from the opposite perspective of the oppressors/elite as appose to the rebels. In fact, I find that, in a lot of the dystopias the oppressors seem to be made just to be totally irredeemable and evil. Kings and Dictators have family, and people they care about, and in some cases they at least at the beginning of their rise to power have a reason why they try to climb to the top and build the societies they do. I think this is especially true with non-monarchs I.E, elected officials and CEOs/Business leader types.....a many politician start out wanting to "clean things up" in the government only to be warped and seduced by power once they taste it. Likewise, many entrepreneurs start off just wanting to provide for their family and/or give the world a revolutionary new product and then, once they taste vast wealth, it corrupts them just as power corrupts the politician. Money and power are a slippery slope, and while I have no doubt that many politicians and business leaders act out of selfishness, I also believe many didn't start out purely with personal gain in mind. As bad as this sounds, sometimes, you have to "play the game" if you want to do good in the world, and for many the temptations that present themselves by going down that road prove to be stronger then any ideals they may have held starting out.
That's, in my mind, where the oppressors can be made sympathetic and human...and whats often lost in many rebellion narratives. At one time, president snow may have been an idealistic young man who wanted to reform the government....he could have been Katnis. Our evil dictator could have been the young maverick, out running for office in the name of making life better for everybody...only to realize that to get anywhere in the world of politics he had to get a little dirty. He had to make friends of the powerful..do them a few favors that may not be all that beneficial to the people...but it's for a good cause! It will get him to a spot that will let him change things for the better!..right? Of course!....so he does them, he goes higher...dose more favors, makes even more powerful friends...and suddenly he finds he has wealth. He has control. He has status and privilege. Suddenly, that idealistic young man is just as powerful as all those people he had to kiss up to and do favors for.....He's finally in a position to change the world, but the road up was a twisty-turny path through the abyss.. To travel that road to power our dictator had to commit many sins...push aside many morals...so many times that they've been compromised. He's walked in the darkness so long now that he forgot what it's like to stand in the light..like he did so long ago. Sometimes, he wishes he could go back, and be that energetic, bright-eyed young crusader...yet to be in such such a bright place would only blind him...his eyes have become too adjusted to the shadows. Power and money are intoxicating; they are a drug...and once you taste them it's only a matter of time before your addicted.
I personally think that kind of thinking could lead to an awesome hero vs. villain conflict in Dystopia...the dictator being the hero's shadow, a dark reflection our protagonist and an image of what they could become should they fall into temptations once their rebellion wins. THAT would make for a very interesting interaction between the hero and the dictator, especially if the dictator themselves started out as a rebel of sorts...yet instead of human oppressors all we get are 1-dimensional supervillains who are just totally selfish parodies of the 1% rather then real people. I find that kind of thing too often in dystopia and, indeed, media in general. The oppressor has human qualities too, even if they are lost in the darkness...and while it's easy to feel sympathy for the rebellion....I'd like to see something that can show the humanity of the oppressing faction(s) as well....so I guess that's why I write the kind of characters I do....nobody else wants to give them the attention. Oh well...maybe I'm just too much of a villain fan...who knows?
