History Repeats Itself

The drastic economic change in America, would be the number one factor influencing my novel. I would talk about the lavish lives that people lived up until this past year. A CEO of Lehman Brothers, Tyler, would possess the leading role in the novel. His personal story would epitomize American citizens who have made credit purchases without thinking of the consequences. Tyler would live in a suburb of New York City with his family. Instead of saving up for his child’s college education, he lived from paycheck to paycheck by using his hard-earned, excessive income to buy frivolous commodities like plasma televisions and 150,000 dollar sports cars. The story would hit a turning point when Tyler loses his job and can’t afford to live his extravagant lifestyle anymore. After this drastic change, the story would show how Tyler managed to bounce back from the situation by living a more frugal life. Throughout the novel, there would be many allusions to the Great Depression, and the same situations that happened before the Great Depression would be used as a parallel to the current economic hardship in America. Prior to the Great Depression, people lived excessive lives and brought unnecessary items with too much credit. Part of the blame can be placed on creditors because they allowed people to use credit who could not afford to pay off their bills. The novel will end five years later when Tyler is back to living the lavish kind of lifestyle he lived in the beginning of the novel. His economic worries will be in the past and he will have forgotten how he ever ended up without a home. Ignorance is bliss.

"Strength through unity, unity through faith."

As the opening scenes of V for Vendetta unraveled, a panoramic view of London became noticeable to viewers. The gloomy cobblestone streets were filled with an air of mysticism. Anything with color and vivacity had been razed, leaving only drab buildings on the streets of London. The formidable government kept an ever-watching eye on the scared public. Megaphones were strategically placed throughout the city so that everyone could hear any “vital” announcements from the government. Government officials precluded the people from roaming the streets of London after a certain time by enforcing a strict curfew. The atmosphere of London in V for Vendetta echoed the atmosphere of London in 1984 by George Orwell. As I read the novel, the shadowing buildings appeared to hover over the streets and ultimately block the roads from all light. At all times of the day, even at thirteen hundred, I pictured an eerie milieu encompassed by always-present fog that resided at the bottom of the streets. V for Vendetta illustrated almost the exact setting that I pictured as I was reading Orwell’s novel. Each person is impoverished, living in fear, and surrounded by a murky ambiance. The only difference was that V for Vendetta did not appear to have omnipresent, intrusive telescreens, although it did give off the vibe that everyone was being watched at every moment.
The unfriendly atmosphere of V for Vendetta could be attributed to the government’s slogan, “Strength through unity, and unity through faith.” This slogan is used by the government as propaganda to get the people to believe that the nation will only be strong if it is united, and it will only be united if there is unquestioning trust in the government. Likewise, in 1984, the slogan “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; and Ignorance is Strength,” is used by The Party to gain power. In both V for Vendetta and 1984, the government wants to be the supreme ruler of everyone and everything. Thus, the government needs the people to think that it is always right and to never stray from party thinking. In 1984, this is done by a branch of the administration known as the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Truth works to re-write history in the favor of the state of Oceania. For example, when the citizens of Airstrip One received less and less amounts of food, The Party made it seem like they were receiving more food than ever by rewriting their conjectures. Similarly, in V for Vendetta, a man blows up a building, but the government makes it look like they planned the explosion so that it appears to have control over everything. Both governments want to make sure that the public knows they are never wrong because that would equate to an admission that they do not completely possess total control. Also, the government in both stories has the ability to intrude on the people at any moment if they are deemed to have been guilty of a crime. These people are then taken to prisons where they are not fed anything and tortured horrifically, until the government is satisfied.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

From the start of the episode, it was evident that “Eye of the beholder” paralleled 1984. The episode starts with Janet Tyler lying in a bed with her face wrapped in bandages. She consistently asks the nurses when they will take the bandages off, but the nurses only reply with a vague, unsatisfying answer. Similarly, in 1984, Winston constantly begs O’Brien to tell him when they will kill him. In addition, Janet is kept in a room labeled “Room 307,” which is similar to “Room 101” where Winston was kept. Although Janet is not physically tortured like Winston in the room, she is mentally tortured because no matter how many surgeries she undergoes, she is still not up to par with the beauty of the rest of her society. When the doctor finally removes Janet’s bandages, she appears to be a very pretty, “normal” human. However, the director then does a close-up of the doctor and the rest of the staff. Their faces are grotesque and resemble pigs. Janet begins to run away and ultimately ends up running into huge screens with the leader of her society talking about “glorious conformity.” These screens are similar to telescreens in 1984, which allowed Big Brother, the leader of Winston’s society, to address matters of Oceania. Big Brother, like Janet’s leader also stressed the message of conformity.
Society in 1984 was determined to exterminate the undesirables. In this case, the undesirables were the “proles” or other people who did not strongly support The Party. However, in The Twilight Zone episode, the undesirables were people who did not look bizarre pigs, who defined that place’s norm. But who controls the norm? The message of this episode of The Twilight Zone is that whoever has power, controls the norm. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In 1984, the beholder was The Party, thus only people who were strong supporters of the party were normal. But in The Twilight Zone, the ugly pigs are the norm, because they hold power. Everyone has a different vision of what “normalcy” represents. That necessary feeling of belonging to a society or group causes most people to conform to be normal. Hence, The Party is able to leverage this behavior into all aspects of life as it gains more and more power in 1984. In the episode Janet is forced to live with people of her “own” kind because of the emphasis placed on conformity in her society.

What measures would one take to maintain power?

It is evident from the start of the Enemy of the State that the United States government is operating many clandestine wire-tapping operations. These attacks on civil liberties indicate that a fascist regime is about to take hold, if it hasn’t yet already. Similarly, in 1984, The Party acts as omnipotent government that hopes to supress the personal freedoms of the people living in Oceania.
Although, 1984 does not mention wire-tapping directly, the book shows the government’s use of telescreens. Telescreens are objects that allow the government to see you at any moment of the day, and they can never be turned off. These objects act as a means of disseminating information about the war Oceania and other various “reports” regarding the government.
Most would say that wire-tapping and telescreens are an invasion of personal privacy. The unethical use of them can lead to unnecessary imprisonments of otherwise innocent victims. Citizens living in Washington D.C. in Enemy of the State and London in 1984 will be living their lives innocently until they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. For example, Will Smith’s character in Enemy of the State was only out buying lingerie for his wife, when he encountered an old friend from college and gave his friend his business card. Little did Will Smith know that his friend had been wire-tapped and was on the run from the government. After his friend was caught, the government found Will Smith’s business card and now put Will Smith on the suspect list. Even though Will Smith was innocent, the sinister technology made him an enemy of the government. Personally, I do think wire-tapping, if used only for reasons to discover terrorist ploys, is acceptable. It will help protect the safety of the nation, like it did in England in 2006. There was an alleged plot at Heathrow Airport to blow up fights bound for the United States . In this case, wire-tapping saved hundreds of lives. However, if wire-tapping is used to find people holding evidence against the government, it should be illegal. In Enemy of the State, the wildlife photographer managed to capture the murder of a man on film, even though the government said that the man died of a heart attack. The government wire-tapped him and he was ultimately killed. The motivation was purely personal greed to maintain power, and this was wrong.

Invasion of thoughts can be used for good as well as evil.

The government in Minority Report, like The Party in 1984, has extensive knowledge about its people that allows it to intrude on its people at any time. Although these capabilities are used for sinister reasons in 1984, they are used for the protection of the people in Minority Report. The Precrime Unit, is the government agency that has access to people’s thoughts in Minority Report. This agency has 3 precogs, or people who have the power to see murders before they happen. These precogs are comparable to the thoughtpolice in 1984. However, the thoughtpolice are out to get people who are not following the Party’s policies, while the precogs are trying to capture people who are prospective murders. In both cases the precogs and the thoughtpolice intercept thoughts of citizens and are invading the civil liberties of their citizens. Both organizations use propaganda to gain support. The Precrime unit in Minority Report stops people before they commit crimes, while the Thoughtpolice in 1984 stops people from committing hatecrime. Even the way the two organizations are titled is similar. The name of the unit is comprised of two words that explain exactly what the organization does.

Horrifying Room 101

True to form, the movie version of 1984, was effective in conveying the torture scenes in Room 101. Aside from accurately quoting lines from the novel, the director did maintain Orwell’s overall tone. The agony Winston went through in Room 101 was brought to life by the screams of terror heard in the movie version. Although the torture scenes seemed horrifying when read on paper, the level of suffering was exacerbated on film. Hearing and seeing Winston’s fear of rats, really emphasized to the viewer, why he ended up surrendering and asking O’Brien to “Do it to Julia,” instead of himself. Viewers were able to put themselves in Winston’s shoes and feel the fear that Winston was experiencing with more of their senses of hearing and listening being outright bombarded. The director of the film fully captured Orwell’s purpose of Room 101. However, the ending of the film could have been more exact to the novel. After his visit to Room 101 in the book, Winston is released from The Party’s prison and is sent back to live his life. The book is concluded with Winston playing chess and listening intently for any news from the African front on the telescreen. One of the last lines of the novel states that Winston loves Big Brother. Yet, I do not feel that this sentiment is conveyed through the movie. In the movie, Winston also ends up playing chess just like the novel. In spite of this, there is no clear indication that Winston loves Big Brother. Although there is a picture of Big Brother directly behind Winston, the ending is vague and does not stick to Orwell’s style.