Grayson Eady2 days ago
George Orwell’s 1984 is the imaginary land of Orwell’s nightmares based entirely on fiction, right? According to BBC’s “101”, Orwell’s dystopia may have been born out of his own experience working at the BBC during World War II. The fabled “Room 101” may be a fictionalization of the mysterious room at the end of the hallway where Orwell once worked; the “Thought Police” may be a reference to the close watch from spies to which Orwell was subjected as a writer for the BBC. This documentary raises significant concerns about the implications of 1984. If key elements of the novel were inspired by Orwell’s London in 1948-9, then it must serve as an even more cautionary tale to the people of today. George Orwell saw the BBC as the “Party” manifested in his own life, allowing him to write a book centered around the dangers of mass hysteria and tyrannical governments. Given that technology has allowed for society to move closer to 1984 than ever before with new revelations about the surveillance practices of large governments leaking into the news seemingly every day, was Orwell more correct about modern (then future) society than one might initially think? “101” leads the viewer to believe that his insights were simply based on observation. George Orwell saw danger in the1949 world; one can only imagine what he would think of 2017.
George Orwell’s 1984 is the imaginary land of Orwell’s nightmares based entirely on fiction, right? According to BBC’s “101”, Orwell’s dystopia may have been born out of his own experience working at the BBC during World War II. The fabled “Room 101” may be a fictionalization of the mysterious room at the end of the hallway where Orwell once worked; the “Thought Police” may be a reference to the close watch from spies to which Orwell was subjected as a writer for the BBC. This documentary raises significant concerns about the implications of 1984. If key elements of the novel were inspired by Orwell’s London in 1948-9, then it must serve as an even more cautionary tale to the people of today. George Orwell saw the BBC as the “Party” manifested in his own life, allowing him to write a book centered around the dangers of mass hysteria and tyrannical governments. Given that technology has allowed for society to move closer to 1984 than ever before with new revelations about the surveillance practices of large governments leaking into the news seemingly every day, was Orwell more correct about modern (then future) society than one might initially think? “101” leads the viewer to believe that his insights were simply based on observation. George Orwell saw danger in the1949 world; one can only imagine what he would think of 2017.
