The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. George Orwell - 1984
Boy did Orwell nail it, or what...???!!!
Maybe they made his book into a playbook to be followed
1984 is a 1984 British dystopian science fiction film based upon George Orwell’s 1949 novel. Starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, and Cyril Cusack, the film follows the life of Winston Smith, a low-ranking civil servant in a war-torn London ruled by Oceania, a totalitarian superstate. Smith (Hurt) struggles to maintain his sanity and his grip on reality as the regime’s overwhelming power and influence persecutes individualism and individual thinking on both a political and personal level.
Plot
In a dystopian 1984, Winston Smith endures a squalid existence in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police. Smith resides in London, the capital city of the territory of Airstrip One, formerly England. Winston works in a small office cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history in accordance with the dictates of the Party and its supreme leader, Big Brother. Haunted by painful memories and restless desires, Winston keeps a secret diary of his private thoughts, thus creating evidence of his thoughtcrime. However, he tries to do it undercover of the telescreens, to maintain his safety.
His life takes a major turn when he is accosted by fellow Outer Party worker Julia and they begin an illicit affair. Their first meeting takes place in the remote countryside where they exchange subversive ideas before having sex. Shortly after, Winston rents a room above a pawn shop in the less restrictive proletarian area where they continue their liaison. Julia procures contraband food and clothing on the black market, and for a brief few months they secretly meet and enjoy an idyllic life of relative freedom and contentment together.
Their affair comes to an end one evening, with the sudden raid of the Thought Police; they are both arrested. It is later revealed that their transgressions were recorded by a hidden telescreen in their room and that the proprietor of the pawn shop Mr. Charrington is a covert agent of the Thought Police. Winston and Julia are taken away to the Ministry of Love to be detained, questioned and “rehabilitated” separately. There O’Brien, a high-ranking member of the Inner Party, systematically tortures him.
O’Brien instructs Winston about the state’s true purpose and schools him in a kind of catechism on the principles of doublethink — the practice of holding two contradictory thoughts in the mind simultaneously. For his final rehabilitation, Winston is brought to Room 101, where O’Brien tells him he will be subjected to the “worst thing in the world”, designed specifically around Smith’s personal phobias. When confronted with this unbearable horror — which turns out to be a cage filled with wild rats — Winston’s psychological resistance finally and irretrievably breaks down, and he hysterically repudiates his allegiance to Julia. Now completely subjugated and purged of any rebellious thoughts, impulses, or personal attachments, Winston is restored to physical health and released.
Winston returns to the Chestnut Tree Café, where he had previously seen the rehabilitated thought criminals Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford (themselves once prominent but later disgraced members of the Inner Party) who have since been “vaporized” and rendered unpersons. While sitting at the chess table, Winston is approached by Julia, who was similarly “rehabilitated”. They share a bottle of Victory Gin and impassively exchange a few words about how they have betrayed each other. They act indifferently towards each other. After she leaves, Winston watches a broadcast of himself on the large telescreen confessing his “crimes” against the state and imploring forgiveness from the populace.
Upon hearing a news report declaring the Oceanian army’s utter rout of the enemy (Eurasia)’s forces in North Africa, Winston looks at the still image of Big Brother that appears on the telescreen, then turns away with tears in his eyes as the words “I love you” are heard whispered in his voice.
Vichy Republicans stand with Democrats demanding we unsee what we have seen.
We should talk about who owns & controls the 4th estate.
We should, but we are not allowed to under threat of banning or deplatforming.
That’s the real darkness...