Nineteen Eighty Four is not science fiction

And George Orwell must have been something of a prophet, he was just off by a few dacades

"Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often published as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English novelist George Orwell...
Thematically, [it] centers on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society...
More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.

...much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda...the Party who employ the Thought Police topersecute individuality and independent thinking.

Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction.
Parallels have been drawn between the novel's subject matter and real life instances of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and violations of freedom of expression among other themes."
Wikipedia 1984

In all seriousness though, this 'work of fiction' is becoming a history textbook
Thought-police are called fact-checkers and double-speak is political correctness.
Soon 'mother' and 'father' and 'man' and 'woman' will be bad words just like 'sexual preference'...
Oh, you didn't know that it's offensive to use to term 'sexual preference' now? That Mariam Webster changed the literal definition to include 'offensive' in its description?

Happy 1984 2021

a reply to: ADAMandEVIL

Well I mean it is, but, the parallels to reality are somewhat uncanny. Though it was written as a warning about that happening after witnessing the results of such things in.the culmination of world war 2 and the way events had already begun unfolding at the beginning of the cold war.

To be honest, I feel like 1984 is a somewhat naive take on what's happened based on the events and politics of the time. What's actually ended up happening in the world I feel like is far more insidious.

1984 never really forsaw the rise of the corporatocracy and assumed the rulers would be some kind of extreme Stalin/Hitler hybrid. In reality, 'the party' is a faceless group of individuals not in control of one primary media outlet, but thousands of media outlets that all funnel back in secret to the same small group of people.

Rather than having ones thoughts and opinions controlled through governmental force, media manipulate the population to discourage wrongthink in a more subtle way, to the point where the results are the same, citizens punish eachother for wrongthink.

We're right at that point now where history will become meaningless. It's already been happening, things farther back than 5 years ago are all but ignored as though they don't exist, reality is made up daily for the eager watchers of the media.

Right, wrong, bad, good, what to fear, what not to fear.

These things change almost by the day depending on the context being pushed by the media.

Morality and reason have become nearly non-existent, in place are the feelings of the day the media tells the people to feel.

Very much reminiscent of the minutes of hate in 1984 and the way it was used to shape the day's reality.

a reply to: ADAMandEVIL

I've long maintained Orwell's strength wasn't so much in predicting the future as it was in being exceptional at observation and extrapolation.

He only needed to compare history to the present of his time, to extrapolate where that same path would lead in the future.

1984, getting you ready for 2024.

a reply to: ADAMandEVIL

And George Orwell must have been something of a prophet

Either that, or he was commissioned by TPTB to write a ‘fictional’ book about the real future. Just like they do their ‘disclosures’ about what they are going to do through Hollyweird movies in this day and age.

This is A Brave New World, not 1984.. always has been

Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-four in 1949. I remember having to read it in 6th grade. It was hard to wrap my head around the deeper meaning back then, difficult to see the symbolism. I really don't think kids of that age had the historical awareness to fully comprehend its forward looking implications. Then it seemed like a story.

Were Orwell alive today to pen a similar novel, entitled say 'Twenty Fify-six', I would imagine that would read a whole lot like the movie The Terminator.

a reply to: Darth_Prime
Orwell was a warning.
Huxley was a prediction.

You're right, of course.
Either way, I don't remember the stories ending too well.

a reply to: Tulpa

Techno-dystopia

a reply to: Darth_Prime
I expect we'll see a convergence of various sci-fi movie storylines in the coming years.
I'm not sure that some of the early writers could have imagined the level of technological control that would be made available but they certainly saw the direction of travel.

a reply to: ADAMandEVIL

The BBC have a statue of Orwell at their London Television Centre.

I wonder why ?

a reply to: alldaylong
I heard that Room 101 was based on an office at the BBC.
A place where "impartiality" was , ahem......encouraged.
Don't recall where or when that came up but it wouldn't surprise me.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Were Orwell alive today to pen a similar novel, entitled say 'Twenty Fify-six', I would imagine that would read a whole lot like the movie The Terminator.

I think Suzanne Collins already gave us what is coming next.

I'm re-watching Hunger Games today...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I remember having to read it in 6th grade.

That right there. Why did you Have to read it, is the question.

originally posted by: Darth_Prime
a reply to: Tulpa

Techno-dystopia

Desiderius and James Daltan - State of Acid Trash.

I feel like it all will be well... more like this. Most will be struggling to survive, while Biden pretends to be Presidential.

a reply to: Tulpa

"Room 101" was actually a real room in the BBC studios. However, it didn't have any special purpose other than being a meeting room where staff meetings were held. The meetings were tedious and extremely boring, and Orwell equated this to the things people hate/fear the most. Orwell created the 'concept' of Room 101 for the novel Ninteen Eighty-four, but the real Room 101 had no mysterious or ominous purpose.

Later, in the 90's BBC created a radio program called "Room 101" which was a dark-ish comedy. After the radio show proved popular, BBC created a TV series entitled "Room 101" on a similar but slightly different theme.

Room 101 was a real space, but it didn't become notable until Orwell's creation of it in the Ministry of Love, in Nineteeen Eighty-four. Otherwise, it was just a tired old meeting room.

Room 101 has a lot of history, but mostly because of Orwell's fictional recreation of the space in the novel.

ETA - I've spent many an hour in Room 101's in my life. Now, I totally understand where Orwell was coming from...just pure pain!

I love dystopian fiction.

My favorite contempory one is "Super SAd true Love Story" by G Shteyngart

Classic first novel by Kurt Vonnegut "Player Piano"

Total genius...."A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M Miller

a reply to: KKLOCO

Because it was assigned reading in a Literature class I had at the time.

It was 1/3rd of my grade.

There's actually a funny story about the teacher of that class and myself. That's probably for another thread. (clue: we both worked on the radio at the same station in later years).

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Thought it would be something like that.
Not full of torture instruments and rats and things.
I'd like to be a fly on the wall at the BBC sometimes just out of interest to see how they operate these days.
Ministry of Truth.