Precrime vs. Thoughtcrime

In the film “Minority Report”, there is a government department that catches murders and other criminals before they go through with their acts. This government department is called “The Department of Precrime”. “Pre-cogs” are the people who see the future and are able to tell the government when a crime will be committed. Having that information, a squad from the department goes and stops the crime before it is committed. This is very similar to the Though Police who arrest people for committing thoughtcrimes or the Junior Spies who rat out their parents accused of committing thoughtcrime. The whole concept behind the Department of Precrime is to rid the Earth of crimes and murders. However, by stopping the person who is supposedly going to commit a murder or a crime, the crime hasn’t happened yet. Isn’t it the action that makes a crime illegal, not just the thought of it? The same holds true in 1984. Winston, along with many others are accused of thoughtcrime, however, thoughtcrime is only a thought against the government, not an action against it. These people are being tortured because they had thoughts that were against the government. It was their thoughts instead of their actions that got them arrested. In “Minority Report” the man was arrested before he killed his wife. Therefore, he was arrested for the thought instead of the action since he was stopped before he could go through with it. The one difference that I noticed between the agencies is that fact that in 1984 the government had no way of knowing whether people were going to act on their thoughts. In “Minority Report”, the Department of Precrime knew that the criminal was going to commit and crime and just stopped them before they could hurt anyone.

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Many writers base their stories on things that inspired or influenced them and people, places and events that occurred during their lifetime. If I were to write a novel based on the people and places that have influenced me, I'd write about my early childhood life. My book would start with the main character, Tressa growing up in an Italian-American household. Her entire family comes from Italy and only speak Italian in the house. By being around her nonna and nonno all day Tressa is forced to learn the language and eventually becomes fluent before she even starts school.

Her world suddenly comes crashing down when she enters Kintergarten. Tressa befriends a little African-American girl who asks why Tressa has a chocolate sandwich for snack time. When Tressa explains that her nonna made her a Nutella sandwich, the friend questions what Nutella and a "nonna" are. As Tressa grows older, she comes to realize that there are different nationalities and religions in the world and becomes friends with kids of different cultures.

Big Brother Is Watching You!

The movie Enemy of the State introduces current issues and political debate topics that Orwell includes in his novel 1984.  The first debatable topic is wiretaps.  In this movie, the government hacks into people’s telephone conversations in order to spy on them.  In theory, this is done to make sure no attacks against society are made or to make sure that no illegal or shady things are occurring.  However, in this film, the government overhears that a film documentary director had captured on tape the murder of a senator by a government official.  Because this will make the government look bad, this tape must be found and destroyed along with the person who captured it.  There is a team of people working for the government who use a satellite to find the exact position of the film director so that government officials can find him.  This directly relates to Orwell’s novel 1984 because there are telescreens positioned all over Oceania to watch what all its citizens are doing.  This is an example of invasion of one’s privacy.  Not only are the telescreens seeing everyone’s actions but they can also hear what one says and can even talk back.  “‘Smith!’  screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen.  ‘6079 Smith W!  Yes, you!  Bend lower, please!  You can do better than that.  You’re not trying.  Lower, please!  That’s better, comrade.  Now stand at ease, the whole squad; and watch me’” (Orwell 36).  This is just an invasion of privacy and an excuse for the government to have total control over its people.  Personally, I don’t believe that the government had the right to listen in on phone conversations because they think a person is a terrorist or they think someone is against the government.  It’s an invasion of privacy and violates a person’s rights.

Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith

The “look” of this movie is an awful lot like the “look” in Orwell’s novel 1984.  The opening chapter of 1984 explains the look of Oceania where Winston lives.  The streets of London are dirty and the feel of Oceania is depressing.  When the main character Evey in the film is walking around the streets and night, I immediately was reminded of 1984.  The streets were dirty and the feeling was that of depression.  There were also numerous signs and posters hanging up on various buildings that had slogans like the ones from Orwell’s novel.  1984 had slogans like “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell 4).  In “V for Vendetta” the slogans on the posters read “Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith”.  This is only one parallel between the movie and 1984.  Another was evident when the Party members showed their badges to Evey as a sign of power and authority over her.  This links itself to 1984 because those Party members are the same as the Thought Police and Junior Spies.  These inner party members rat out those civilians who do things that are illegal or against the Party.  No one can really be trusted because you never know who will sell you out.  Another similarity between the book and this film that I noticed was the speakers that were positioned throughout the town in the film.  This is similar to the telescreens that were literally everywhere watching everyone’s every move.

            A fifth similarity I found between 1984 and “V for Vendetta” was the look of the cell that both Winston and Evey were put into.  There weren’t any windows and the cells were isolated and closed in.  Both Winston and Evey looked fairly unhealthy and both characters had their heads shaven.  Lastly, the news aspect of the film is also similar to the news and government of 1984.  The government tries to change what really happened that way they don’t look bad.  When the building in the film was blown up, the government didn’t say it was a terrorist attack.  The people were told that it was intentional and the building was supposed to be demolished.  Just like in 1984 when Winston rewrites history, the people are told to believe things that never really happened.

He Loved Big Brother

I thought that the film version of Orwell’s novel 1984 was true to the book and expressed all the emotions that Orwell incorporated in it.  Having watched the ending of the film, it seems to me that the film did do the book justice.  The fear and pain that is portrayed in the novel is quite horrific and hard to read through without experiencing some pain yourself.  While watching ending of the film, I was satisfied with the way Room 101 and Winston’s torture were portrayed.  I felt the pain that Winston felt and it was very unnerving to watch, just like it was unnerving to read through that part in the book.  The fear and apprehension that appeared on Winston’s face as he was being tortured by O’Brien and in Room 101 was very convincing and stayed true to the novel.  The rats especially were frightening. “The rats knew what was coming now.  One of them was leaping up and down; the other, an old grandfather of the sewers, stood up, with his pink hands against the bars, and fiercely snuffed the air.  Winston could see the whiskers and the yellow teeth.  Again the black panic took hold of him.  He was blind, helpless, mindless” (Orwell 286).  In the movie when the rats are about to be released on Winston’s face, I was able to feel the fear that Winston felt when the cage was on his face and the rats were scrambling around.

            The only part of the film that I didn’t think matched with the novel was the very last scene when Winston says, “I love you”.  I couldn’t tell if Winston was directing that towards the telescreen with Big Brother’s face.  Winston was turned away from the telescreen facing the chair that Julia sat in just moments before when he said, “I love you”.  This made me question who he was referring to, Big Brother or Julia.

Eye of the Beholder

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, there are many concepts and themes that connect this episode with George Orwell’s novel 1984. In this alternate society, what one would consider pretty is actually ugly. The main character in the episode, Janet Tyler, has her face bandaged up. By the way the conversation between her and the doctor go one would assume that she her face is deformed and that she looks hideous. The doctor tells Tyler that she has not responded to any of the previous treatments and that if the last treatment does not work, Tyler will have to be sent to live among people like herself. People who are ugly are considered “undesirables” and cannot live among the “normal” just like the proles from Orwell’s novel who aren’t even considered as people. In the hospital, there is a screen that projects the image of this society’s leader. He talks about conformity and everyone being united and equal. Just like in Orwell’s novel, the “person in charge” wants everyone to be the same, making Tyler an outcast who must isolate herself from society. However, throughout most of the episode, the doctor’s, nurse’s and even leader’s faces are not shown. It is not until the bandages come off Tyler’s face that the audience sees the doctor’s and nurse’s faces for the first time. Tyler looks completely normal, but when the camera zooms in on the nurses and doctor, they have pig snouts and crooked lips. The message of this episode is that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, hence, the name of the episode. This relates to Orwell’s novel in the sense that Orwell tries to show that in Oceania, everyone thinks the same way and does the same things. However, if there is someone who thinks differently, like Winston, or looks differently, like Tyler, they are immediately ostracized and made to feel isolated.