The Ministry of Misinformation – remembering George Orwell (1903-1950)

A Metaphor Equation Micro-blog

If George Orwell were alive today, would he feel compelled to write Nineteen Eighty-Four? Probably not. We live in an age that Orwell would easily have recognised, his fiction turned into fact, as though through a collective effort of repression and nihilism; all you have to do is look at the news to see how true that is, with politicians and influencers and lobbyists, and the media organisations themselves, seeking to control the ceaseless flow of information and disinformation. The only difference perhaps is that in Orwells’ novel there was just one Big Brother, a solitary controlling tyrant and his army of informants and enforcers and loyal lieutenants; whereas in reality – that odd and confusing construct we all live in – there is a whole host of such entities, all seeking to determine and manipulate what we think and say and do. A global, and often theocratic, attempt to hijack freedom of expression and liberty. The UK is no exception: welcome to “Airstrip One” in the year 2025, the landing zone for all manner of incursions. The white cliffs are crumbling away, and it has nothing to do with coastal erosion.

We live on a shrinking and much disputed island, teeming with different factions and loyalties, one that brings to mind the scenario – overpopulation, ecological collapse, and the hoarding of scarce resources by a wealthy, privileged elite – described by Harry Harrison in his 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! (later filmed as Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role). So if he hadn’t penned Nineteen Eighty-Four, what would Orwell have written about? It’s ironic that a man who wrote one of the most famous SF novels of all time never returned to the genre. If only he had. If only he was around today to explain the prevailing madness of everyday life. To make sense of it all. But then again, maybe not even Orwell could do that.   

Cultural touchstones:

• The complete works of JG Ballard

• A fringe/experimental production of Animal Farm in which every role is played by a human actor – The Urban Farm  

• The tower block as cypher in the language of entropy

• Look around you – the dystopian nature of everyday life

  
  
  

  

  Left: Two plus two makes five in the world of mind and thought control – John Hurt and Richard Burton in the 1980s movie adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four

  Right: Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson try to make sense of the future in Soylent Green. Where did it all go wrong?