1984 and V for Vendetta
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Imagine a world in which all literature was dystopian. Okay, so we may be getting to that point, 1984 and V for Vendetta helped start it all.
American Literature | All American Literature |
Author | Orwell - George Orwell |
British Literature | All British Literature |
Form | Novel |
Language | English Language |
Literature | British Literature Dystopian Literature |
Themes | Language and Communication Loyalty Manipulation Memory and the Past Philosophical Viewpoints Power Rebellion Repression Technology and Modernization Violence |
Transcript
The only grays in this world are the drab, ill-fitting uniforms everyone has to trudge
00:34around in.
00:34The world of 1984 is also filled with ninety-hour work weeks...
00:40Constant surveillance by the mysterious Big Brother...
00:45Bizarre attitudes toward sex and gender...
00:48Varicose veins...
00:50Mandatory exercise videos...
00:52And rats…big ol’ nasty rats.
00:56But not everyone is the victim of the oppressive totalitarian government. After all, someone
01:01has to do the oppressing, right?
01:03Things are pretty good from where Big Brother is sitting.
01:07He always gets his way. He’s practically infallible. And everyone does whatever he
01:09wants.
01:09All he has to do is lean back and watch all the miserable people, as if their lives are
01:12his own private episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
01:16Oh, and crack down on the occasional person who shows an ounce of independent spirit.
01:25Luckily for us, Big Brother didn’t actually rear his control-freak head in our world by
01:29the time the year 1984 came around.
01:30Although a lot of highly questionable dance music did have society in a death-grip…
01:33The fact that Big Brother never put in an appearance didn’t stop dystopian literature
01:36from finding its way to new mediums, however.
01:38Enter V for Vendetta, a comic book series that originally ran from 1982 to 1989, before
01:45exploding onto the scene as a popular film in 2006.
01:48And yeah, the comic series owes a lot to Orwell.
01:54Like 1984, V for Vendetta features a dark, war-ravaged world in which the government
01:59has taken absolute control.
02:01The people live in fear of even thinking about protesting the way they’re being treated.
02:07We’re sure Big Brother would give the world of V for Vendetta two thumbs up.
02:14However, 1984 and V definitely have their differences.
02:18Where 1984 pits Soviet-era Communism against Socialism, V for Vendetta watches as Fascism
02:24and Anarchy square off… with explosive results.
02:27Unlike the defeated, gray-uniformed denizens of 1984, the citizens of V for Vendetta have
02:33a champion determined to take down the oppressive regime.
02:38And unlike the doomed Winston… the mysterious V might just succeed.
02:42Though the original comic book is definitely a cult classic, the film, helmed by the Matrix’s
02:48Wachowski <<wuh-COW-skee>> brothers, is responsible for making V a household name.
02:53It’s also responsible for briefly stealing Natalie Portman’s hair.
02:59In this chapter, we’ll look at the book that started it all, and one of the most popular
03:02dystopian works on film.
03:04Don’t worry. No one’s watching you…
03:09Or if they are, they’re hiding REALLY, really well….