Censorship In Fahrenheit 451 And Equilibrium

Censorship is a common theme in both books and movies today. The novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and the film, Equilibrium, are no exception. Censorship is the regulation and control of information viewed as unacceptable by a person or group. Censorship is often used to hide information from the general public in order to enforce their ideology and to prevent people from becoming educated on a topic to form their own opinions (Definitions of Censorship, n.d.). This creates a large difference in social stratification between people in power and the rest of society which is why it holds so much power. Both Fahrenheit 451 and Equilibrium display similar examples of the ways censorship is created and maintained, however there are some differences

The novel, Fahrenheit 451, and the film, Equilibrium, both display similar means of censorship. They show that it is obtained though socialization of the people using social facts which creates a false consciousness that censorship is for societies benefit. Similarities also exist between the main characters in both. Guy in Fahrenheit 451 and John Preston in Equilibrium both start out in a position of authority which enforces the censorship but realize what they were missing and developed a class consciousness. The movie and book are also related in that they have similar ways of using the media and hegemony to enforce the censorship. They both create false illusions of the truth using media and propaganda that legitimizes the reasons for the censorship. The one major differences between the two storylines is the tactics the law enforcement uses to punish violators. In Fahrenheit 451, the fireman only burn the books that were found and do not destroy the knowledge people obtained from them. On the other hand, in Equilibrium, they not only destroyed things that gave people emotion, but they killed the offenders themselves. Fahrenheit 451 and Equilibrium both offer similar ideas on how censorship is obtained and maintained, but they have different punishments for the violations that contain implications to censorship in the world