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Comparing Totalitarian Control In 1984 And Blade Runner

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Shackled Minds, Bound Bodies: Unveiling Totalitarian Control in 1984 and Blade Runner. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.” — George Orwell, 1984. With this sharp remark, Orwell's sarcasm mocks the foolishness of those who choose to blindly follow the crowd - serving as a chilling warning to society's ignorance towards unchecked power. It is from this very ignorance that dystopian societies bloom. In these societies, a totalitarian oligarchy ceases to obtain 'absolute' power by harbouring fake promises of emancipation, using capitalism and language manipulations to ultimately achieve total subjugation and control of the public to fulfil their selfish desires. George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Ridley …show more content…

As both narratives proceed, this manifests in the form of propaganda and memory manipulation in order to control perceptions and therefore eliminate any dissent against the government. A prime example of propaganda in 1984 is the Big Brother’s slogan ‘War is peace’. Freedom is a form of slavery. Ignorance is strength,’ which distorts reality. By forcing the chanting of these oxymorons, they successfully impose their autocratic ideology on the populace. Obrien’s words ‘humanity is the party’ + ‘you are outside history.non-existent’ ‘Whatever the Party holds to be truth, is truth’ – further elucidates this connotation. The indoctrination of the party ultimately distorts reality whilst moulding public perception and ultimately destroys any form of rational thinking. Moreover, the party’s propaganda is also evident in the Two Minutes Hate, a daily event where citizens gather to watch propaganda films and express their hatred towards the party's enemies. The Party uses this event to reinforce its control over citizens' emotions and thoughts, and to eliminate any dissent. This is also further supported by the daily event of watching public executions – manipulating their minds to convince them that they deserved to be executed, as well as serving as a form of entertainment for them to convince them that this is good despite being unable to differentiate what is the truth or not. Similarly, these tactics are also reflected in Bladerunner, where it primarily manifests in the form of using cunning marketing tactics as a ploy for propaganda. Tyrell Corp’s slogan - ‘more human than human’ and Tyrell’s metaphor "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long" – are prime examples of this. Additionally, the usage of advertising creates a

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