Emily Barnard
Professor Kraskin
ENC 101
5 November 2014 Burning the Dangers of Censorship in your Mind; Review of Fahrenheit 451 The Universal Pictures Fahrenheit 451 was made in 1966 by director Francois Truffaut. The lead was played by Oskar Werner who plays Guy Montag. While the film making quality compared with today’s big budget films is sub-par, the film more than makes up for the low quality with superb use of camera to capture themes and references related to the book. The acting delivers a spot on approach to Fahrenheit 451 while providing entertainment and a quality plot. The movie delivers on the theme of censorship and its dangers if government is allowed to run amuck in society. The movie develops and improves the point that …show more content…
As the fire begins to envelop her arms are thrown up into a sacrificial position symbolizing her willingness to die with and for her love of books. The camera focuses on the match in her hand as she sets fire to herself rather than to let others control her destiny. The firemen look on while she burns and the camera fades onto the picture of a nun slowly burning and turning to ash on the cover a book as the flames overtake her. This scene coupled with brilliant acting lays the necessary pavement and captures the viewer into the theme of censorship and its dangers. The plot continues as Montag realizes his wife has become a victim and is mesmerized by society and the messages she receives from television. He begins to steal and hoard books, eventually becoming one of the book people himself. Realizing he has been betrayed by his wife, Beatty forces Montag to put all his books in the center of his house and burn them. In a masterful scene of camera work Montag uses the flame thrower to set his bed on fire symbolizing the end of his marriage, to set his television on fire symbolizing his disconnect from society, and finally burns his books and Captain Beatty symbolizing he is now one of the book people. He escapes with a copy of Edgar Allen Poe and seeks out the book people to learn their …show more content…
We feel the social burden to rise up against those who would censor free thinking or censor what we read or how we act. One leaves the movie with a sense of social responsibility to pass on ideas that are significant and different in shaping history yesterday, today and tomorrow. Ray Bradbury’s book to film was ahead of its time as it identified the dependence of technology and a weakness in the arts would ultimately weaken our society. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots. (5)” This quote parallels and supports the censorship and blind following of society and acceptance to technology and our future. Fahrenheit 451 exposes the viewer to question if censorships exists today and what would it look like? Would it look like a society abandoning books for smart
Professor Kraskin
ENC 101
5 November 2014 Burning the Dangers of Censorship in your Mind; Review of Fahrenheit 451 The Universal Pictures Fahrenheit 451 was made in 1966 by director Francois Truffaut. The lead was played by Oskar Werner who plays Guy Montag. While the film making quality compared with today’s big budget films is sub-par, the film more than makes up for the low quality with superb use of camera to capture themes and references related to the book. The acting delivers a spot on approach to Fahrenheit 451 while providing entertainment and a quality plot. The movie delivers on the theme of censorship and its dangers if government is allowed to run amuck in society. The movie develops and improves the point that …show more content…
As the fire begins to envelop her arms are thrown up into a sacrificial position symbolizing her willingness to die with and for her love of books. The camera focuses on the match in her hand as she sets fire to herself rather than to let others control her destiny. The firemen look on while she burns and the camera fades onto the picture of a nun slowly burning and turning to ash on the cover a book as the flames overtake her. This scene coupled with brilliant acting lays the necessary pavement and captures the viewer into the theme of censorship and its dangers. The plot continues as Montag realizes his wife has become a victim and is mesmerized by society and the messages she receives from television. He begins to steal and hoard books, eventually becoming one of the book people himself. Realizing he has been betrayed by his wife, Beatty forces Montag to put all his books in the center of his house and burn them. In a masterful scene of camera work Montag uses the flame thrower to set his bed on fire symbolizing the end of his marriage, to set his television on fire symbolizing his disconnect from society, and finally burns his books and Captain Beatty symbolizing he is now one of the book people. He escapes with a copy of Edgar Allen Poe and seeks out the book people to learn their …show more content…
We feel the social burden to rise up against those who would censor free thinking or censor what we read or how we act. One leaves the movie with a sense of social responsibility to pass on ideas that are significant and different in shaping history yesterday, today and tomorrow. Ray Bradbury’s book to film was ahead of its time as it identified the dependence of technology and a weakness in the arts would ultimately weaken our society. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots. (5)” This quote parallels and supports the censorship and blind following of society and acceptance to technology and our future. Fahrenheit 451 exposes the viewer to question if censorships exists today and what would it look like? Would it look like a society abandoning books for smart