"Orwellian" is a term used to describe a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. Through the comparative study of George Orwell’s prose fiction Novel “1984” and Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film “Metropolis” it is demonstrated that the reign of Totalitarian governments and technology has the power to over-run and remove civil liberties. These two composers similarly share the ethics for which society has the freedoms of individuality and free will. In context, Lang reflects the anxieties of the Weimar Republic of Germany, under the stresses following the First World War, highlighting the consequences of rapid industrialisation and the subsequent
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Lang heavily stylised his mis en scene, whereas Orwell set 1984 in the future “predicting” the possibilities for which society could turn. Through the exploration of the themes: Control and restriction of human nature and the having technology as a mechanism for control the context for which these two composers are referring to can be interpreted and understood more clearly.
"Power is inflicting pain and humiliation.Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together in new shapes of our own choosing.” as stated by Obrien in 1984, the nature of power can have a corruptive nature when in the wrong hands. Its misuse essentially eliminates any possibilities for individual free thinking .In the novel the ultimate symbols of power are Big Brother and The Party. This symbol strikes both loyalty and fear in the people. They worship this icon, but are continually kept afraid of his power. His existence is never confirmed, but as long as the Oceanian society gives into their fears, he can never die and will act as an embodiment of the party inevitably. Repeatedly mentioned throughout the novel is the omnipotence of government propaganda where under the face of “the black
Lang heavily stylised his mis en scene, whereas Orwell set 1984 in the future “predicting” the possibilities for which society could turn. Through the exploration of the themes: Control and restriction of human nature and the having technology as a mechanism for control the context for which these two composers are referring to can be interpreted and understood more clearly.
"Power is inflicting pain and humiliation.Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together in new shapes of our own choosing.” as stated by Obrien in 1984, the nature of power can have a corruptive nature when in the wrong hands. Its misuse essentially eliminates any possibilities for individual free thinking .In the novel the ultimate symbols of power are Big Brother and The Party. This symbol strikes both loyalty and fear in the people. They worship this icon, but are continually kept afraid of his power. His existence is never confirmed, but as long as the Oceanian society gives into their fears, he can never die and will act as an embodiment of the party inevitably. Repeatedly mentioned throughout the novel is the omnipotence of government propaganda where under the face of “the black