BRAVE NEW 1984 – an innovative, interactive web-based video project: description

How does one man assert his power over another? …By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in shapes of your own choosing…If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-four, 1949


A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.

Aldous Huxley, Introduction to the reprint of Brave New World, 1945


Two terrifying novels haunted the 20th Century and continue to trouble us today: George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.  Every day, newspapers invoke their nightmarish visions, whether echoing Orwell’s predictions of ‘Big Brother’-like oppression, or Huxley’s foretelling of consumer seduction and mass conditioning. Orwell foresaw authoritarianism, mass surveillance, repression, relentless war and torture. Huxley imagined rampant commercialism, mass deception, conditioning and genetic manipulation. While the works of these two novelists might well be considered "fantasy," they nevertheless depicted some fundamental tendencies and undercurrents of our modern reality. At the same time, it could be argued that these authors might well be delighted if they were to witness the resilience of human spirit sometimes found around the world today. Such conscientiousness is echoed in many civil society movements, and is a concern of the leaders and visionaries of the future.

For several years now, we have been working on a film about these issues, planned for television, limited theatrical release and DVD’s. However, the most enthusiasm for this project comes from young people who are interested in participatory, interactive web-based media, as opposed to the traditional models. This interest has inspired us to launch a largely youth-oriented web project here on CITIZENShift. Yet instead of the traditional classroom debates and essay contests, we invite videographers from around the world to submit short films about the realities they confront in their countries to this website, which will be linked to the Brave New 1984 dossier. Eventually, once enough videos are complied, we will invite the online audience to participate in evaluating and debating these videos, and the winning filmmakers will receive some great prizes. In the end, these videos may also amount to a larger film project- something that would be creatively structured  to reflect the interactive and participatory process of the internet contest, rather than being traditional in form. This is why we think this project has a great deal of potential to capture the imagination and inspiration of young video makers and web users.

Since the authors' time, several generations of readers have used these two novels to reflect on contemporary times, and today's youth is by no means an exception. Young people have a way of looking at the world with fresh eyes. Sometimes they see events and world realities with a kind of simple lucidity, and are able to draw upon their natural sense of intuition and their imaginative abilities to find constructive means of problem solving. It is for this reason that we turn to the youth with the Brave New 1984 project. Inspired by the writings of Huxley and Orwell, this project is a challenge to explore the world- an invitation to share what you think.

We are addressing young Canadians, in all their diversity of backgrounds and identities. Here are some questions that might be addressed:

- What is our world like today? Are our societies on the right path, or have we been heading towards the sort of foreboding realities that Huxley and Orwell described in their works?

- How much control or influence does the media have over society, and can we trust its accuracy? Does the recent fixation with “reality” television programs such as Big Brother (in which contestants live together in a houses for a period of time, under constant surveillance by cameras) speak about some larger tendencies in our contemporary age? Do find that there is a large number of references to themes from Orwell and Huxley, such as state authoritarianism, mind control, militarism, and consumer apathy?

- In the age of the Internet, people everywhere now have access to a multitude of perspectives and information- how does this technology influence your worldview? Furthermore, are you ever concerned that information shared over web platforms such as email and Facebook could be used invasively by 3rd parties (we're thinking of everything from identity pirates and hackers to advertising companies to investigative organizations)?

- Do you find that there are other instances today of phenomena mentioned in the works of Huxley and Orwell: intensive public monitoring (security cameras, etc.)? An unhealthy reliance on pharmaceutical drugs (everything from Tylenol to Prozac)? Hard-handed, authoritarian organizations? A heighten sense of militarism and enmity around the world? Ubiquitous signs of war and conflict? Paranoia and fear? Injustice and tyranny?

- Do you feel you have a healthy, genuine dose of skepticism as to the current state of affairs- whether local or global- or do you feel like the world is running well?

- Finally, which of the two authors- Orwell or Huxley- do you think was more prescient in his vision?

This final question itself has proven to be a time-honoured debate. Startlingly, many experiences around the world today seem to combine elements of both the ‘Orwellian’ with the ‘Huxleyan', so that the work of both novelists is seen as contributing to a common vision. Ultimately, authors like Margaret Atwood have concluded that the main issue isn’t ‘who was right,’ but in what ways both authors were right – and what we can learn from using their insights.  This is precisely our perspective in challenging you to envision the Brave New 1984.