Hah, hah. What happens when a bunch of hippie/commie/progressive/socialist/hipster wankers put on an adaptation of 1984? Why you mug for laughs, of course! Everyone knows Big Brother is George Bush, or maybe Cheney, or maybe Rumsfeld and there’s nothing to really be concerned about. The idea of any of those machievellian idiots actually gaining such dizzying heights of power over the mind, body and soul is laughable. Hence the laughter.
I have invented my own Newspeak word: hipcom. Or hipprocom. Or sochipcom? It’s a bizarre world and we do need a new language to describe it. Guess what it means.
I have commented before on the inverse relationship between the number of times a nation refers to its supposed egalitarian instincts in its offical name and the actual quality of life for its people: People’s Republic of China, for instance. The only applicable word there is China. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Again, only Korea is true and the addition of Democratic implies they’re even more repressive than China – which is also true. I find a similar logic applies to group nomenclatures, like the theatre troupe that put on this show – The People’s Branch Theatre. Don’t know what the branch is meant to refer to, except possibly the one they’ll use to hang folks like me come the revolution. But I suspect the use of the word “People” is meant to appeal to all their patchouli wearing brethren and demonstrate solidarity with everyone. Of course, if these folks ever actually came in contact with the “people” they’d probably run screaming in whatever direction is likely to lead to an overpriced cup of coffee with a bizarre sizing ritual.
It’s a shame. Orwell would merely shake his head in the conviction he was right. It’s just that the thought police aren’t actually agents of the government.