"We are in a time of distress. We are in a time of total degradation of democracy. Orwell wrote that the degradation of language is the condition for the degradation."
"I'm not going after anybody. I'm just explaining that two plus two equals four,"
"If anybody feels that I'm talking about themselves, yeah, fine,"
Orwellian themes of central surveillance, language degradation, and authoritarian control are presented as directly relevant to contemporary political developments such as state-led book bans and pervasive disinformation amplified by major technology platforms. Director Raoul Peck assembles Orwell's own words to accompany images of the U.S., China, the Middle East, and Ukraine, creating a cinematic argument that language erosion enables democratic decline and social fracture. The film uses archival interviews and avoids new expert footage, following a documentary approach that foregrounds writers' voices rather than direct commentary. The film intentionally refrains from naming specific leaders while depicting systemic patterns of deception.
Read at Axios
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