Nineteen Eighty-Four in popular media

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George Orwell's dystopian political novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been adapted for the cinema twice (with a third version possibly on the way), for the radio at least twice, and for television at least once. References to its themes, concepts and plot elements are also frequent in other works, particularly popular music and video entertainment. The following sections offer an incomplete but extensive list of these adaptations and references.

Film adaptations

Nineteen Eighty-Four has been made into two theatrically released films. The the first 1984 film was released in 1956. The second 1984 film, released in 1984, is a reasonably faithful adaptation of the novel, and was critically acclaimed. The film's soundtrack was performed by the band Eurythmics, and a single taken from this, "Sexcrime (1984)", was a hit in several countries. The film is notable for containing Richard Burton's last performance.

The Terry Gilliam film Brazil has been interpreted as a 'tribute' to the novel, although Gilliam claims not to have read the book before making his film.

Recently, it has been rumoured that another film adaptation is set to be released in 2007, however according to the IMDB it is still in development. According to Dark Horizons and Moviehole, Tim Robbins is set to direct.

Radio adaptations

The first radio broadcast of Nineteen Eighty-Four was a one-hour adaptation transmitted by the USA's NBC radio network at 9.00 p.m. on August 27, 1949 as number 55 in the series N.B.C. University Theater, which adapted the world's great novels for broadcast; it starred David Niven as Smith. Another broadcast on the NBC radio network was made by the Theater Guild on Sunday April 26, 1953 for the United States Steel Hour.

In the United Kingdom, the BBC Home Service produced a 90-minute version with Patrick Troughton and Sylvia Syms in the lead roles, first broadcast on October 11, 1965. In April and May 2005, BBC Radio 2 broadcast a reading of the novel in eight weekly parts.

The Mike Malloy Show, a U.S. liberal radio programme, began reading Nineteen Eighty-Four in late 2005 and vowed to continue doing so every night until whichever comes first: U.S. President George W. Bush is impeached, or the show is taken off the air. The reading was completed on May 11, 2006.

Television adaptations

Nineteen Eighty-Four was adapted for television by the BBC in 1954, and again in 1965.

It was voted No. 7 in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television special, My Favourite Book, which sought to find Australia's favourite book.

The scene involving Winston in Room 101 from the 1984 film adaptation of the book was ranked among the 100 scariest moments of TV history, as voted by Channel 4 viewers.

Operatic adaptation

Lorin Maazel, better known as a conductor, has composed the opera, 1984. The libretto is by Tom Meehan, who worked on The Producers and JD McClatchy, professor of poetry at Yale University. The opera directed by Canadian director Robert Lepage premiered on May 3 2005 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. See Science-fiction operas.

Big Brother Awards

Each year, the national members and affiliated organisations of Privacy International present the "Big Brother Awards" to the government and private sector organisations that have done the most to threaten personal privacy in their countries. Since 1998, over 40 ceremonies have been held in 16 countries and have given out hundreds of awards to some of the most powerful government agencies, individuals and corporations in those countries.

Works of literature that address related themes

References on radio

References on television

References in popular music recordings

  • David Bowie released the album Diamond Dogs (1974) which contains the songs: "Rebel Rebel", "1984," "We Are the Dead," ";Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)," and "Big Brother". The project was originally conceived as a full-length theatrical production but George Orwell’s widow denied Bowie the rights.
  • In John Lennon's 1973 quasi-protest song "Only People", he repeatedly sings the line "We don't want no Big Brother..."
  • In their song "WWIII", industrial rock band KMFDM declares war on perversions of society. One verse contains the lyric "I declare war on Big Brother."
  • Radiohead's album Hail to the Thief contains the song "2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm)", where not only the title refers to Nineteen Eighty-Four but the first lines of the song seem to be referring to the hopelessness of Winston's struggle:
"Are you such a dreamer
to put the world to rights?"
  • Jimi Hendrix's album Electric Ladyland includes a song titled "1983 ... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" in which the narrator flees a war torn world to live in the ocean with his lover. The lyrics include, "Oh say, can you see it's really such a mess, every inch of Earth is a fighting nest. Giant pencil and lipstick tube shaped things, continue to rain and cause screaming pain, and the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red as our feet find the sand." The song is rather abstract, but it is difficult not to view the title as a hint at the subject matter.
  • Rick Wakeman, from Yes released the album 1984 in 1981, to lyrics by Tim Rice. This is a concept album directly based on the novel.
  • Subhumans released the album The Day The Country Died in 1982, which appears to be influenced by Nineteen Eighty-Four. One of the songs is called "Big Brother", with lyrics like "There's a TV in my front room and it's screwing up my head", referring to the telescreen of the novel. Much like the novel, the album is largely dystopian, with songs like "Dying World" and "All Gone Dead", the latter of which contains lyrics like "It's 1984 and it's gonna be a war". According to Dick Lucas, the song "Subvert City" is based on the ideas of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley
  • "Nineteen Eighty Bore" is a song from the anarcho-punk band Crass, focusing on the alleged mind numbing affects of television.
  • 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) is the title of an album by the Eurythmics, which was originally released in November 1984 as a partial soundtrack for the film adaptation. It contains the following tracks:
(3:28) "I did it just the same"; (3:59) "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)"; (5:05) "For the love of big brother"; (1:22) "Winston's diary"; (6:13) "Greetings from a dead man"; (6:40) "Julia" (4:40) "Doubleplusgood"; (3:48) "Ministry of love"; (3:50) "Room 101".
  • Oingo Boingo released a song called "Wake up (It's 1984)" on their 1983 album Good For Your Soul. Taking heavily from the movie as well as the book, it serves as commentary to current society.
  • Rage Against the Machine released the album called The Battle of Los Angeles in 1999 featuring the track "Testify" containing the phrase "Who Controls the Past Now, Controls the Future, Who controls the Present Now, Controls the Past...", a slogan used by the Party. The entire track "Testify" is arguably an indirect reference to the novel. Also on the same album, the song "Voice of the Voiceless" contains the lyrics "Orwell's hell a terror era coming through, but this little brother is watching you too".
  • Bad Religion released the album called The Empire Strikes First in 2004 featuring the track "Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever" with the title of the song being a direct reference to the Nineteen Eighty-Four novel. In the novel, O'Brien suggests the image of a boot stamping on a human face forever as a picture of the future. The song seems to be referring to the hopelessness of rebellion against the Party. The lyrics of the title track also states "You don't need to be afraid, you deserve Two Minutes Hate". The lyric book art style is Orwellian themed. During live shows at the time of the release of "The Empire Strikes First," they used a banner with the words "Two Minutes Hate." In their album Suffer, The song "Part II (The Numbers Game)" makes references to the book, with lines such as "Big Brother schemes to rule the nation" and "The government observes with their own electric eye".
  • Marilyn Manson's album Holy Wood includes a song called "Disposable Teens" in which he sings that he's "a rebel from the waist down". This is a direct reference to Orwell's book, when Winston accuses Julia of being "only a rebel from the waist downwards". Manson referenced 1984 in a much more explicit manner with Irresponsible Hate Anthem from the album Antichrist Superstar. As well as conforming to the description of the Hate Song it begins with the lines 'we hate love, we love hate' and includes the spoken line of "History was written by the winners". On the same album Manson introduces the song Minute of Decay with the words "From a dead man, greetings".
  • Incubus's album A Crow Left of the Murder includes the song "Talk Show On Mute", about how one day, the television might be watching us instead of us watching them, showing a world where humans are monitored at all times. Among its lyrics is the line
"Come one, come all, into 1984"
  • Manic Street Preachers released the album The Holy Bible in 1994, which contains the song "Faster". At the beginning of the song a voice (John Hurt, sampled from the movie version of 1984) quotes a line from the book, although not word for word: "I hate purity. I hate goodness. I don't want virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone corrupt." They also had a track called "1985", in which they make various references to the novel, such as "In 1985, Orwell was proved right"
  • Benzene Jag, an obscure punk band formed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada released a 45 rpm single called "Fuck off 1984" in 1983.
  • Anaal Nathrakh's album Domine Non Es Dignus includes a song called "Do Not Speak" that opens with a sample of "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot, stamping on a human face, for ever." Due to Anaal Nathrakh's lyrics being unpublished, the exact influence of 1984 is unknown. However, the words "pain, frustration, faded memories" are intelligible, and 1984 certainly fits with the apocalyptic, despairing, anti human themes of the band.
  • In the song "George Orwell Must Be Laughing His Ass Off" by Mea Culpa, the second verse begins with "If 2 plus 2 don't equal 5 I guess I'm just no fun".
  • Singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke published a song called "When Two and Two are Five" with Jennifer Kimball (as The Story).
  • The Pet Shop Boys have a song called "One and One Make Five" on their 1993 album Very.
  • The song "The Panama Deception" by Anti-Flag begins with the text "Their two plus two does not equal four. Their two plus two equals whatever they want us to die for".
  • Open Hand released a song called "Newspeak" on their 2005 album You and Me. The song title and lyrics deal heavily with the ideas of newspeak and being thought controlled.
  • The Rare Earth hit single "Hey Big Brother", released in 1971, sings of the future arrival of Big Brother, first addressing this future Big Brother directly and then finishing by expressing a rebellious defiance against his arrival.
  • The Dead Kennedys' 1979 single "California Über Alles" contains the lyrics "Big Bro on white horse is near", and also "Now it is 1984 / Knock knock at your front door / It's the suede-denim secret police / They've come for your uncool niece" in reference to the thought police of the novel.
  • The Dutch synthesizer musician Ed Starink composed and recorded a "Big Brother Suite" in 1983. He remixed that suite in July 1991 in his new digital studio and released it with the album "Retrospection" under his own Star Inc. label. In the liner notes of this album, he explains that "1984" by Orwell inspired him to create a work that was a mixture of the 12-tone system and rhythmical pop influences. The suite contains the following tracks: (8:08) "Big Brother"; (0:52) "Two and two make five"; (4:09) "Minitrue"; (1:25); "Lunatic"; (5:46) "Julia"; (0:41) "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" (3:50); "The Ministry of Love, Including Room 101".
  • The album Vistoron, released in 2004 by Japanese electronic musician Susumu Hirasawa under the name KAKU P-MODEL, contains a track titled "Big Brother". Hirasawa has offered Big Brother as a free download in MP3 file format.
  • Van Halen released the album "1984" that year.
  • New Zealand band Shihad start off their debut album Churn in the song "Factory" with the quote "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever".
  • The Romantics released the single Talking in Your Sleep in 1983. It includes the lyrics "I hear the secrets that you keep / When you're talking in your sleep," alluding to the Winston Smith's fear of revealing his anti-Party beliefs while sleeping.
  • Rock singer Darais Kemp released two songs on his album Sweet Sweet ("Room 101" and "Two Minutes Hate") that explicitly alluded to the novel.
  • Sage Francis references "Big Brotherly love" and declares, "Don’t forget what two plus two equals" in the political song "Hey Bobby".
  • Anti-Flag released a song called "1984", in which the band talks about the book in various ways, such as, "Mr. Orwell from the grave, adding fresh ink to the page" and "The double talk is past surreal".
  • German band BAP referred to Orwell and 1984 in their live recording of the song "Ne schöne Jrooß" on their 1983 live album "Bess demnähx": "Leven Orwell, vierunachzig ess noh, ess mittlerweile nur noch een läppsch Johr" (Cologne dialect for "Dear Orwell, '84 is near, meanwhile it's only one more shabby year to go"). In concerts after 1984, they replaced the second verse with "Ess mittlerweile leider vill ze vill wohr" ("Unfortunately, much too much has meanwhile become reality").
  • Five for Fighting has a song called 2+2 makes five on the bonus CD to his album The Battle for Everything.
  • British Oi! band Combat 84 chose their name based on 1984.
  • The song '1977' by British punk band, the Clash, includes imagery of civil disorder on the streets of London, similar to that described in Orwell's explanation of the Party's rise to power, and a coda that consists of a lyrical count-up from the year 1977 that ends on 1984.
  • The second album, What Will the Neighbours Say? by British band Girls Aloud contained the track "Big Brother" which features the line "Big Brother's watching me and I don't really mind".
  • The 2003 song, "All That's Left," by the band Thrice, includes a chorus with direct reference to 1984. ("A Ghost is all that's left, of everything we swore we never would forget. We tried to bleed the sickness, but we drained our hearts instead. We are, we are the dead.")
  • The song "Freedom" from the 1987 album Raise Your Fist and Yell by Alice Cooper includes the lyrics "You want to rule us with an iron hand, You change the lyrics and become Big Brother."
  • The song "Head? Chest? or Foot?" from Canadian punk rockers Propagandhi contains the lyric "I'd rather be in prison in a George Orwellian world, than your pacified society of happy boys and girls/ I'd rather know my enemies and let you know the same/ whose windows to smash and whose tires to slash, I want to point the f**king blame."
  • The band Antiba recorded a song called "Destroyed Reputation", in which they say, "In Orwell's hell, your soul you'd sell now falling, stalling,"
  • The song "The Machine" by the group Darkwell talks about, "A virtual admission of guilt, confession/Orwell's future tense, libertcidal/the species enslaved, the will is broken/to avert doom - obnoxious."
  • ApologetiX does the song "Look Yourself", which contains the lyric, "As he moves forward it's true George Orwell/The moral of the story is truth's ignored, emotion's most important"
  • The band called Skyclad has recorded a song, which refers to 1985: "We've made tommorows world - could George Orwell be correct?"
  • Another song, "Into The Fire", by the group Burning Point, says, "Into the Fire You put me through hell/Twisted Desire in the world of Orwell/Total Control of body and mind/...into the fire"
  • Million Dead did a song called "Charlie And The Propaganda Myth Machine", which notes, "And the BFG a propagandist for an unaccountable regime,/Orwell’s vision with a wrinkled face./Hold out the arm and quiet the voice."
  • In their song "Who Makes The Nazis?", the band Fall answers their own question with, "Bad-bias TV/Arena badges/BBC, George Orwell, Burmese police/Who Makes the Nazis?"
  • The group Oi Polloi has a song called "Fuck Everybody That Voted Tory", in which they claim, "Machine gun toting police on our streets/TV cameras watching your every move/George Orwell's '1984' is here and now"
  • The Rutles recorded the parodical, albeit fictional, song Please Hold My Hand, that includes the line "I'm not the type of guy who likes to play 'Big Brother'."
  • Our Lady Peace's album Spiritual Machines contained a track entitled "R.K. 1949" where the narrator states, "The year is 1949, George Orwell portrays the chilling world in which computers are used by large beauracracies to monitor and enslave the population in his book Nineteen Eighty-Four."
  • UK rap artist Jehst makes a number of references to 1984 in his lyrics "2004, its more like 1984 right here right now" and "Its 1984!” in songs with a strong political edge, he also makes reference to "Orwellian Prophecies", Thought Police and Big Brother.
  • The title track on the Supertramp album "Brother Where You Bound" is a 16 and a half minute piece with a definite Orwellian feel to it - including some 1984 passages spoken at the beginning of the piece.
  • Alternative jazz artist Bobby Previte released "Coalition of the Willing" in 2006 with songs such as "The Ministry of Truth", "Airstrip One", "Ministry of Love", "Oceania", "The Inner Party" and "Memory Hole" inspired by 1984.
  • The band Project 86's 2002 album Truthless Heroes contains many lyrical references to 1984, including the line "These thought police coming for me" on the track Know What it Means.
  • Utopia's album Oblivion contained a track entitled "Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw" based on novel main character which includes the line I have found us a place where there's no telescreen and there's no hidden mikes and it's not too unclean.
  • Coldplay's song "Spies" depicts the general society illustrated in 1984 as well as the concept of thoughtcrime (with references to the Thought Police) and lack of freedom. It includes lines such as "I awake to see that no one is free. We're all fugitives, look at the way we live. Down here, I cannot sleep from fear, no. I said, which way do I turn? I forget everything I learn." and "And if we don't hide here, they're going to find us, and if we don't hide now, they're going to catch us when we sleep, and if we don't hide here, they're going to find us." .
  • Cog: Australian progressive rock band Cog use lines from 1984 in their song 1010011010 referencing room 101.
  • Neil Young in his song 'Living With War' states "I never bow to the laws of the thought police"
  • In "Who Are You?" from the Black Sabbath album Sabotage, it has the lyrics, "You're just like Big Brother/giving us your trust/and when you have played enough/you just cast our souls into the dust."
  • The Nine Inch Nails song "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" is about 1984, and makes references to the thought police and Winston's diary. It also speaks about the routineness of the party and being watched.
  • The music video for '...And They Obey' by Kinesis, starts with a newsreader type figure saying, "And now, it's time for your daily two minutes of hate... enjoy." This is followed by the song itself, which contains numerous political references.

References in Film

File:Chaplin and boss1.jpg
Although Modern Times was a silent film, it was made after the first “talkies” and effectively used sound to convey key meanings. In this scene, the factory boss’ voice is heard ordering the Tramp back to work via the two-way television. Chaplin was trying to demonstrate technology’s potential of dehumanization, a key theme of Orwell’s 1984.
  • Modern Times -- Charlie Chaplin's 1936 film was made and released before Orwell’s 1984 and therefore may be seen as an influence on the book. The film has Chaplin’s Tramp as a factory worker and later accidental rabble rouser. The factory workers are kept under control by two-way television screens throughout the plant—over the production line and in the bathroom—that feature a scowling, abusive old capitalist who shouts at his workers to keep them on the line and productive.
  • 1984 a British film based on the novel and released in the eponymous year in the United Kingdom. The film is notable for its muted colours, produced by a unique film-processing technique specially devised for the movie.
  • Brazil is a dystopic black comedy feature film directed by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam.
  • Equilibrium starring Christian Bale resembles Nineteen Eighty Four. The movie tells the story of "Libria" after being ravaged by the Third World War and therefore suppresses all human feelings in order to stop the outbreak of war again. Cleric Preston (Bale) is the leader of a police force who draw comparison to the Thought Police from the book. In addition, all people in the movie are forced to take vials of a liquid drug known as Prozium — called intervals — to stop themselves from succumbing to emotions. Libria is also controlled by the "Father", another comparison to "Big Brother" from the novel, which can be drawn here.
  • The Island - also includes constant surveillance, thought police, restrictions on relationships and physical contact.
  • At the beginning of The Matrix Neo's apartment number is 101. Along with that, the movie shares many similar themes.
  • Me and the Big Guy is a comedic short-film that satires the relationship betwixt Winston and Big Brother by portraying its main character, Citizen 43275-B, entirely grateful of the Revolution and treating his telescreen as if it were his own best friend.
  • V for Vendetta takes place in a dystopian future not unlike the world imagined in 1984. The use of government spying, state censored media, and a police state designed for everyone's "protection" are common to both films. In contrast to his role of Winston in the film adaptation of 1984, John Hurt plays the Big Brother-like character of Sutler.

References in video games

  • Half-Life 2 features an Eastern European city, ambiguously called "City 17", which is under the oppression of a Big Brother type figure, Dr Breen. Dr Breen rules from a massive tower named the citadel (which in game bears a striking resemblance to the imagery described in 1984 of the ministries dominating the London skyline). Dr Breen, however, is just a figurehead for an inter-dimensional empire called The Combine. Throughout the game, the player discovers that The Combine invaded several years prior (due to the events of the first game) through a "portal storm" and conquered the entirety of humanity in seven hours. City 17 features many similarities to Orwell's Airstrip One. Thousands of robots hover around the city, providing constant surveillance to every member of the dystopian society. "Civil Protection" police units (the unit itself sports a title which is drawn from 1984's concept of doublethink) randomly beat civilians and snuff out dissent. The government distributes synthetic food, employs a "Suppression Field" which sterilizes all human reproductive ability, and posts propaganda almost everywhere one turns. Early on, the game hints that The Combine has contaminated the water supply with mind-erasing drugs.
  • The Metal Gear series contains references to the Party in the form of a Illuminati-type organization known as "The Patriots". In Metal Gear Solid 2, it is revealed that The Patriots are the secret rulers of the United States, and that the events of the game are an experiment by The Patriots in filtering out unwanted memes from society in order to ensure the acceptance of their version of 'truth' by the population. Furthermore, the mission of the main character, Raiden, is overseen by the Colonel with whom Raiden communicates with solely over the radio. Raiden eventually discovers the Colonel is not a person, but an A.I. with a collection of the values, ideas, and expectations of the American population that can never be destroyed so long as the country survives, a parallel to the role Big Brother plays in the novel. Metal Gear Solid 3 reveals that The Patriots are an offshoot of a wider organization known as The Philosophers, which is made up of the ruling elite of the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, a reference to the three superpowers in the novel.
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