> I'm currently spending a lot of time in bed listening to the radio with a back problem. A few hours ago, they were talking about Pearl Harbor (the movie) and somehow got into a debate on what I call the 'US Propaganda' genre (PH, Patriot etc.). During this, an American guest suggested that Hollywood was becoming more and more like the Ministry of Truth where Winston Smith works in '1984'. For those that haven't read it (no, Book-A-Minute doesn't count), Smith's job is to alter the past so that it always looks upon the Party favourably. Also, it is responsible for 'updating' the past. For example, when Eurasia declares war on Eastasia and allies with Oceania, all record of the Eurasia-Eastasia alliance is removed and swapped with record of the war with Oceania.
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> What does everyone think?
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> Zarn"ouch, too much Five Live"iwoop
>
> PS: If you haven't read 1984, then find a copy. And don't just use it as a paperweight.

Mmm... The person has a point. Except that Minitru was run by a diabolical government conspiracy while Hollywood is run by blind market forces. Oddly enough, though, the results seem to be roughly the same. :)

(Hopefully, though, it makes Hollywood an easier force to overcome and change. Hopefully.)

This is why I always thought of _Brave New World_ as more accurate dystopia than _1984_, though I'm a big fan of both. But it's what Americans *want* that ends up blinding and killing them, not what they fear. It's 'cause we want to look like good guys, not 'cause someone wants to make us look that way.

But, for now, at least, Hollywood doesn't control *all* information and those of us who aren't part of the herd still have resources to discover the truth. In fact, such resources have become more available in the past, not less. It's just that with Hollywood's power and its gimmicks, fewer and fewer seem to use them, sigh...

Ar"fearing for the future of humanity"thur