My Room 101

What would be in my room 101? In the book 1984, Winston is terrified of rats and views them as behemoths. This makes his worst nightmare an easy thing to realize. But, I don't have any fears or anathemas like that. I know people who are afraid of heights and needles. I have friends with arachnophobia and ornithophobia. But me? In order for someone to accost me severely enough to make me turn on my loved ones and accept Big Brother they'd have to be able to invoke this same kind of fear. So, how? Even more, if they did think of something to terrorize me with, who would they want me to betray? My family? I really don't have any idea how The Party would break me.

Even if they did find a way to torment me and force me to turn on my loved ones, would I really give up and accept Big Brother in my life the way Winston did? I mean, Winston wasn't even a person by the time he left. He was a mindless drone with no thoughts of his own; he was nothing. Is it really that easy to break a person?

(This is completely unrelated but I just wanted to mention somewhere that every time I think of the title of the book, 1984, I think of the song "1985" and immediately start singing.)

Orwell vs. Scorsese

In Book 3, chapter 2, (pg 247) O'Brien is trying to convince Winston that he has a memory problem and that he keeps remembering things that didn't happen. He continuously tells Winston that his brain is messing things up and causing him to 'mis'remember what really happened. For example, O'Brien asks Winston who he believes Oceania is at war with. To this Winston replies, "Eastasia... I remember that until only a week before I was arrested, we were not at war with Eastasia at all. We were in alliance with them. The war was against Eurasia." But this is 'false', Oceania has 'always' been at war with Eastasia.

This whole crazy mind warp parallels almost exactly with a scene from the movie 'Shutter Island'. ------ I am giving you a warning right now that what I'm about to say will give away the ending and most likely ruin the entire film for you ------- In 'Shutter Island', the protagonist, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, is a cop who travel to Shutter Island, where a mental institution is situated. He starts to go slightly crazy and thinks that everyone there is trying to convince him that he has lost his mind and indict him of being a patient. In reality he is a patient!!!!

This quote holds true for both Winston and Leo: "You have to humble yourself before you can become sane." Both individuals are wary and cynical of what they're being told, which makes it all the harder for them to change their minds and accept the 'truth'. Their beliefs in their own strength makes them develop scruples about giving in to what they're told.

For Winston it was necessary that he stop believing in his strength as an individual and the power of his memory. He needed to realize that Big Brother is paramount and that The Party is always right, has always been right, and will continue to always be right. He needs to eradicate all memories he 'thinks' he has that may disprove this.

For Leo, he needed to realize that he is no longer a great cop looking for the truth, that he is a murderer and a patient at a mental ward who has been living in a life full of delusion. This is extremely hard for him to do because as a cop he doesn't want to lose his sang-froid and be proven a credulous fool.

If you've seen the movie then my connections will probably make more sense to you. OR my connections may be shear folly because I came home and read this passage immediately after having seen the movie SO I probably was on a Leo-induced one-track mind type of thought process.

(If that did spoil the ending for you then I'm sorry, but the movie wasn't really all that great to begin with so don't feel too bad.)

The Olympics

No one had to cajole me into watching the opening ceremony for the olympics when they were held in Beijing, but the Vancouver one... eh, that took a bit of convincing to make it to the end. The baroque performance put on by the Chinese was so incredible that I couldn't look away. After watching I just didn't feel satiated. It's not that the performers weren't talented, it was just well, kind of boring. I don't want to sound supercilious - I don't believe that I could have created anything better. However, I was not crazy about the circ du soliel act they seemed to be putting on. What's more, some of their affects appeared maladroit; they left one person without a torch to light!

Ok, now that I've finished acting like a malcontent individual, I think it would have been difficult for anyone to follow up the act done in Beijing. The performers all did their best just as I'm sure the musicians, technicians, choreographers, and composers did. I'm babbling. I don't even know what I'm talking about. It's too late for me to focus on a vocab blog!!!!

Hakuna Matata

In a quixotic world I’d be able to write all of my schoolwork about 'The Lion King'. I feel ebullient everytime I even think of Simba and the gang crossing over that log bridge. Some people would disparage this movie as merely being a cartoon for little children, but it’s taught me more than most people. It’s nearly impossible for me to appraise 'The Lion King', and I'm well aware that many individuals would deprecate the value I’d assess it as being worth. While it's true that I sometimes pop in this vivacious film with such zest that I second guess my maturity level, I wouldn't be the person I am today without the wise words of a meerkat and his warthog companion. Im practically a dossier of all Lion King-related knowledge and I would consider hakuna matata to be a colloquial term at this point in my vocabulary. The life lessons taught in this movie are in no way cryptic; they express to viewers the importance of responsibility and honor. I would prescribe this movie to anyone looking for a good time, a good story, and a good life lesson. Always remember, the greatest adventure is finding your place in the circle of life.