In The Future…
March 6, 2008 by laura
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Today, was the third time this week that I stayed home from work. I am not able to do much of anything except sleep and drag my laptop into bed with me, to watch a movie. Even writing this little post is taking up a lot of effort!
In between sleeps, I managed to watch Fahrenheit 451, a totally trippy movie made during the 60’s based on the book of the same name by Ray Bradbury. It got me thinking about things that I missed, when I read the book when I was 14. Things that applied to my illness, like if “the man” gave me permission to be sick, would I? – You know, that whole reverse psychology thing. I may be stretching here….I am quite medicated, after all.
Another thing that hit home really hard with this movie, is the idea of television. Or rather interactive television. As you know, I am off television right now. But perhaps the day will come soon when television becomes more interactive. Maybe then my opinion will change, slightly. Then again, maybe that is why the internet is so popular.
Anyway, here is an example of what I am talking about.
I read this book recently… I loved it. Even thought it was written fifty something years ago, I thought that Bradbury was pretty accurate with several of his predictions. The most mind-blowing one was when Mr. Beatty was explaining that they burn books to keep people happy. As long as they made people think they were knowledgeable, by seeing who knew the population of some state or by testing them as to who knew popular song lyrics, then the Firemen were doing their duty. “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “Are you smarter Than a 5th Grader,” and “Don’t Forget The Lyrics” are all shows that Beatty’s statement made me think of. Maybe our society is getting close to what Bradbury was trying to prevent?