Apr 22 2007
Similarity or Is it?
We were watching Fahrenheit 451 the other day. I’m amazed at how a movie filmed in 1966 can still look so fresh and vibrant. For those who have not watched it, this movie is based on Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel “Fahrenheit 451.” Roughly it’s about a society that has banned all written form of books, essays, papers, and such. A society depended on audio and pictures as a form of communicating and learning.
There is a scene in this movie that all of a sudden I got chills and for a moment I had flashbacks. This really frightened me. The scene takes place at the home of the main character Montag and his wife Linda. Linda is very excited when Montag arrives home from work. She quickly get dinner served and tells Montag of her great opportunity to be an actress. she is thrilled that ” Cousin ” has selected her for tonight’s play. ” Cousin ” is a regular T.V. personality that these people in this environment watch with regularity. Kinda like are today’s prime time shows such as American Idol and what not. Well as Linda and Montag watches the play unfold and at one point the actors in the program looks dead on to the television viewers and ask Linda, what should we do {blah blah blah }? Linda sitting on the living room floor is so excited and looks over to Montag as if “help me, I don’t know what to say.” Montag signals her to reply but by the time she turns to the screen the actors have taken her reply. Amazing techology!?! So, the story goes on… you’ll need to see this for yourself.
This ” Cousin ” reminded me of a show when we lived temporarily in Puerto Rico called “SUPER XCLUSIVO” with it’s main personality being a hybrid lifesize female puppet named ” La Comay” and her co-male personality Hector (not a puppet). The similarity of ” Cousin ” and ” La Comay ” is that everyone tunes in religiously. La Comay even has her own fan website. I’ve seen very little of La Comay show and from what I observed I noticed that it slightly different from ” Cousin ” La Comay uses combined format of tabloid, journalism and humor. Puertorican loves this combined format. It’s pretty entertaining and at times it brings to surface the ills of our society. In an Island were people are oppressed regularly their venue of expression has made this show a success.
Sadly to say, there are those who would like to keep people ignorant and oppressed even in this modern day.
The thought of one day our society moving in such a direction is concerning and yet there has been and will be idividuals who do whatever it takes to keep such a thing from happening.
By the way, apparently Frank Darabont who directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mille has planned to remake Fahrenheit 451 for release sometime either 2008 or 2009. It will be interesting to see his perceptive although I think the 1966 version is quite good.
2 Responses to “Similarity or Is it?”
While “cousin” is a character (the announcer), it is also used to describe being a member of the collective.
Just as a panhandler or a dime-store preacher says “hello friend” to make you feel some closeness to them, the “cousin” term makes you feel that the person is related by blood, and therefore someone you should trust.
While there are certain similaries between the “cousin” program and “La Comay”, I believe that they are used in very different ways. The programs on F451 are used to keep everyone compliant. La Comay is more of a stab at the government.
However, both programs do focus on making people feel part of a bigger collective. This is an important point, as people who feel part of a bigger thing are much easier to control. Why would someone want to destroy something that they feel a kinship to?
I finally got to read this blog.
I need to get that movie from Amazon. Next on my list. ; )
I can’t stand La Comay show. Everytime I visit my parents or my family members they are at home watching that show. Did you know the person that plays the puppet was marked for dead because of his BIG FAT MOUTH. You have to be careful what you say on TV especially when it involves political people.