Brave New World

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Brave New World

• By Aldous Huxley

Introduction Lecture
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• What is utopia? What characteristics does this
  genre have?
• What does a utopia look like to you?

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Genre Dystopia

• Utopia
• an ideal society possessing a perfect social and
  political system (Sir Thomas More)
• Dystopia
• a society where the condition of life is
  extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression,
  or terror
• Often futuristic
• Often under the guise of being a utopia
• Often totalitarian

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Popular Dystopias

• Earliest Literary Dystopia
• Platos Republic
• Government had a deep suspicion of literature
• Viewed educated men as potentially subversive
• Genre became extremely popular in the 20th
  century
• WHY?

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Popular Dystopias

• 20th century popularity
• Attempts to put utopian ideals into place
  resulted in real-life dystopias
• IDEOLOGIES
• Soviet Communism
• German Nazism
• Western Consumerism
• Modernism
• Technological mass production

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IDEOLOGY(belief system)

• the imaginary relation to the real conditions of
  existence. - Althusser
• The body of ideas reflecting the social needs
  and aspirations of an individual, a group, a
  class, or a culture. A system of beliefs or
  theories, usually political, held by an
  individual or a group. OED
• Ideologies are all around us, and usually we
  dont recognize them.

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Western Consumerism

• A social and economic order that is based on the
  systematic creation and fostering of a desire to
  purchase goods and services in ever greater
  amounts.
• People purchasing goods and consuming materials
  in excess of their basic needs
• Characterized by propaganda and advertising
  everywhere
• What is the difference between the two?
• Who owns you?

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Modernism

• A group of movements in the 20th century that
  sought to break with the past
• To eliminate traditions
• To live without dependence on the family, the
  Church, and the community
• Only novel and innovative ideas were considered
  worthy
• Technological advancement was worshiped without
  questioning the possible ill consequences

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Mass Production

• Product of the Industrial Revolution
• Production of large amounts of standardized
  products, including and especially on assembly
  lines
• Contributed to consumerism
• Henry Fords Model T was the first Mass produced
  car.

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Brave New world

• Portrays a society that has been socially
  engineered for a mindless happiness.
• No need for a totalitarian state because everyone
  is so amused and entertained by sex and drugs.
• Technology drives the culture and takes away
  ones humanity
• A critique of consumerism, technology worship,
  mass media hypnotism

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Brave New world

• Human beings are treated like different model
  cars trundling off the Ford assembly line.
• Babies are bred in bottles for designated roles
  in society comparable
• The family is seen as unnecessary and revolting.

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Aldous Huxley

• 1894-1963
• Born to intellectual, wealthy family
• Christian worldview
• Pacifist
• Experimentation with drugs, especially
  hallucinogens
• Loss of eyesight, frequent illness

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Metropolis, the Movie

• German silent film, 1927
• Credited as the first dystopian movie.
• Depicting a mechanized, rigid society with a
  mindless, self-indulgent upper class benefiting
  from the brutal exploitation of the working-class
  masses.
• (Ironically, the screenwriter of this hymn to
  equality and love, Thea von Harbou, went on to
  work with the Nazis.)

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1984 (George Orwell)

• QUESTION 3
• Orwell portrays the potential effects of Soviet
  Communism
• Totalitarian state, where everyone is watched by
  Big Brother
• TV cameras capture everyones movements
• No one has any freedoms
• Children spy on their parents and turn them in
  for any kind of political dissent

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1984 (George orwell)

• Parents lose moral authority over their children
• Children raised by the state (It takes a
  village)
• Doublethink to hold simultaneously two opinions
  which cancelled out, knowing them to be
  contradictory and believing in both of them.
• War Is Peace, Ignorance Is Strength, Freedom Is
  Slavery
• Newspeak the attempt to make certain thoughts
  inexpressible through the reform of language.
• Example Ethnic Cleansing

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