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Will Upcoming ‘Orwell’ Doc Miss Entire Point of ‘1984?’

Director Raoul Peck's alarming statement suggests exactly that

There’s never been a better time for a refresher course on George Orwell’s “1984.”

That’s bad news, of course.

The text describes a dystopian realm where the past is re-written and personal freedoms don’t exist. The 1984 British film adaptation of the same name starred John Hurt as Winston Smith, a worker drone ensnared in a totalitarian state.

1984 (1984) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD]

The book and the film are both classic yarns and cautionary tales, and much of what Orwell wrote in that 1949 text is alarmingly close to modern times.

This may be the book’s most haunting passage:

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

Sound familiar?

Protesters tear down Confederate statue in North Carolina

Enter director Raoul Peck. The filmmaker is behind “Orwell,” a feature-length documentary that just got scooped up by Neon. The indie studio gave us last year’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Fire of Love.” The project also has the approval of the Orwell estate, another positive sign.

So far, so good. Except the director’s statement on the project should chill us all.

“Today, the “newspeak” of authoritarian rule is alive and well and in unexpected places, from the rise of AI Chatbot to the Russian propaganda machine, from the marketing webs of commercial metaverses to the political banning of books in the Southern United States” said Peck in a statement tied to the Neon deal.

It’s like Peck read “1984” and missed the point for purely partisan purposes.

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The “Russian Propaganda machine?” Does Peck still think the Russians stole the 2016 election out from under Hillary Clinton, or that Putin pushed the Hunter Biden “hoax” upon us?

Is he an election denier?

Is Russian disinformation top of mind today given everything else happening around the U.S.?

Has he missed the U.S. government leaning on Big Tech platforms to censor debate across the country? What about the new, not-so-improved “struggle sessions” where celebrities grovel for forgiveness for sharing the “wrong” ideas?

Did Peck miss the army of woke sensitivity readers changing beloved texts, sometimes without the approval of the writers?

It gets worse.

Peck blasts the “political banning of books,” an obvious reference to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to remove hardcore pornography from Florida schools. Does Peck want that obscene material taught in the classroom?

Did he miss the governor shredding the press for distorting the issue?

It suggests Peck might twist Orwell’s legacy at a pivotal time in western culture.

The project also has Oscar-winner Alex Gibney attached. The far-Left director’s leanings are clear and we all know which ideological side favors speech suppression today.

It couldn’t be more obvious.

Yet Gibney was one of the few artists who stood up for director Meg Smaker after Sundance, and the far Left, attempted to cancel her for directing “Jihad Rehab.”

Another name attached to the project is Jeff Skoll, the founder of the progressive film studio Participant Media. Will he look beyond his ideological blinders to see the real Orwell? Or will Gibney, Skoll and Peck take a page of “1984’s” authoritarian playbook?

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” — George Orwell

31 Comments

  1. It seems that Raoul Peck, Alex Gibney and Jeff Skoll are pushing 1984 on everyone with their lies, using George Orwell’s name to do that.

  2. I like how you are just as clueless as what you claim Peck to be. Taking down confederate statues = 1984!!!! OMG, TAKING DOWN STATUES THAT GLORIFY THE IDEA OF ONE MAN OWNING ANOTHER IS SO AGAINST MY HERITAGE!!!! You clearly are delusional. The purpose of taking down confederate statues is because they glorify people who tore the country apart because they couldn’t expand their slave empire. That is not erasing history, that is erasing the disgusting message those men stood for from the public. What is erasing history is Rob DeSantis criticizing the Collegboard’s African American Studies. I find it ironic how the final quote you use is exactly what Rob DeSantis is doing. Flagging math textbooks over “critical race theory” is what will make idiots like you claim that 2+2=5. And no, I do not believe Peck is referring to any of what you claim he is referring to BECAUSE NONE OF THAT IS RELATED TO WHAT HE IS CLAIMING. HE IS CLAIMING THAT RUSSIA IS INDOCTRINATING THEIR PEOPLE WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIAN IN THE US. Literally everything coming from both sides of the Ukraine war is propaganda. Like seriously, there were people posting about how supposedly the T14 was in Ukraine when the video was filmed in a training ground. Maybe you should look at yourself before criticizing others. I find it ironic how you are an example of doublethink. You accuse Peck of being apart of Far-left agenda of erasing history but when you do it, it’s “embracing your heritage”

    1. You’re the clueless one and you’re the delusional one. You’re defending Peck who is spreading Far Left propaganda. Ron DeSantis is doing no such thing. He’s still allowing slavery to be taught, it’s just NOT under Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory is a real thing and you’re defending it. You’re the embodiment of evil and you’re exactly what Christian Toto is talking about you evil heartless abomination.

      1. Wow, anything that doesn’t agree with your opinion is “Far-Left Propaganda.” Let me ask you a question, what are the ideas of the Far-Left? Do you know? Now compare that to what Peck is saying, is Peck’s statement similar to those far left ideas? No. And I never said DeSantis is not allowing slavery to be taught. But what I am ripping on DeSantis for is the banning of books that have no right to be banned and the stripping down of the AP African American Studies course. For the AP course, thanks to DeSantis, now many black authors who have written on CRT, feminism, and LGBTQ topics are now being removed from the curriculum. I don’t care what your opinion on those topics are, they still need to be taught in the classroom. Let’s take slavery for example. Slavery is a horrible thing, do we still teach it? Yes. So if CRT is as evil as you claim, that is still not a valid argument for it to be taken out of the curriculum. Hell, if that was the case let’s take out American atrocities because “those are horrible things and we shouldn’t let it spread to our youth” or whatever you guys say. And how am I defending CRT? Are saying I’m propagating unconscious, systemic racism in this country or am I evil because I think it’s a real thing? Also, do you even know what CRT? If so, please define it because there’s like 20 million definitions for it.

        1. You’re the one who doesn’t agree with anything that doesn’t match your Far Left ideology. And yes, books that show pornography do deserve to be banned you evil abomination. You want our kids to be taught about sexuality? You’re a sick freak. They don’t need to be taught. That’s indoctrination and you support it you evil abomination to society. Critical Race Theory is a racist movement that targets white people and guilt trips them white treating minorities like victims. And you are evil, because you support it, Baizuo. You’re the embodiment of evil and you need to leace this website, communist.

          1. Who says I don’t agree with anything that doesn’t match my “far-left ideology.” Do you understand my viewpoint? No, so stfu. Unlike most people, I can understand where a lot of moderate liberals and conservatives come from, and I personally think it’s critical for there to be cooperation in this area as that is the entire purpose of democracy. But you, along with the far left are lunatics who refuse cooperation and view politics to further your own agenda instead of using your view to make the other side understand your position. And I never defended porn in books, I only defend the removal of information that is critical to understanding our past(like all the black authors removed from the AP african american studies because of DeSantis). Also you guys are very vague on what porn in books are. Is it only straight up porn or does the mention of like one or two sex scenes count as well? Because sex in 1984, the book this article is talking about, is perceived as an extremely important way for the people to rebel and there’s literally a sex scene in the first 120 pages. “Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act”(Pg 126 in my copy). The suppression of the sexual desire of man is what leads to the constant oppression of the outer Party members. In addition, if sex is mentioned in a way that educates the reader or pushes some greater idea, like in 1984, I do not believe it should censored, especially if the audience is meant for those who are in high school(they should be mature enough) or older. And how in anyway is sexuality bad? Being straight is a sexuality, do you want to ban talking about being straight? Sexuality is simply who you are sexually attracted. Children are extremely impressionable. How about I flip this issue on its head, say you are a small child and you are the only straight person in your class where everyone else is gay. How would you feel? I bet you would feel left out and abnormal. Simply even talking about sexuality can make a child feel better and included. But wait, you constantly spew far right rhetoric so you don’t really care about children like me, do you. Nvm that point is irrelevant then. And CRT is not in itself a racist movement, only some people who support it are. CRT only says there is systemic racism in America, which is a fact whether you believe it or not. CRT does not blame any people who live in the present, but rather the people who created this inequality in the past. I want to iterate this again so this can get past that frontal bone of yours, CRT is not racist in itself, only the people who practice it can be racist. And if systemic racism is “bullcrap” to you, literally search up redlining, a hella racist practice in the 1930s that explains why some neighborhoods are hella shit and others a good today almost 100 years later. And also, you realize I’m chinese-american right? Why did you automatically assume I was white? And also, I don’t hate America, if I did, why wouldn’t I leave? Why would I want to watch America burn when I could literally leave instead of staying in a country I supposedly hate? I only criticize America because I believe it needs improvement. I want to better America for my descendants so they can live in a better society than the one I currently live in. Is that not loving America? Hell, if WW3 breaks out right now, I’d be enlisting immediately. I would give my life for America, is that not loving America? Is that what you would be doing?

          2. @You’re Not so intelligent.

            WRONG!! You’re the one who doesn’t understand anyone else’s viewpoint and you attack people and defend Critical Race Theory. You do believe in censorship you evil heartless abomination.

        2. You clearly hate America and want to see it burn to the ground because of that “systemic racism” bullcrap you’re pushing. That’s why you’re evil and you’re anti-American. You are a propagandist.

          1. I understand a lot of other people’s viewpoint more than most. I’ve had quite civil discussions with conservatives and many of them are my friends. 2, I don’t attack people unless they go around insulting people randomly and overall being uncivil. And 3, I do defend CRT as in the core belief that there is systemic racism, but that is it. 4. I do not believe in censorship, I am literally criticizing Rob DeSantis for causing the AP to remove some of their material, how is that believing in censorship???? If anything, you are more likely to support censorship since you basically worship DeSantis despite him literally banning MATH textbooks over CRT claims. You will be one of the first to most likely to believe that 2+2=5 when DeSantis says so

          2. Also use literally any other insult, it’s kind of getting boring. I always get my dopamine fix by laughing at your terrible arguments and insults, so please, take some time out of your day and come up with your own insults. Oh wait, you’re a far-right conservative so that’s not possible

          3. 1. I understand other people’s viewpoints more than most. I have had quite civil discussions with conservatives and many of them are my friends. I have respect for those within the center from both liberals and conservatives; however, the people I cannot stand the most is people like you who are on the extremes who don’t accept anything less than everything they want. Many political scientists draw the political spectrum as a horseshoe/circle because the two extremes aren’t that different from each other. For historical examples, compare the USSR with Nazi Germany and you’ll find many similarities. 2. I don’t attack people randomly. I only attack people when I have a reason to, which against you, is that you’re insulting me and being racist towards me. If anything, you’re the one doing the most attacking between us. 3. I defend CRT. And? We all have our opinions no? I stand by CRT for the same reasons I mention above which I will probably have to reiterate since the your frontal lobe has to be as dense as a neutron star. Those reasons are “There is systemic racism in America;” however, “no one in modern America(unless they’re racist) is to blame for it as none of them started it.” 4. I don’t believe in censorship. I literally ripped on DeSantis for censoring MATH textbooks over CRT. If anything, you would be most likely to support censorship with “there’s porn in our children’s books,” which the exception of a few books, is not true. I bet when DeSantis says 2+2=5, you will be one of the first to believe him. I think you are the clear embodiment of “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” I just want to say, take a break from the internet. Read 1984. It’s a great book and I think you can look through history and around the world and see elements of it on both sides of the political spectrum.

          4. @You’re not the most intelligent

            You’re the one who’s ignorant. The fact that you have to do a long rant shows you don’t know anything about George Orwell and you’re using his name to defend Far Left Extremism. And you’re an evil bigot.

          5. “Systemic racism” isn’t real. This shows you hate America and want to see it burn to the ground you evil heartless abomination.

    2. You’re the embodiment of evil by targeting Ron DeSantis. He’s not erasing teachings of slavery. He’s still allowing it as long as it’s not under Critical Race Theory(which is what an evil abomination like you is defending).

      1. yes yes, because I want to thoroughly make a point means I don’t know anything about George Orwell despite you literally never bringing up anything he ever says. If you think I don’t know anything about Orwell, then here’s an open door for you to enlighten me with words from Orwell himself. If you are unable to do so, then I think you need to rethink your ideas. And no, I am not using his name to defend Far left extremism. I’m literally a moderate liberal and I literally said myself “I think you can look through history and around the world and see elements of it on both sides of the political spectrum.” Is that not criticizing the Far Left? Both Animal Farm and 1984 have the most similarities drawn with the USSR. Snowball and Goldstein both resemble Trotsky and Napoleon in Animal Farm can be seen as a Stalin like figure. 1984 probably has the most similarities. Winston mentions the 3 Year Plans, a very clear reference to Stalin’s Five Year Plans which were meant to rapidly industrialize the Soviet state. 2+2=5 is a reference to a soviet propaganda poster which said “2+2+the worker’s enthusiasm = 5.” The anti-sex nature of Oceania in an either intentional or unintentional manner had similarities to the de-eroticized Soviet State. In a critical essay from Robert Gleckner,he mentions “Vera Sandomirsky [who] establishes the fundamental reality of Orwell’s vision of a de-eroticized society. As she puts it, the idea of Soviet virtue “means first the de-erotization [sic]of love and, secondly, the subordination of the sexual drive to the political and economic exigencies of the Soviet State. But there still remains a third aspect,…the most sinister of all: its use as a device for invading the one sphere of personal privacy yet remaining to the Soviet citizen.” I have said this before and I shall say it again, I do not support Far left ideas. I am quite opposed to them as I am opposed to far right ideas. And yes, systemic racism is real(clearly you haven’t looked up redlining because then you would realize America is kind of fucked up as a society) but that does not mean I hate America. I shall again say this, I criticize America because I want it to prosper in the future, so American society can improve itself. If anything, you are doing more harm by not recognizing the flaws and trying to fix them. Love isn’t absolute meat riding without any criticisms, that’s called extreme nationalism(much like that of Stalin or Hitler or Mussolini), sometimes you have to point out certain flaws. And that’s what I believe when I criticize America because it is out of the love of my heart. And if you keep saying I hate America, I swear to god I shove radium done your throat and watch as it slowly erodes your jaw so you can stop accusing me of hating the country that I was born in, the country that I love so dearly with all my heart, and the country that I would give my life for. Keep those dirty words out of your mouth.

        1. The only person saying dirty words is you. You clearly do hate America and want to see it burn to the ground, all because of the flaws it had. Instead of learning from the flaws and show that America has changed, you rather see it become communist. Because you’re an evil communist. You don’t America improved, you want to see it destroyed, you evil heartless abomination.

          1. What dirty words am I saying? I just want to remind you’re the one insulting me calling me a heartless abomination and a communist. You’re the one being uncooperative. And wtf is “Instead of learning from the flaws and show that America has changed, you rather see it become communist.” Wtf is that supposed to mean? I am literally criticizing America so it can learn from it. I really don’t understand your point. And yes, America has improved a lot since its founding, we got rid of slavery, eliminated Jim crow laws and other very clearly racist laws, and overall as a society have improved in equality and equity. However, that doesn’t mean we should just stop here. We still have a lot to improve as a country. We still need to solve the systemic racism that is so deeply ingrained in our society, high gun violence rates, and other major issues. I am not against the idea that America hasn’t improved, it’s just I believe there is more to be done. And none of that has to do with communism. It seems like all far right conservatives throw around communism as a buzz word with no idea what it really means. “Oh no, something I don’t like? COMMUNIST.” It’s insane, communism refers to a society where the everyone is equal and the working class rules the country. Does wanting to improve social equity sound anywhere close to that? Well now you’re gonna say “but you want people to stand on equal footing so COMMUNIST” as if that’s not called being a decent human being. Advocating for social equity doesn’t cause a revolution in where the working class seize the means of production and rule the state. That is what Marxist-Leninists advocated for. Which Stalin just so happened to be one of them. Stalin wasn’t socialist, he was a communist(he obviously incorporated nationalism too, I mean look at all the propaganda he spread). I mean the party is literally named “The Union of Communist Parties-Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” Stalin was a communist, and literally everyone agrees except you. Also, Hitler was not a socialist either, he was a fascist like Mussolini. Just because his party was called the “National Socialist German Workers Party” doesn’t mean he was a socialist. Have you literally listened to any of Hitler’s speeches? All he blames are socialists and he claimed the Jews were all socialist and made Germany fear and hate them. Plus, Hitler learned everything from Mussolini who was a undoubtedly a fascist. And I’m not sure if this was intentional that you believed Hitler and Stalin were similar but that goes to show you how similar the Far Left and the Far Right are. And mfer listen to me. How many times do I have to say this. I DON’T HATE AMERICA. I HAVE LITERAL SCALE MODELS OF US MILITARY EQUIPMENT, I HAVE VISITED MANY MILITARY MUSEUMS, I HAVE VISITED US WARSHIPS. IS THIS NOT OUT OF LOVE FOR MY COUNTRY? AM I COMMUNIST DESPITE MY LOVE FOR AMERICA? But you know what I have learned from you? It’s that you have lost and you resort to calling me things that you know I will get angry over. I offered you to show that I don’t know anything about Orwell. You declined. I told you why I think CRT is a perfectly fine idea. You don’t mention it again. I prove my point on sexuality, you refuse to pursue it as well. I rip on DeSantis about banning Math textbooks and you stop meat riding him. You have lost and you know it. I know you have literally nothing better to do with your mundane life(not unlike those of the Party members) than call a high schooler a “heartless abomination” and an “evil communist” despite having no idea what a communist actually is, but seriously. Take a chill pill. Read Orwell.

          2. @You’re not the most intelligent

            You’re the one who can’t read Orwell. All you’re doing is coping over me calling you out for being a hypocrite. All you’re doing is moving the goalpost. Because you clearly do hate America, and you’re just shielding yourself.

          1. I can’t read Orwell despite me being the only one in this discussion ever quoting orwell. How about you quote orwell you communist, heartless abomination (;

          2. @You’re not most intelligent

            There you go, going on an unhinged meltdown because you can’t except that Stalin and Hitler were both Socialists. You can’t quote Orwell. You’re moving the goalpost again. And you’re the communist, not me.

          3. Says the communist, goalpost moving, heartless, abomination (;

          4. @You’re not the most intelligent

            You’re the communist. And you’re the one moving the goalpost because you keep getting upset over someone calling you out.

        2. And no, “systemic racism” isn’t real. You’re looking in a Woke fantasy, which means you’re out of touch with reality.

          1. You know what, I’m tired of thoroughly slapping your sorry ass around every post I make. From now on I will repeatedly call you heartless abomination and call you a communist you evil, heartless, communist abomination 😉

  3. Let’s think about this differently. Both sides have their points 1984 can be twisted but that is why we remain confused and tribal. 1984 should be viewed as a landscape of our own individual fears, desires, instincts etc. This idea that it’s your side or my side is a misunderstanding of reality. There is no side. It’s only you. That’s it the outside world is irrelevant. Not to be confused with the sophists, but true never comes from what you perceive. It’s always internal. I AM WHAT I PERCEIVE. If I perceive society as chaotic and split its because I am. There is no truth outside you.

  4. Ah yes, another idiot talking about Orwell while knowing nothing about Orwell. And odds are Orwell would have shot. You do know who Orwell fought with during the Spanish Civil War, right? The far left Anarchist militia POUM. He signed up to fight the far right. You might want to read “Homage to Catalonia” and “Buremes Days” before you act like you are any sort of knowledge about the man. As to “2+2=5” I hear more of the from far right than the middle right (Dems). Here are some Orwell quotes that you’ll probably hate.

    “I have no particular love for the idealized ‘worker’ as he appears in the bourgeois Communist’s mind, but when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask myself which side I am on.”

    “When I joined the militia I had promised myself to kill one Fascist — after all, if each of us killed one they would soon be extinct.”

    “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it.”

    “The real objective of Socialism is human brotherhood. This is widely felt to be the case, though it is not usually said, or not said loudly enough. Men use up their lives in heart-breaking political struggles, or get themselves killed in civil wars, or tortured in the secret prisons of the Gestapo, not in order to establish some central-heated, air-conditioned, strip-lighted Paradise, but because they want a world in which human beings love one another instead of swindling and murdering one another.”

    “A normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is “weak,” “sinful” and anxious for a “good time.” Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price of life.”

    1. “You’re not the most intelligent” is the most evil and most Far Left user ever. That user support a dystopian world.

  5. I have to agree with your opinion Christian – sounds like Peck’s film will be one-sided and will completely ignore the brainwashing (including the medical tyranny) by the liberal elite. Interesting that Peck is making this film and mentioning the “Russian propaganda” angle since there’s an upcoming Russian feature film adaptation of “1984” to be released this year, which will surely be more interesting to watch than this vapid docu.

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