In his influential book Amusing Ourselves To Death, Neil Postman compares Orwell’s 1984 with Huxley’s Brave New World. While both books are assumed to prophesize the same thing, there is an important difference according to Postman. Orwell tells the story of a society oppressed against their will by an external force, whereas Huxley tells the story of self imposed oppression though an addiction to amusement. Postman wrote the following words in 1985, but they are eerily applicable to today’s society: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.”
I am aware this is a unusual way to start a post, but the new The Crooks record made me think a lot about Postman’s book. You see, Mediacracy is a concept record that revolves around the influence that media and social media have had in recent years on people’s lifestyle and culture in general. It’s a topic equally worrisome and fascinating and one that offers a wealth of inspiration to artists. This certainly applies to Italian veterans The Crooks – the record marks the band’s 25th anniversary. The songs on Mediacracy are extremely melodic, and the band effortlessly switch between pop punk, powerpop and ’70s glam with huge choruses. I don’t think The Crooks claim to have the solution, but I’m glad they draw attention to the issues at hand. Above all, they sure make being angry and worried about the state of our society sound good.
Mediacracy is out now on LP through Maninalto! and ProRawk.
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Wow Niek, that first paragraph was the most thought-provoking intro to a music review I have read in a long time. Makes me want to go back and read brave new world. for some reason, 1984 sunk more deeply into my memory banks, and i never made that distinction between the 2 books’ view of the future.
the part that i find the MOST SCARY (que scary Halloween music) is that our current society is a mix of both visions!
And with that, I will start my Spotify stream of The Crooks on Spotify, and open up a beer. Cheers, and thanks for the recommendation!
Thanx for your response! 🙂 1984 also made more of an impression on me than Brave New World, although Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite – I tend to see these three books as interconnected. Now I’m thinking of doing a reread of BNW as well…