So he understood the Simpsons, a Clockwork orange, and 1984 except thought that the subject matter was being praised rather than being shown as a bad thing? I am going to assume the other referenced media is the same.

I don't think you need to set yourself on fire to convince people shits fucked and getting worse. But. I don't think it is because of "that"

[–] robinn_IV@hexbear.net 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

He was right about 1984, it’s defeatist nonsense.

[–] BirdyBoogleBop@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I took 1984 as more of a cautionary tale rather than defeatest

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I recently had an interesting discussion where someone interpreted the pessimistic ending as a result of successful in-universe propaganda from the Party, and that all the shit they said was just gaslighting and lies to make themselves seem omnipresent and make resistance seem hopeless.

I don't think this was the intended message but the author is dead, we can make up our own head canons and no one can stop us!

[–] Nonameuser678@aussie.zone 4 points 7 months ago

If you interpret the appendix as an ending then it's a lot less pessimistic as it implies that all totalitarian regimes eventually fall.