I Am Legend, Minority Report

The horror genre is synonymous with images of terror, violence and human carnage; the mere mention of horror movies evokes physical and psychological torture. As remarked by noted author Stephen King “the mythic horror movie…has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized.” (King, 786). At manageable intervals, we choose to live these horrific events vicariously through the characters in horror movies and books as a means of safely experiencing the “what if”. The horror genre allows us to explore our fears, be it spiders, vampires, loss of our identity, or death of a loved, under the most fantastic and horrible

The film mainly focuses on the after effects of 9/11 and how congress was able to pass the Patriot Act in motion to strengthen security within the United States. But the issue with the Patriot Act, was that it allowed multiple civil

Big Brother is the face of the oppressive government of Oceania. There are posters everywhere conveying a message that you are always being watched by Big Brother. This feeling of constant surveillance through telescreens and secret microphones all over Oceania invokes fear to all the people. As the novel states, “Always eyes watching you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed – no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.” The telescreens are very dangerous to be around because the slightest of abnormality could expose you to be a thought criminal. Even in the comfort of one’s own home, while working, there is not a time that the Party is not monitoring anyone for suspicious activities. Big Brother represents the fear in people. Fear is continuously exploited by the Party throughout the book. “Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage…” This quote explains to us that there will still be fear in the future because the foundation of their world is made up of rage. Big Brother is the biggest figure that everyone fears, even at the end of the book. Hence this shows that the meaning of fear is unchanging. The proles are easily manipulated because a frightened population is easier to control

I Am Legend depicts morality as derived from the beliefs of one man. The novel takes place following the end of society caused by war, drought, and widespread disease. In the pre-apocalyptic society morals are formed through a general consensus reinforced through traditions that are centuries old. However, the society that once was no longer remains in I Am Legend. Following the collapse of human civilization and the death of almost every human, morality becomes a completely egocentric principle. Robert Neville is the only human to be immune to the vampiric disease. As such, he believes that he is the only sentient being. He is the last surviving person, the last relic of an era. With a loss of society, there is no one

An example that shows this is the mid-shot of Anderton’s flight scene where Anderton escapes in his vehicle, but the control of it is taken over by Precrime in order to take the protagonist to police premises. This shows that in this futuristic society everything is under surveillance even our command over vehicles is lost. Not only does the government have control of the vehicles and mass surveillance, but it also knows practically any given moment where each person is. As a result, the government has the power to control the citizens using extreme surveillance and take away any freedom or privacy that they have. With this in mind, Steven Spielberg wants us to understand what the future can lead to if power is taken advantage of which results into extreme control. As the citizens give up some of their freedom so that the government can protect them but as the government gains more control it would undoubtedly abuse its

I Am Legend addresses cultural anxieties that were occurring during the 1950s when Matheson wrote the novel. Neville is the last man on Earth and sees everybody around him as Others, causing him to become misogynistic and indirectly racist. He descends into a mental state in which everybody around him is better off dead because they are different.

Big Brother is the name of the Party Leader in 1984. This quote is seen throughout the novel and it literally means that you are being viewed. Everybody is being watched all the time. The Party monitors every aspect and everything that the citizens do and they make sure that everyone knows that they are being watched. This quote influences how the characters act, speak and live their lives. Big Brother is similar to the National Security Agency (NSA) because they monitor our phone calls and our online activity. While they do not watch our every move, they are able to monitor much of the activity of many Americans without disclosing they are doing so. Social media is monitored. In 1984 and in everyday life, we sacrifice our privacy for protection.

If the US does not change their viewpoint on spying on innocent citizens lives we might find ourselves in a situation similar to the society present in the novel 1984. Overall, the use of surveillance to control citizens is noticeably present in both 1984 and the present day society as in both cases these governments monitor citizens, turn on those who speak out, and use a paranoia as reasoning to

"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran"(2). Big Brother, who has not been confirmed as an real person, is a symbol in the novel who serves as the face who represents the Party. The government governs the state and although the main purpose is to ensure it's citizens of safety, some ways of ensuring may be seen as an invasion of privacy, or not being as helpful as claimed. The idea of always watching is a theory that has always been spoken upon, and the strong themes in 1984 could serve as ideas to give to being able to watch it's citizens, even in plain sight. The government using technology or other forms of surveillance is not impossible, and in 1984 it seems to be quite easy to do

For years authors have used style to provide readers with dystopian literature in order to bestow them with a radical view of a potential future based on fatalistic qualities of their present societies. Authors have played upon our fears for decades. For example, Ray Bradbury with his frightening opinion of the future Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell pulling his audience into an alternate universe in which he thought to be the world’s ominous future. Movies bring the viewers into new territories using cinematography and costumes to introduce people to a frightening possible future. Films allow the dystopian areas to be built. For instance, The Giver creates an entire “community”

Living in a society where the government is constantly watching and monitoring everything a person does can cause many problems throughout the area. When people living in the area start to realize what the government is doing, they want to take action into their own hands. In the contemporary novel, Little Brother, and in the classic novel, 1984, this in one of the main challenges that the protagonists have to go through and try to figure out how to stop the government.

The government creates laws for us to abide by while knowing everything we do. Similarity, Big Brother’s laws have a big impact on the characters’ lives and is able to control them. People fear the laws, since they know the outcome if they choose to be individual, and go against the law. As said in chapter one, "Big Brother is watching you (Orwell, 3).” They have cameras and surveillance everywhere so the government knows your every move. People in higher parties have more freedom and inside information of what is going on, than those in lower classes. Various states and governments still continue to exert increasing vigilance and control on the public through the media in guiding and dictating how people live and interact. The National Security Agency (NSA) used a top secret court order to collect telephone records on millions of Americans without their consent. The order demanded Verizon to provide records on an "ongoing, daily basis" to the federal government on calls both within the United States and other countries. This is just another step in the NSA plan to collect and track data on the American people. The NSA has quickly become the largest and most intrusive intelligence agency devised by

In George Orwell’s,1984, novel he introduces the story with the concept of “Big Brother” a picture of a mans face and eyes following your every move with the caption always watching you. This idea shows that the government is always spying on everyone's move and to make sure they stay in line. Their government deceives their citizens and brainwash them into thinking what is wrong is good for them and if they do not follow their rules they will be severely punished. Since their government is not able to trust enough to not follow the rules behind closed doors they set up these machines called telescreens, “the telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously.” Any sound or move they made was picked up by the telescreen to the Party, their

Ten days after the election of 2004, a movie came out that was a nationwide sensation: National Treasure. This movie is full of historical references that watchers could easily deliver back without knowing that they could conjure up that information. National Treasure was a hit nationwide because it took a subject that few people knew about and turned it into an action packed historical thriller. While National Treasure was created as a response to the lack of interest ¬and old, subconsciously retain crucial information from the film.

The film, I Am Legend is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It was released on December 14th, 2007. This film is actually the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name from 1954. Smith plays virologist Robert Neville, who lives in New York City in 2012, which is inhabited by animalistic victims of the virus. He is immune to a vicious man-made virus originally created to cure cancer and works to