To the editor: I enjoyed reading Michael Hiltzik's perspective on the continued relevance (and wonderful hilarity) of “Dr. Strangelove” and its prophetic description of some American psychoses. I thought the piece was “double better.”
This phrase is “newspeak” from a similar iconic work that appeared 15 years before Kubrick's film: George Orwell's “1984.”
The ubiquitous telescreens in the book prefigure the security cameras and facial recognition technology that are becoming increasingly common today. Privacy is virtually impossible in “1984,” and today, our privacy is constantly eroded by giant corporations that have access to mountains of our personal information.
The characteristic emotion of the ruling party in “1984” is hatred. Today, hate and its consequence, violence, are fueled by public figures seeking to maximize their profiles.
The most disturbing thing is that in “1984”, everything the party says must be true. In our country, we now find that millions of people devoutly believe that an election has been stolen, all legitimate evidence to the contrary, since the Big Brother of the moment tells his followers that this is so.
Orwell intended his book to be a warning against Russian-style totalitarianism, but it has proven to be a grim prophecy about American democracy and the dark shadows of human nature within.
David Chambers, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: Hiltzik reminded us that history has value when he wrote about the relevance of “Dr. Strangelove” to this day.
Readers should also look at the 1961 masterpiece, “The Nuremberg Judgment,” to see that today we stand at an important crossroads, a crossroads that many have faced before. We will see in less than a year if we can learn from history.
David Lappen, Santa Monica
