No really, I have some unhealthy obsession with these oppressive regimes. Ask, what am I reading now? Yes, yes - I'm reading Nineteen Eighty-Four. Again. (I think it is the only piece of "legitimate" literature that I have ever enjoyed and chosen, voluntarily, to reread. Not that I consider fantasy illegitimate, but I feel that fantasy/sci-fi often gets the shaft, because there simply are a lot of extraordinarily crappy books out there. They're not helping with the image. I would alternately, like to say, likewise, there are crappy books in the 'normal' genres, but simply, people don't see it as I do? That's another rant.... :D) There are a number of other dystopian novels, like Ayn Rand's Anthem come to mind, sitting on my bookshelf like dark reminders of what this world could be like in the wrong hands. Ask me what are the general schemes of my desktop? Dark, 'dreary' grey (so I have been told, although, I certainly don't consider it dreary. I would call it more of an industrial flair, verging on austerity and minimalism; I do appreciate functionality. Ask me of the colors in my room. I would state, simple black desk, black book shelf, black plushy chair, steel rug (it has the softest, silkiest strands!), black bed frame, black comforters (as they were until I changed them to my winter, yes, steel grey comforters). How about the walls, and their adornments? Oh yes, there's Equilibrium, with its corny "In the future where freedom is outlawed; outlaws will become heroes." The movie is really like a remake of Nineteen Eighty-Four... How about the other wall? Hah. There's an enormous (and I do mean enormous) V for Vendetta poster. What about the music roaring through my ears, thrilling my mind? None other than Muse's new album, The Resistance.
Sitting down here, at my ebony desk, staring at my grey, minimalist, customized computer, and typing this out (and the background, fyi is a Combine, staring down and representing that authority that cannot be beaten) I cannot help but wonder...why do I feel drawn to such a crazy thing? (As an aside - I do have strange tendencies anyways... but, still - it's not something one can list in one of those surveys: "List your favorite interests...")
I think there is something about the heroes that arise from these societies that capture some strange interest of mine. They are often the single, ordinary man, oppressed yet still resilient in small fine ways. They are the one man against the majority, the Underground, rebels defying the puppeteers that threaten the essence of humanity: freedom. It is like pitting a speck of dust against the universe - what is it that a man can do against such a great force? Under the overwhelming circumstances, some manage to topple the impervious dynasties, while others are crushed and absorbed back into the populus, forgotten. They are the black sheep of the masses, waking from the reality and seeing things as what can be, what should be. They are the visionaries, they are the resistance - and that is so incredibly appealing to me. I am a fairly model citizen, observing rules fairly fastidiously, yet internally I cherish the idea of free reign... But, more seriously, I guess in my own small way, I would like to be a person who sees the world beyond what it is now. I like to see things as what can change, what can be made better. That future is enticing, even if I cannot reach it - even if I cannot reach it ever. I am always grasping at the elusive tomorrow, imagining what technologies, societies, wonders lay beyond the clasps of ponderous time.
But, that's all talk. Maybe someday I can do something - maybe my ideas will become coherent, and maybe these will bring revolutionary change for the better. Maybe I won't, but it doesn't hurt to dream of it first.
Meanwhile, I'll keep an eye on these fictional (and not so fictional...) oppressive regimes. Remember, Big Brother is watching you.
Yup you.
-Lila *shrugs and skips off*