1984,

Totalitarianism, &
Historical
Reality
 'They do get so noisy,' she said. 'They're disappointed because they couldn't go to see the hanging, that's what it is....
'Why can't we go and see the hanging?' roared the boy in his huge voice.
'Want to see the hanging! Want to see the hanging!' chanted the little girl, still capering round.

In Oceania, capital punishment (such

as hanging) is used as a form of
entertainment for the masses. The
government encourages citizens to
attend executions in order to
distract the people from the
terrible oppression they suffer.

In addition, almost all of the movie

house films are war stories filled
with violent imagery for the same
purpose as above.

P U B L I C E X E C U T I O N S

Text Source
1984 p. 23, p. 11
Image Source
www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~yeelen/ index.shtml
V 1984
 Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh
wanted to be executed on national television. Many
Americans wanted to see this event on pay-per-view.
Some TV critics feel that it is only a matter of time
before the USA has live, televised, public executions.
Similar to 1984, this form of entertainment threatens to
distract citizens from more important issues.
The idea of televising executions has come up before.

In 1994, Phil Donahue, then a popular talk-show host, tried to get permission to televise
an execution in a North Carolina gas chamber. Donahue is a death-penalty opponent.

Convicted murderer David Lawson agreed to cooperate, but the idea was turned down by the
North Carolina Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Later in 1994, an Ohio judge was criticized worldwide when he sentenced a killer to death
and called for the execution to be televised.

“Since we have everything else on TV, let this be shown so the public can see there is
swift and certain punishment,” the judge said. — The Daily Oklahoman; February 10, 2001

P U B L I C E X E C U T I O N S

Reality
Text Source Image Source
The Daily Oklahoman; February 10, http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/09/mcveig
2001 h/
Credits:
Spiro Bolos
Kathy Konyar
Nancy Heintz