Fahrenheit 451

[Leovinus]

After seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, I mentioned to my daughters that this was really named that way because of Fahrenheit 451. I rented the movie for them so they could see what it was. I never remembered that this film had not credits to read -- all of the credits were read by an unseen announcer at the start of the film -- kind of appropriate given the sujbect matter, eh? Nowhere in the movie did you ever see a single written word anywhere. In fact, the first words you ever see are "The End" at the end.<br /><br />Anyway, one of my daughters wanted to read the book. So we've been reading it together and we got to a point where Mildred is preparing for her role in the interactive TV play. She has been provided a script from the TV show telling her what her lines are. Then my daughter pointed out that in the book there were written words (the script). I read right past that without noticing. My explanation was that writing perhaps is ok if it is government-controlled, and one must believe that in the F451 future *everything* is goverment-controlled including the TV programming. But if that were the case, one would expect to see goverment newspapers in the manner of the USSR's Pravda. I think this was a mistake in the book -- either there is reading allowed or there isn't. In the movie, Mildred didn't know her lines (she had no script) but the TV show went on whether she spoke or not and she was so blitzed by drugs that she was convinced that she got all her lines right.<br /><br />I'm not sure if F451 qualifies as Sci-Fi for the purposes of this forum. So far, I haven't seen anything in the book or the movie which is fictional science -- unless it is the blood-replacement treatment to cure an overdose. It just so happens that this story takes place in the future. Does a story in the future qualify for Sci-Fi on that basis alone? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[5stone10]

Dunno !<br /><br /><br />Soylent Green was just on AMC - and the commentator mentioned that though it classified as Science Fiction, its really a murder mystery.<br /><br />Viewed that way - its a different film.

 

[Leovinus]

Turning people into green crackers might involve some sci-fi. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

There is a mechanical hound in F451 which I think now qualifies the book as Sci-Fi. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jcdenton]

It's a different kind of science fiction called "dystopia", in the same league as <i>1984</i> or the movie <i>Equilibrium</i>. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

not sure if Fahrenheit 451 is science fiction, but Fahrenheit 9/11 sure was!<br /><br />just kidding. very good catch by your daughter about the reading bit. was the script on paper or digital? maybe transient forms of print were allowed.<br /><br />I would definitely classify F451 as scifi. pretty much any realistic projection of history, whether towards the past or the future, is scifi to me. unrealistic ones too, although some of those may fall into fantasy. and there are some techie elements in it, no? the blood transfusion, the TV room, the little killer robot. of course, some sfici elements like these are more science "eventuality" than science fiction <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

dystopia is not in my dictionary. But I did see one web site describe it as "the evil twin of Utopia". <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

yup, a dismal view of the future. if you want to read some visionary, scary dystopias, try John Brunner, <i>Standing on Zanzibar</i> and <i>The Sheep Look Up</i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

I did some web research on F451 and found out why the symbol of the fire department was a salamander. (When I first saw the movie, I thought it was a fire-breathing dragon). Apparently, the salamander is supposedly able to go through flames unaffected. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[avaunt]

I think it is sci fi. We read it with our 21st century eyes, and it doesn't look sci fi anymore, but "Mildred is preparing for her role in the interactive TV play. " they would have called this sci fi, in the day it was written , right?. Even doing an outside broadcast was difficult, and they had no such thing as "Reality" TV.<br /><br />I think using even understood science, to do a strange thing, like say a steam train to travel underwater, is sci fi.<br /><br />It sure deserves its classic title, imho. Really blew me away, reading the "Firemans" mindset.

 

[avaunt]

Salamaders are immune to fire, in mythology, but it is more than an immunity, they have an affinity to it, and are said to be able to start a fire with their eyes, a fire that will consume everything except gold.

 

[CalliArcale]

<i>Fahrenheit 451</i> is definintely science fiction. It isn't "hard" SF, but it is still most definintely SF. It takes place in a dystopian future. That's a whole subgenre right there -- dystopian futures. Ironically, the book "Utopia" by Thomas Moore almost counts as a dystopia! Oftentimes, the dystopia is lauded by its creators/government/whatever as being the perfect utopia, but a major element of the story is to show how wrong that is.<br /><br /><i>1984</i> and <i>Brave New World</i> are probably the other two of the three most famous dystopian novels. All depict an authoritarian government that strives to make sure its citizens don't realize the truth and remain content in their sugarcoated worlds. In both of them, the government strives to maintain complete control over the written word, and this is how they maintain their supremacy. Another good example is <i>Logan's Run</i>. More recently, the philosophical dystopia has given way to grittier post-apocalyptic futures, which were especially popular in the 80s (hence movies like <i>The Terminator</i>), but they're closely related genres.<br /><br />I've always been fond of these kinds of stories. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

I liked "The Road Warrior". <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[nacnud]

You must be a fan of J G Ballard then, he seems to specialise in these kind of books.

 

[CalliArcale]

Nope; I've never read any of them. <img src="/images/icons/shocked.gif" /> Seriously, I've been very behind in my reading lately. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[claywoman]

Its been ages since I read the book, at least 45 years or so, but I believe there is a passage in there toward the beginning where it explains briefly, that reading from a telescreen or something is legal, just paper books are illegal, any and ALL paper books, that's why the firemen burn them.