Equilibrium
The film Equilibrium, which is about a dystopian society in which human emotions are removed from society by means of drugs in order to end war and murder, has a considerable amount of similarities to the novel 1984 by George Orwell. First, it most obvious to point out the similarity in the “name” and authority of the leader of the state, which in the case of Equilibrium is “the father” and in 1984 “big brother”. By the end of each narrative, we learn that each is not actually human, but more of a symbol. In Equilibrium we learn that “the father” was once a living person, but passed away several years prior to the occurrence of the narrative present in the film. In 1984 there is never any information given that leads us to believe that “big brother” ever was a living human being. In both cases, these authority figures are represented by a human face. This human face is referred to or shown several times throughout each of the narratives. The name of each authority figure is very similar in that they use a term that refers to a member of the family that is often seen as being of a higher authority. The father is often seen as the head of the family, while the big brother is often seen as a family member that “watches over” you and protects you. Another similarity between the two narratives of 1984 and Equilibrium is the protagonist in each ends up discovering a paperweight with an isolated object inside. In 1984 the object is a piece of coral and in Equilibrium this object is a miniature of the Eiffel Tower. Both of these paperweights represent the same thing in both narratives. They represent the protagonists’ isolation from the rest of society. In the case of 1984, Winston is isolated from the brain-washed community of the Outer Party by his thoughts of rebellion. In Equilibrium, Preston is isolated from the rest of society because he is the only one (outside of the “underground” and the very few who have not been caught yet) that is feeling. Both protagonists’ sense of isolation leads them to attempt or succeed at rebelling against the totalitarian authority.