Me and the Big Guy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Me and the Big Guy | |
---|---|
Directed by | Matt Nix |
Produced by | Matt Nix Max Stubblefield |
Written by | Matt Nix |
Starring | Michael Naughton Dan Kern James Jacobus |
Music by | John Ballinger John Dickson (song "A Friend Like Me") |
Cinematography | Russ Lyster |
Editing by | Julian Gomez |
Release date(s) | 1999 |
Running time | 10 mins |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
IMDb profile |
Me and the Big Guy is a 1999 short film that satires Nineteen Eighty-Four by way of lampooning the fact that Big Brother is watching everyone, even those he'd rather not.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Directed and written by Matt Nix, this short film follows the life of unnervingly happy-go-lucky Citizen 43275-B (an antithesis of Nineteen Eighty Four's Winston Smith played by Mike Naughton), who despite the oppressive totalitarian regime and Thought Police looks ever forward towards returning home to tell 'the Big Guy' (played by Dan Kern) on the telescreen about his work-day.
In much the same manner as an imaginary friend acts, 'The Big Guy' never responds up until he finally becomes fed up with Citizen 43275-B and declares that he does not like being called 'The Big Guy' or even 'Big Bro'. But this intervention serves only to worsen Big Brother's predicament as 43275-B goes on to "amuse" him through a variety of ways: sock puppets, Boggle, hide and go seek, one-sided pillow fights, & knock-knock jokes.
As this further frustrates him, Big Brother finally announces the true nature of himself and society by telling 43275-B, "Let me explain something here. 'Big Brother' is a name we use to suggest an omniscient totalitarian presence. It's not supposed to be taken literally! I'm your oppressor, not your friend!" Just after 43275-B tells him how much happier he was after the Revolution and Big Brother came into being, Big Brother shuts off the telescreen in disgust and frustration. After several minutes, Citizen 43275-B realizes that the telescreen is not coming back on. He then retrieves a hidden cache of a notebook, pen and reading glasses, and begins to write his own guide to revolution, which may imply that he was intentionally trying to overthrow Big Brother by boring him until the telescreen was switched off.
[edit] Similarities with other stories
[edit] Nineteen Eighty-Four
Besides the obvious telescreen, there are some other references. 43275-B gets chocolate rations, the intercom says the chocolate ration was lowered by 9%, as the book says the ration was lowered, the film mentions mass (27) executions while Citizen rejoiced, and he keeps a journal like Winston Smith does.
[edit] Concerned
Me and the Big Guy shares many traits in common with the popular web-comic Concerned, with both featuring a happy-go-lucky citizen of an oppressive state that absolutely loves it and its leaders. The main character of Concerned, however, does not secretly wish to overthrow his oppressors.
[edit] We
We, the satirical novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin that provided much of the inspiration for Nineteen Eighty-Four features a narrator, "D-503", who through much of the story truly believes in the virtue of his utterly regimented, totalitarian state. Much of the comic tension derives from D-503's horror at his own emerging desire to shatter the order of the "perfect" society which is the only world he has ever known.
[edit] External links
- Me and the Big Guy at the Internet Movie Database
- Me and the Big Guy on AtomFilms
- Slamdance Film Festival listing
Characters | Winston Smith | Julia | O'Brien | Big Brother | Emmanuel Goldstein |
---|---|
Places | Oceania | Eastasia | Eurasia | Airstrip One | Room 101 |
Classes | Inner Party | Outer Party | Proles |
Ministries | Ministry of Love | Ministry of Peace | Ministry of Plenty | Ministry of Truth |
Concepts | Ingsoc | Newspeak (wordlist) | Doublethink | Goodthink | Crimestop Two plus two make five | Thoughtcrime | Prolefeed | Prolesec |
Miscellaneous | Thought Police | Telescreen | Memory hole | Goldstein's book Two Minutes Hate | Hate week |
Adaptations | 1956 film | 1984 film | 1953 US TV | 1954 BBC programme | Opera |
Influence | Nineteen Eighty-Four in popular media Parody: Me and the Big Guy |