Complit 131 Brave New World

Marina Goldman

Historically, some governments strive for as much control over their civilians as possible, however the methods by which they attain control vary vastly. A common example of this is punishing or rewarding certain behaviors and virtually brainwashing civilians into submission, and two works that epitomize these strategies are “The Pedestrian” and Sleepdealer. “The Pedestrian” is a science fiction short story published by Ray Bradbury in 1951. Set in 2131, the narrative follows an outcast by the name of Leonard Mead as he wanders aimlessly through a town of reclusive TV-watchers. Sleepdealer is a science fiction movie directed by Alex Rivera in 2008 that centers on Memo, a man searching for work, in a futuristic Tijuana that runs on virtual labor and remote connectivity. Both works depict dystopian societies where immersive technology is the apex of day-to-day life; from entertainment to communication to fields of work, people live through technology as much as they live by it. Moreover, the corrupt governments behind these stories utilize this technology as not only a means of suppressing their civilians, but also as a medium for jingoistic propaganda.

Leonard Mead’s society mediates experience through television screens, which reduces the lives of the civilians to uncanny, all-consuming technology. The narrator of “The Pedestrian” describes the town by explaining that, “Everything went on in the tomblike houses at night now..,” (193). By subjecting the civilians to such powerful technology, the government eliminates half a day of unpredictable civilian activity, maintaining absolute control until nighttime. However, at night, the narrator mentions that, “ill-lit by television light, … the people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their expressionless faces but never really touching them,” (193). The light which “touch[es] faces without really touching them” evokes the uncanny moment in which the eerily similar depiction of reality through the television screen demands their attention more than the real thing itself. The viewers can experience the outside world without ever having to leave their home, eliminating the need to set foot outdoors almost entirely. In fact, “the sidewalks had been vanishing under flowers and grass,” (192). This resurgence of nature in a technology-driven world indicates how obsolete sidewalks have become in the face of television; the government has such a strong-hold over its citizens through their television screens that nature was able to reclaim, literally and metaphorically, the streets due to their lack of use and lack of maintenance. Despite the padding provided by the grass on the sidewalks, Leonard Mead still, “wore sneakers when strolling at night, because the [police] dogs in intermittent squads would parallel his journey if he wore hard heels” (192). Leonard Mead’s corrupt, totalitarian government is so hell-bent on controlling civilian activity that they set police dogs out on people who refuse to be kept inside watching television. By keeping people inside through totally immersive entertainment, and afraid to go outside from severe punishment and surveillance, the government ensures complete control over their civilians.

In Memo’s case, experience is mediated through nodes which are essentially headphone-jack-implants that allow for connectivity to all of life’s concrete and abstract experiences. On top of providing wholesome entertainment, such as chatting with friends on the other side of the globe, and hedonistic thrills, like sexual intercourse and intravenous drugs, the nodes also widen job opportunities. While the government does not directly punish those without nodes, they strongly incentivize civilians to install nodes for a much more fulfilling lifestyle. Memo installs his nodes illegally out of desperation for work to keep him and his family alive, demonstrating the stronghold that the government has over its civilians. Because of nodes’ prevalence, Memo has no choice but to submit to the invasive technology to ensure his and his family’s survival.

However, the jobs that nodes create vastly exploit and exhaust their workers. For example, Luz, Memo’s love interest, records, narrates, and sells her memories to anonymous users online to dig herself out of debt. The government created a medium for people to invade their own privacy for the sake of money, allowing the government a limitless window into their civilians’ lives without the risk of violating people’s rights. Since people uploaded and publicized their information themselves, the government cannot be blamed for viewing it, and therefore can survey their civilians and use what they see for whatever they want. The government’s devout encouragement of exploiting oneself for money further demonstrates how far they are willing to gain control of their civilians, and how far they are willing to push their civilians into compliance. Memo works in the sleepdealer factory constructing buildings through virtual reality technology in remote areas for 20 or more hours a day. In fact, the sleepdealer factory gets its name from the fact that their workers can collapse from exhaustion, or in some cases even death. The government, which drove the corporatization of node work, pushes the impossible decision between survival and comfort to the limit to squeeze as much as they can from people desperately trying to make a living. Yet again, the government cannot be blamed for the citizens pushing themselves past the breaking point because they cannot be held responsible for incidents that take place at a job that they did not directly force on the workers, allowing the government to escape responsibility but enjoy the fruit of other people’s labor and sacrifice. This strategy demonstrates controlling civilians through government manipulation as well as squelching.

Beyond being immersive and all-consuming, the technology ingrained in Leonard and Memo’s societies are both powerful, twisted mediums for jingoistic propaganda. During his walk, Leonard asked the houses about what they were watching, including the question, “‘Where are the cowboys rushing, and do I see the United States Cavalry over the next hill to the rescue?”’ (192). Leonard’s comment evokes vivid imagery of American heroism, which is especially highlighted by the use of the word “rescue.” In this way, the government is showcasing American greatness through cowboys and cavalry, harkening back to slaughtering native peoples to pave the way for Anglo-American societies. Given that the only escape from the suffocating grasp of the television is punishable by law, the viewers have no choice but to watch propaganda that glamorizes the very society they might be living in. Moreover, this propaganda depicts the punishment inflicted on those that pose a threat to American progress. In essence, this program is not only an extolment of Leonard Mead’s society, but it is also a direct warning to those who try to stand in the way of or rebel against their society. Leonard Mead’s innocent hobby of taking late night walks instead of watching television is condemned by the police force as a “Regressive Tendency”, and sends him to a psychiatric center to be studied for such behavior, (194). People are so enchanted by the programs the government broadcasts that a refusal to watch them is perceived as not only a threat but a neurological defect that must be studied and cured. Essentially, the government has so thoroughly engrained and idolized itself in entertainment and mass media, that escaping from such broadcasts is the equivalent of disrespecting or rebelling against the government. Moreover, the punishment for such escapism is enforced not only by police but “corrected” through scientific methods. This strategy of intimidation has worked so well for Leonard Mead’s government that “Crime was ebbing; there was no need now for police,” (193).

In the same vein of broadcast patriotism, Memo’s society has a television program solely devoted to filming militarized drone attacks, steered by military sleepdealers, into the homes of suspected terrorists. One of these military sleepdealers is named Rudy, who steers a drone directly into Memo’s house, killing Memo’s father instantly. Memo, as well as every other worker with nodes, puts their life on the line every day to serve their government. Risking exhaustion, blindness, and in some cases death, the workers sacrifice not only their comfort but their general safety and survival for the sake of supporting their government, their society, and the rest of the people who live in it.  Through building gleaming, majestic skyscrapers in remote areas, too expensive for anyone in his class to afford to live in, Memo is literally and metaphorically building up and advancing his civilization. Even more so, military sleepdealers, such as Rudy, leave their work day with the guilt of killing suspected terrorists; despite the fact that they were directly instructed to do so by their superiors, there is no escaping the guilt of ending another person’s life.

Leonard Mead and Memo’s governments have the exact same goal of dominating their civilians, but go about it in very different ways. Leonard Mead’s government deploys a vicious cycle of intimidation and glorification: the government directly punishes people from leaving their homes to the point where the civilians are terrified to go outside, so they stay inside and get brainwashed by their television that reminds them of how great their superiors are and the consequences of defying their superiors’ demands. Memo’s government fervently incentivizes nodes to the point where life without nodes is the equivalent of death, but the nodes are so draining and dangerous that they can lead to death as well. Despite their inherent extremism and fantastical qualities, both of these stories pose the question of how far contemporary governments are willing to go to get what they want.

Works Cited

Rivera, Alex, director. Sleepdealer. Maya Entertainment, 2008.

Bradbury, Ray. “The Pedestrian.” Brave New World, 2nd ed., Night Shade Books, 2011, pp. 191–195.