Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

They responded to it on a visceral level - there was enough action to keep them awake.  They discussed the references to 1984 - they all had read this book or were very familiar with it. They caught the iconography and the verbal references to the book - the large screen of the Chancellor - the shades of "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH".  They discussed the gunpowder plot.  My son, who recently read Eric Idle's "the Road to Mars", which contains references to the gun powder plot  had researched this iconic first act of terrorism.  He contradicted the notion that Guy Fawkes had been caught in the Houses of Parliament, mentioned that he was not born a Catholic but was a convert and had been recruited as he was a bomb technician, not because he was a terrorist,  more like a mercenary.  I have yet to fact-check this.   My son also got the reference to Emma Goldman "If I can't dance, it's not my revolution!" - he had studied her in Social Sciences at school.  They discussed the references to our current tragic political situation.  They quoted the clear references in the use of new euphemisms - rendition, collateral damage.  They caught the idea of the sequence of America's decline following a series of adventurist wars - Iraq, Syria, economic decline, civil-war.  They understood the contemporary references to avian flu, Guantanamo.  In addition, they pointed out the parody of  the TV host "The voice of London" as being somewhere between Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.  More disturbingly, they immediately understood the idea of the deliberate development of a virus using human subjects as guinea pigs and its use on the domestic population to create the climate of fear to allow the ascendancy of a crackpot politician who combines religious fervor, totalitarianism and profiteering.  They thought the movie was better than the Matrix.  One of them mentioned it was the first big blockbuster movie dealing head on with homophobia.  Another disagreed and cited Brokeback Mountain.  He countered that this hadn't made it to as many screens. They all noted the references to Bush's America, war profiteering and the loss of civil liberties.

In the finite amount of time it takes for a dad to drive these boys home there is only so much that can be discussed.  

On a final note, they mentioned that V masks are likely to be a big item next Hallowe'en.  Having lived in London for the first 30 years of my life, I wonder whether we in America should "Remember, remember the 5th of November".