Yesterday, 3 March 2026, we saw the documentary “George Orwell”. Orwell’s prediction of Trumpism is remarkable. The title of his book is forty years off. Instead of “1984”, it should have been “2014”

The message, “The elite fools us by propaganda” should have been the focus. The lack of focus pulls the whole film down to the sensationalism. The images assembled in this documentary are shocking. Many images were new to me. Ten man hanged simultaneously, swinging together. The body of a boy washed ashore. Hiroshima flattened. Mass graves. The film does not stop presenting horror. Again and again. Viewing the film became a cruelty in itself. I just wanted to walk out.

The film fails to specify a relation between propaganda and cruelty. The cruelties would have happened anyway. No propaganda needed. On the contrary, at the time, the cruelties were hidden. Few people knew about concentration camps and gas ovens.

Moreover, the film undermines its own message by showing the thousands who came together in Washington under the banner “Black lives matter”. That was the opposite of government control . The “Black lives matter” movement showed that a mob can also be a force for good.