Re-reading George Orwells classic and I was struck by a couple of lines I'd never noticed before.
Films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizons of their minds.
To keep them in control was not difficult.
The bloke was a visionary.

No mention of boobs, not that visionary!

You could say he'd got boobs covered in the breeding reference in the full quote. Plus he referred to petty quarrels which has the Bunker covered as well.

The full quote is "So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern...Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult."

I'd imagine it was much the same in 1949 when the book was written. All are much more accessible to the masses mind but that was inevitable surely?

A lot of the posts on here beside the actual footy revolve around the subject mentioned.

Strangely enough, I downloaded 1984 in French yesterday for the missus to read. She doesn't seem to grasp what a dystopian society is, or how a lot of things that [your country's govt] are doing are taking us down that road.
I tried the boiling frog analogy with a modicum of success but I said the best was to read the manual.

I'll get there eventually.

"Four legs are good, but 2 legs are better".

Just realised I have never read 1984. Don't know why, I have read Animal Farm and other Classics.

I hope you have read Animal Farm Mr Bishop and you aren't one of these people pretending to have read the book having seen the film.......in this case big difference, big big difference

50 Shades of Neigh?

Room 101.

A good few years ago I bought ten books in a set that were all banned in their time, "Lady Chatterley's Lover" etc. I enjoyed "A Clockwork Orange", as I understood the subject was basically an infant, growing to an adolescent, then to an adult. However "Bonjour Trieste" (I think the title) was very poor.

All ten were "Risque" and banned in their time, but by today's standards are "Tame".

The Ministry of Truth that only dealt with lies
The Ministry of Love that only dealt with hate
The Ministry of Peace that only dealt with war.
Sounds like that City on the Potomac in 2017

That probably applies to every year of its existence.