A Short History of Hate

This paper analyses how the theme of hate depicted in Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been transformed in representations – from the BBC’s live television production by Nigel Kneale and Rudolf Cartier, in 1954, to Ridley Scott’s commercial for Apple computers in 1984. It goes on to consider the significance of artist Terry Flaxton’s video that was shot separately on the set and the meanings to be drawn from the interviews with east London skinheads who took part in the group-hate scene. The paper argues that Orwell’s dystopian vision offers an inspiration for understanding how the nature of hate has changed from individual performance in community assemblies and mass rallies to what might be defined as an ‘aggregation of behaviours’. The hate of today is not to be found on television, in advertising campaigns or festival documentaries but in Twitter storms and social media bullying.