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Big Brother Is Watching: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"In an era when everything can be surveiled, all we have left is politeness."''|[[Neal Stephenson]], ''[[The Diamond Age]]''}}
Greetings, Tropers! This is your friend, Mister Wiki, speaking to you. We all know you love All The Tropes (though some could love it better -- but do not fret our beloved [[Secret Police|Trope Police]] are eager to [[Cold
Now, Tropers, don't worry. [[Sinister Surveillance|We won't abuse this power.]] We'll just watch a few of the trouble makers. But nobody will know ''when'' we're watching, so we'll all have less to worry about. I know there are [[Dystopia|problems]] [[Crapsack World|in the world]], but they can all be sorted out. <s> [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|We have never been at war with The Other Tropes Wiki.]]</s>
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{{smallcaps|[[Orwellian Editor|Strength Through Editing]].}}
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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== Comic Books ==
* The Leader from ''[[V for Vendetta]]''.
* In ''[[Batman and The Outsiders]] Annual'' #1, [[Well
** Then there was the time ''[[Batman (Comic Book)|Batman]] himself'' created the "Brother MK 1"/"Brother Eye" satellite to "observe" all of the supertypes of [[The DCU]].
* ''The Black Dossier'', a sequel to ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''. London is just wriggling out from life under a dictatorial regime; they had in the pubs!
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== Literature ==
* Big Brother, who is still watching, from ''[[Nineteen Eighty
* From 1921, twenty-eight years before ''[[Nineteen Eighty
* The whole point of Kafka's short story "Before the Law" in the book ''The Trial''.
* IT, from the ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''. IT definitely existed and was watching, no question at all about IT.
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* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
** They have several main weapons.
*** Among them are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless effeciency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|nice red uniforms.]]
* The alternate universe Manservent Neville from ''[[The Middleman]]'' episode "The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome." Notable because it turns out that {{spoiler|the alternate Wendy Watson}} is [[The Man Behind the Man]].
* Big Bunny from ''[[The Goodies (TV)|The Goodies]]''.
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* The Computer in the ''[[Paranoia]]'' [[Tabletop RPG]].
** I think you mean ''Friend'' Computer, you Commie mutant traitor scum.
* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'''s Adeptus Arbites (think if [[Judge Dredd]] worked for Big Brother), as seen on the quotes page. ''And'' the [[Church Militant|Ecclesiarchy]], ever-vigilant for signs of heresy, and who'd like to remind you that [[God
* ''[[Feng Shui (Tabletop Game)|Feng Shui]]'''s 2056 juncture, in keeping with 1984-style dystopian fiction, is all over this trope. The Buro uses bugs called Loyalty Roaches which are basically genetically-engineered roaches with miniature cameras and microphones to monitor the populace for signs of traitorous activity. The "ecologically safe" pesticides of 2056 won't kill those things, but bug sprays from the contemporary juncture do a bang up job on them, and are a nice sideline for secret warriors who operate in 2056.
* The Ministry of Panopticon of the [[Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|Seers of the Throne]]. Their purpose is described as twofold. Use Space magic and advanced surveillance equipment to monitor and control the flow of information, and release ''just enough'' of what they learn through this into the public consciousness to create a pervading sense of paranoia, which will alter how people will act (if people think they are constantly being watched, then they will not act in a manner they don't want others to see). Their symbol is, of course, an enormous eye.
* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'', everyone is near-constantly being monitored - but it isn't the big scary government that's watching. It's the big scary [[Mega Corp|Megacorps]]. Every transaction you make, every ad you show interest in, your habits, your demographics, everything about you is observed and filed away so that they know how to get you to buy more stuff from them. Only if you make them lose money will they give a damn about you otherwise.
** ...[[Subverted Trope|And they suck at it]]. See, the big thing about private ownership is that they loathe loaning out information to other megacorps, which becomes a problem when one of those corps is [[Law Enforcement, Inc.|Lone Star]]. Add that to the interdepartmental rivalries, the hackability of camera networks, and the fact that most runners have two braincells to put together, and a runner can be halfway across the continent after Mr. Johnson (a term for an anonymous employer) has erased all record of transactions.
* [[Exalted]] has the Orb and the Scepter, two mighty artifacts that can be (and one of them is) used to control the population of a great city-state by making them perfectly obedient to the laws and orders of the ruler. Those who disobey get punished (based on the severity of their crime) by pain, agony or horrifying death, and all of this is inescapable. The population even has a magical eye-shaped mark on their left hand, and there are proclamations of "His eye is always upon you" everywhere in the city. There are also laws on dress code, with bright colors being forbidden for anyone who is not a memeber of the aristocracy. Veeeery creepy...
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': "There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
* [[The Simpsons|Springfield]] became like this in one episode when they hired a man from Great Britain to install cameras all through the town. Ned Flanders was employed as one of the monitors and soon has the Big Brother complex. In fact, in his [[My God, What Have I Done?]] speech, he lampshades it by saying that he just wanted to be a [[Morality Pet|Little Sister]] instead of a Big Brother. And he, along with Homer, go [[Redemption Quest|about the city]] [[Status Quo Is God|shooting the cameras with shotguns.]]
** In a [[Halloween Episode|Tree House of Horror]] story Homer jumps from one [[Alternate Universe]] to another, in one of them Ned Flanders uses methods that fit this trope as "Over All Lord and Master of the World".
* In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]] Rule'', Buttercup fantasy of how the world would be if ruled by her included a propaganda titled "Big Butter is Watching You" where she threatened to punch anyone who didn't follow her rule.
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[[Category:Self Demonstrating Article]]
[[Category:Big Brother Is Watching]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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