Read ‘1984’ first if you’re going to use it to make a statement

Roughly 200 theaters screened the film adaptation of “1984” this week in protest of President Trump, according to AJ+, which is owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network.

One of the event’s organizers, Dylan Skolnick of New York, told Al-Jazeera the screening was well-timed considering the White House’s budget proposal includes cuts to arts and humanities programs and public broadcasting.

George Orwell’s dystopian classic is about a future in which the government knows all, sees all and violently punishes dissenting thought. The government has its hand in everything, including what is read and watched.

Commandeering Orwell’s novel to protest attempts by the current administration to reduce the federal government’s influence in public programs, particularly those dealing with the arts and humanities, suggests the people behind the screening event would do well to read the book again, this time more closely.

Proceeds from ticket sales will reportedly go to local organizations.

The “National Screening Day” event was the idea of Skolnick as well as Adam Birnbaum of Connecticut, according to Al-Jazeera.

“The pair began talking after the US presidential election about organizing a film event to express how they felt about the new administration,” the report read. “Skolnick [said] he realized 1984 would be the perfect film to show given the current political climate in the US.”

The New York native also told Al-Jazeera, “In particular, this undermining of the concept of facts and the demonization of foreign enemies [by Trump] really resonate in ‘1984.’”

They chose April 4 as the day of the screening because that’s the same day that “1984’s” protagonist starts a journal as his first small, but significant, act of rebellion against “Big Brother.”

“There’s a central line from the book about the freedom to say that two plus two equals four, even when the government is telling you that two plus two equals five,” Skolnick said. “It’s a great book and it connects with a lot of things that are happening right now.”

“No one is suggesting that we’re living in Orwell’s world. But the road to that world is people just becoming disengaged and allowing their government to do whatever it wants,” he added. “This is really designed to get people to be talking and discussing and active in the political conversation that is happening in America right now — and throughout the world, it turns out.”

Okay, fine. But the diminution of government influence in areas of private activity is precisely the sort of thing that “1984” suggested was a good thing. Anyway, the best take on this issue (as usual) comes from the “DPRK News Service” parody Twitter account: