A feelie is a fictional form of entertainment that appears in the 1932 dystopian sci-fi novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. They are a type of film in which the viewer is able to feel all the sensations felt by the protagonist through the use of advanced technology such as a "scent organ", pneumatics and an electric field. In the novel's fictional universe, the masses are kept satisfied using feelies as part of a routine of "synchronized amusement". They commonly depict pornography, and resemble early cinema's focus on spectacle over actual plot.
Feelies are described as a form of "imbecile" entertainment that allows the masses to be controlled by fulfilling their desires. In a major scene of the book, the character John, from the low-tech and "savage" Malpais Reservation, goes to see a feelie called Three Weeks in a Helicopter. Pornographic in nature, its sensual indulgence enrages John in a similar manner to Huxley himself being angered by sound being added to films. [1]
While the movies of the era the book was written were increasingly being made in the United States, the feelies in Brave New World are depicted as locally-made, developed over 22 floors of the "Bureaux of Propaganda" in London and the "Hounslow Feely Studio", whose buildings stretch over seven and a half hectares (19 acres). The real-life venue for Three Weeks in a Helicopter, the Alhambra Music Hall, was ultimately demolished in 1936 to make way for a theatre, reflecting Huxley's fears that mass-produced entertainment would replace art. [1]
Huxley's idea of feelies was a reaction to the recent emergence of sound films (or "talkies"), such as The Jazz Singer (1927), which was controversial at the time and saw a number of detractors. Huxley believed that the introduction of audio was excessive, writing an essay in 1929 called "Silence is Golden". [2] He believed sound cheapened the film's emotional impact, and imagined a future where pleasure was so easily obtained that it became dull. However, he struggled to make it truly appear unexciting. [1]
In the 1950s, the advent of widescreen technologies, such as CinemaScope and Cinerama, provoked anxious predictions in the press that it would lead to the development of feelies as movies became increasingly immersive. [3] With the emergence of the video game industry, the word "feelie" was used by the company Infocom in the 1980s to describe the physical supplements that were shipped with its games, which were also used as a rudimentary form of copy protection. [4]
In 2013, writer Adam Kirsch stated his belief that feelies would be invented before he died. He noted that while the technology had not yet come to pass, sexuality has seen greater liberation, and vulgarity had been "commodified" in a similar manner to Huxley's predictions, especially via the Internet. [5] Feelies have been noted by critics as resembling the later advent of virtual reality. [1]
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by the story's protagonist. Huxley followed this book with a reassessment in essay form, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962), the utopian counterpart. This novel is often compared as an inversion counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 (1949).
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, sex films, 18+ films, or also known as blue films, are films that represent sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse, fascinate, or satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films represent sexual fantasies and usually include erotically stimulating material such as nudity (softcore) and sexual intercourse (hardcore). A distinction is sometimes made between "erotic" and "pornographic" films on the basis that the latter category contains more explicit sexuality, and focuses more on arousal than storytelling; the distinction is highly subjective.
Hardcore pornography or hardcore porn is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal, oral or manual intercourse, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast with less-explicit softcore pornography. Hardcore pornography usually takes the form of photographs, films, and cartoons. Since the mid-1990s, hardcore pornography has become widely available on the internet, making it more accessible than ever before.
Island is a 1962 utopian manifesto and novel by English writer Aldous Huxley, the author's final work before his death in 1963. Although it has a plot, the plot largely serves to further conceptual explorations rather than setting up and resolving conventional narrative tension.
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985) is a book by educator Neil Postman. It has been translated into eight languages and sold some 200,000 copies worldwide. In 2005, Postman's son Andrew reissued the book in a 20th anniversary edition.
Technophilia refers generally to a strong attraction for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones, and home cinema. The term is used in sociology to examine individuals' interactions with society and is contrasted with technophobia.
Brave New World is a 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley.
"Bread and circuses" is a metonymic phrase referring to superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD, and is used commonly in cultural, particularly political, contexts.
Brave New World is a 1998 television movie loosely based on Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel of the same name. The film stars Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy. It is an abridged version of the original story. The film aired on NBC on April 19, 1998.
"Patent Pending" is a science fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1954. It was also published as "The Invention". It later appeared in his collection Tales from the White Hart.
A dystopia, also called a cacotopia or anti-utopia, is a community or society that is extremely bad or frightening. It is often treated as an antonym of utopia, a term that was coined by Thomas More and figures as the title of his best known work, published in 1516, which created a blueprint for an ideal society with minimal crime, violence, and poverty. The relationship between utopia and dystopia is in actuality, not one of simple opposition, as many dystopias claim to be utopias and vice versa.
Science, Liberty and Peace is an essay written by Aldous Huxley, published in 1946. The essay debates a wide range of subjects reflecting Huxley's views towards the direction of society at that time. He puts forward a number of predictions, many of which resonate far beyond the time when it was written. A consistent theme throughout the essay is Huxley's preference towards a decentralised society.
Brave New World is an American television film first shown in 1980. It was also shown on the BBC that same year, and is an adaptation of the 1932 novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley.
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler is a 1971 science fiction film directed by Bob Wynn and starring Leslie Nielsen, Bradford Dillman and Angie Dickinson. This was one of the earliest films to depict medical exploitation of cloning, even though the term was not used. It was shot on videotape and transferred to film for theatrical and TV release. Gold Key Entertainment commissioned this film at the same time as it commissioned the film The Day of the Wolves, and tried to persuade Ferde Grofe to film that on video because of the cost savings, but he declined.
Huxley on Huxley is a 2009 documentary directed by Mary Ann Braubach, narrated by Peter Coyote and includes interviews with Laura Huxley, drummer John Densmore, spiritual leader Ram Dass, Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy, artist Don Bachardy, philosopher Huston Smith and actor Nick Nolte, star of the adaptation of Aldous Huxley's 1955 novel The Genius and the Goddess. The film features archival footage of Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Mike Wallace, and Igor Stravinsky, and photographs from Laura and Aldous Huxley’s personal collection, as well as other historical archives.
Brave New World is an American science fiction drama television series loosely based on the classic 1932 novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley. It premiered on the day NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock launched, July 15, 2020. In October 2020, the series was cancelled after one season.
The following bibliography of Aldous Huxley provides a chronological list of the published works of English writer Aldous Huxley (1894–1963). It includes his fiction and non-fiction, both published during his lifetime and posthumously.
A feelie is a physical item included to supplement a video game. Likely deriving their name from the fictional media in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World, feelies were popularized by the American video game company Infocom in the 1980s and subsequently adopted by such companies as Origin Systems and Sierra Entertainment in the United States and Namco and ASCII in Japan. Becoming less prevalent since the rise of digital distribution, feelies are now limited primarily to deluxe editions that are sold at a premium.
A feelie is a type of physical extra supplements to video games