Big Brother
Always watching state
Big Brother is the all-seeing dictator in George Orwell's novel *1984*, whose face appears on posters with the slogan "Big Brother is watching you." The term now refers to any oppressive government surveillance or authoritarian oversight: Security cameras on every corner feel like Big Brother.
The reality TV show *Big Brother* plays on this by putting contestants under constant observation. (Lowercase big brother is an older male sibling.)
Bidirectional broadcast surveillance device
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
- Room 101Personalized psychological torture location
- Ministry of TruthState falsification agency
- memory holeDevice for erasing history
unperson · Oceania · Goldstein · proles · thoughtcrime · 1984 · O'Brien · surveillance
Visual recording devices
- trackingMonitoring location over time
- wiretappingCovert phone surveillance
- spyingSecretly observing others
- eavesdroppingSecretly listening to others
data collection · facial recognition · CCTV · panopticon · watchtower · informants · dossiers · metadata
People sharing a dwelling
- evictionForced departure from rental
- nominationFormal candidate selection
- live feedReal-time video transmission
- head of householdFamily's chief decision-maker
veto · alliance · showmance · CBS · Channel 4 · contestants · voting · elimination
Person others emulate
- guidanceAdvice for decisions
- volunteerUnpaid willing participant
- at-risk youthYoung people facing hardship
- supportTo uphold or sustain
telescreen
Bidirectional broadcast surveillance device
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
- Room 101Personalized psychological torture location
- Ministry of TruthState falsification agency
memory hole · unperson · Oceania · Goldstein · proles · thoughtcrime · 1984 · O'Brien · surveillance · watching
cameras
Visual recording devices
- trackingMonitoring location over time
- wiretappingCovert phone surveillance
- spyingSecretly observing others
eavesdropping · data collection · facial recognition · CCTV · panopticon · watchtower · informants · dossiers · metadata · profiling
housemates
People sharing a dwelling
- evictionForced departure from rental
- nominationFormal candidate selection
- live feedReal-time video transmission
head of household · veto · alliance · showmance · CBS · Channel 4 · contestants · voting · elimination · competition
role model
Person others emulate
- guidanceAdvice for decisions
- volunteerUnpaid willing participant
- at-risk youthYoung people facing hardship
- reality TVSurvivor, contestant, The Bachelor, elimination, The Bachelorette
- helpersnurse, helper, volunteer, aide, assistant
- Channel 4Channel 4 News, Countdown, Derry Girls, Father Ted, The IT Crowd
- Fictional LeadersPalpatine, King Lear, Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Macbeth
- Orwelliannewspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Ministry of Truth, Room 101
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
Big Brotherprivacy
Freedom from observation
anonymity · invisibility · encryption · off the grid · data protection
Big Brotherliberty
Absence of unjust constraint
freedom · individual rights · civil liberties · democracy · self-determination
big, brother, bigger, brothers, biggest, bigly, brotherly, brotherhood, bigness