Theme of Technology in Fahrenheit 451 and Video Killed the Radio Star

The use of technology is continuing to change every day. A topic depicted in many texts; an example of a book is Fahrenheit 451, and a music video would be Video Killed the Radio Star. Fahrenheit 451 is a fiction novel about a dystopian society written by Ray Bradbury. Demonstrated throughout the book is how our relationship with technology impacts our quality of life. This impact has Montag questioning his purpose in life, so he embarks on a journey seeking out answers. Video Killed the Radio Star, a song created by The Buggles released in 1980, concerns the technological change in the 1970s. Both texts capture technological advancements and how these changes can be problematic. The song and music video tells us that videos will be the death of radio; the novel tells us that technology will be the death of books. Both texts tell us that videos can keep us from noticing what is happening around us. In Fahrenheit 451, people do not realize they are not in control. In the song, people ignore the societal change happening because they are focused on videos. However, both have someone who is recognizing the changes caused by technological advancements. 

Written in 1979, Video Killed the Radio Star referred to everyday digital media developments. As televisions became more accessible for the average family in the 1970s, people slowly switched from radio to videos. Families were turning to televisions for news and entertainment instead of tuning into radios shows, a trend that signaled a shift in media consumption. The lyric "Video killed the radio star" (The Buggles). is meant to be taken literally; the increased popularity of television as a source of entertainment and information ultimately brought an end to the radio industry. Found outside of the words is the same message; the visuals in the music video help capture this point. From the time stamp 2:10 to 2:17, the background is a collage of radios. Since the radios are in the back, they are supposed to go unnoticed. When something is considered insignificant, it is in the background. Then, two televisions with videos on them rise from the ground. They physically rise from the bottom to symbolize the rise in popularity of video media. Hence why the televisions are in front of the radio collage. Because as videos become popular, radio media gets pushed to the back. The camera zooms in on the TV removing the radios from sight, representing how radios will slowly become nonexistent as videos become the main focus. 

Like the moment in Fahrenheit 451 when Captain Beatty says, “Then – motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have mass.” (Bradbury, 51). Here, Captain Beatty is referring to the technological advancement happening within their world. By saying the word mass, he is implying that motion pictures, radio, and television have grown to be more popular than books. Beatty continues to say, “books appealed to a few people, here, there, every-where.” (Bradbury, 51). Beatty is telling Montag that as entertainment became technology-based, books became less and less popular. Relating to the concept of Video Killed the Radio Star since that song talks about how the technological development of videos killed the popularity of radio shows. Both these moments in the lyrics and novel demonstrate how new technology can erase old forms of media.

Next, Fahrenheit 451 portrays a technologically addicted society distracted from its real problems. All the technology and media create an environment where people have no time to think and are too distracted. They are unaware of the issues in their society. For example, Mildred is so obsessed with the parlor walls that she is not concerned with what happens outside of them. 

“The bombers crossed the sky and crossed the sky over the house, gasping, murmuring, whistling like an immense, invisible fan, circling in emptiness. "Jesus God," said Montag. "Every hour so many damn things in the sky! How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives! Why doesn't someone want to talk about it? We've started and won two atomic wars since 1960. Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world?” (Bradbury, 69). 

"Every hour so many damn things in the sky! How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives” reveals that Montague had not noticed the bombers until he started thinking for himself. Nor does anyone else notice them because they are so engaged with their screens. When Montag says, “Why doesn't someone want to talk about it? We've started and won two atomic wars since 1960” it is revealed that the story is set sometime after two atomic wars, but no one talks about how much the world has been affected by those wars. The final question, “Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world” suggests that everyone has become so distracted and isolated by technological entertainment, like the parlor wall in their homes, that no one can recognize what goes on around them; such as not recognizing the two wars.

The song has a lyric that goes, “and now we meet in an abandoned studio.” (The Buggles). Referring to a theory that as videos become popular, we will slowly stop listening to the radio; therefore, causing people to lose their jobs as radio hosts. Later in the song, it says, “put the blame on VCR.” (The Buggles). The Buggles tell us that we can ignore that people are losing jobs because we are satisfied with watching a video on a VCR. The VCR is a form of entertainment that distracts people from recognizing a societal change. The VCR keeps people entertain and happy. So, they choose not to think about the issues caused by losing radios. In Fahrenheit 451, the citizens are unaffected by what goes on around them because they have videos and parlor walls; the people in the 80s were unaffected by a massive change in society because they were happy they had videos. At the time stamp 2:24, the camera zooms in to an up-close shot of a television as they sing the line “put the blame on VCR.” Close-up shots tell the audience that something is the main element. Therefore, the close-up shot is The Buggles blaming videos, so they want the viewer to know that the television is a major factor in the death of radio and a key reason as to why we aren’t talking about this change in society.   

Lastly, both texts tell the story of someone realizing that technological advancements are not always beneficial. Montag went on a hero’s journey after he met Clarisse and he began to question society. When Montag started to read books, he realized that they still hold knowledge and thoughts from before society was dictated by technology. Montag can not afford to make the same mistakes made in the past if he wants to bring books back. Granger compared learning from our mistakes to a phoenix: “But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes.” (Bradbury, 156). He says people can recognize when a mistake is made, therefore we can stop ourselves from making it again. The quote is relevant to Montag’s goal of undoing the past error of burning books. Granger additionally told Montag that they are, “going to build a mirror-factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them” (Bradbury 157). Granger is making a promise for a better future and how they will reflect on themselves and society. 

The Buggles are like Montag in the fact that they wrote a song to spread awareness on technological changes. A lyric in the song says, “And now I understand the problems you can see.” (The Buggles). This lyric is talking about someone seeing the problems that technological advancements are causing. Like how Montag notices the problems of technology and getting rid of books, The Buggles recognize the issues caused by videos becoming more popular than radio shows. For example, since radio shows are losing popularity, people could lose their jobs as hosts because there will be less and less need for radio shows as people are not listening to them as often.  Demonstrated in the music video at the time stamp 2:13. The radios in the background are a mixture of red, yellow, and black. In contrast, the televisions are only black and brown. If something is coloured, especially in a primary colour, it’s usually to appear pleasing. While black and brown things are not so appealing to the eye. The Buggles are portraying radios in a positive light by adding colour, and the televisions in a less positive manner by making them darker. Meaning, The Buggles think we should consider radios as an equal or superior for of media. Matching how Montag sees books as the superior form of media.

When all is said and done, technology will continue to grow and change every day. The Buggles song Video Killed the Radio Star, and Fahrenheit 451 tell us; as technology develops, we will lose older forms of media. Also, how we use new forms of media as a distraction to ignore the changes. However, both the song and novel take note of this change. Montag goes on a journey to fix the past after recognizing the problem. The Buggles wrote this song to spread awareness of the change. Both texts recognize the potential issues of technology. Ensuring us that we should always look back to the past. Furthermore, they describe how we should not become too obsessed with new technology.