Big Lie - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four refers to the Big Lie theory on several occasions. For example:

• "The key-word here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts."
• Definition of doublethink: "To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed...."

In Roald Dahl's novel Matilda, Ms. Trunchbull makes a habit of tormenting the schoolchildren so outrageously that one character remarks that she may be doing this in order that any children to report their mistreatment would not be believed.

Frank Zappa continually referred to "the Big Lie" in his book, The Real Frank Zappa Book. He used it to describe organized religion, government, and the music industry. The song "When the Lie's So Big" from Zappa's 1989 album Broadway the Hard Way also dealt with the concept.

Richard Belzer defines The Big Lie, in his book UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe, this way: "If you tell a lie that's big enough, and you tell it often enough, people will believe you are telling the truth, even when what you are saying is total crap."

In Six Days of War, by Michael Oren, "The Big Lie" is used in a similar context to describe the widespread accusation (primarily by Syria and Egypt), that the Arab defeats during the Six Day War were a consequence of direct United States and United Kingdom military intervention. According to Oren, the use of this falsehood by Syria and Egypt further alienated the US and also critically worsened relations with the Soviet Union, which wished to avoid further escalation.

Marillion's 1994 release Brave opens with a song titled "Living with The Big Lie", about propaganda in the Western world.

In 2002, French journalist Thierry Meyssan wrote a controversial book called 9/11: The Big Lie, which argued that the 9/11 attacks were the result of a conspiracy by the United States government.

Ian Fleming referenced the "Big Lie" in his James Bond book On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he had the pilot of a helicopter, who had flown it through French airspace illegally, respond to the flight controller's question as to who authorized the flight that he (the flight controller himself) had authorized it.