The Silo

Recently, I’ve been very much enjoying the second series of Apple TV’s cinematic dystopian sci-fi show The Silo. I have found it a perfect example of how fiction can mirror reality so profoundly with subconscious messages flowing out through the dialogue and storylines to the wider public.

I’ve harped about this many times on various podcasts concerning the power of story and how much I realise it influences the collective but also acts as a cathartic healing exercise as we try to make sense and decode the reality around us.

I guess if you haven’t seen The Silo, and are one of those types of people who don’t want to know any aspects of the story before watching, I advise watch it and then come back to this article. But to be honest, I’m not delving deep into the storyline; I’m mainly describing the conditions and society of the Silo. But if, like me, you’re not so bothered either way, then strap in, and read on…

The Evolution of Storytelling with Streaming Services

Since the birth of streaming services from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and many others, depending on where you are in the world, the thirst for stories has never been greater. Gone are the days when I was a lad, eh yup, where you had maybe 15 – 20 VHS cassettes and a mixture of films recorded off the television all on hard rotation, watching the same films over and over again. So much so that even in the depths of adulthood, I can still recount the dialogue of certain films off by heart.

In my conspiracy news days of Reconsider News, I made a video concerning Netflix being a platform for potential disclosure. I felt there was a very distinctive shift into creating Sci-Fi content; this, in my view, has only snowballed since releasing that video a number of years ago now. Netflix’s and other platforms’ ability to influence global consciousness is especially powerful. I mean, the co-founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph, is the great nephew of Edward Bernays, the father of PR, Marketing, and propaganda. In fact, he wrote a book called Propaganda. The lineage doesn’t stop there; Edward’s uncle was the one and only Sigmund Freud, who, it’s safe to say, had some very strange theories concerning psychology.

Without a doubt, this influential power has been wielded negatively to propagandise, and again, in relation to sci-fi, much of it is relatively dystopian. There is an argument that as a society, we exist as a powerful collective of manifestors. So, is it possible a hidden hand is directly nudging us to manifest a restrictive, technology, surveillance-based reality by influencing the collective subconscious? But maybe, inversely, is there a positive element trying to influence humanity to think more galactically, shifting us into a more space-faring oriented species with a greater consciousness in technology and aspirations to push humanity forward?

Anyway, just a thought…? I’m drifting, stay on topic, Simon!

The World of The Silo

The basic premise of The Silo is that around 10,000 people are locked in an underground, tube-like silo consisting of 144 floors. The society is tightly controlled and surveilled; the majority of the residents don’t know why they are there. The outside world they can see through a large video screen in a cafeteria is deemed toxic, polluted, as if the planet has been scorched of all life by maybe a nuclear disaster. But overall the inhabitants have no clue why the ‘outside,’ as they refer to it, is so degraded.

Like most of the best Sci-Fi adaptations, this started as a trilogy of books authored by American Hugh Howey called Wool (2011), Shift (2012), and finally Dust (2013).

I have no idea about the differences between the TV show and the books, but the story’s main character in the show is Juliette Nichols, played by Rebecca Ferguson, a mechanic who works on the lower levels of the facility, fixing things and keeping the silo’s life support and energy generators operating with a team of other mechanics and engineers. The phrase ‘high-ups’ takes on a very obvious meaning, as the silo has a very pronounced hierarchy; the higher you go up the 144 floors, the more social standing people have and overall influence, with administration and governance all operating on the upper levels.

Control and Ignorance in The Silo

I personally feel that there are so many parallels in the silo that neatly mirror humanity’s challenges in our own reality. The mechanisms of psychological and technological control and surveillance are so pronounced and at odds with many of the awakened on this planet. As within our own reality, there are still so many that totally accept and remain unquestioning of the restrictive boundaries they are born into.

Juliette, after a series of dramas, is made sheriff of the Silo, initiating her into a perilous journey of truth-seeking.

As I mentioned, the world outside appears to be toxic; the general populace don’t know why, nor do they know how long the silo has existed, including any historical information concerning their origins. They see the stars but don’t connect that they’re on a planet in space, rotating around a sun, and the lights in the sky represent stars.

Expressing certain thoughts, such as curiosity over the outside world or suggesting maybe the outside isn’t toxic and unsafe, is a serious capital offence. Access to technology or artefacts from before the silo or any knowledge from the world outside of the silo is strictly forbidden. The preservation of secrets, the silo’s true nature and history, and overall ignorance is fully enforced collectively by the society as a whole via social pressure.

Any criticism of the power structures and governance is fiercely protected and harshly punished. Exploring hidden lower levels and other restricted spaces is completely off-limits.

So why all the restrictions? Well, the leadership feels this maintains peace and order, but of course, the higher-ups secretly have a certain level of knowledge and access to suppressed technology that the rest of the silo is denied the privilege to. As the show progresses, we learn that various rebellions have occurred through the generations of people wanting to know the truth. The rebellions have largely failed and forgotten; resets have occurred, and society has carried on with complete blanket amnesia.

Reflections on Our Own Society

For me, these aspects are all micro allegories, admittedly some more intense than others, again reflecting our own society. We appear to be a species dealing with a fog of forgetfulness. Sacred sites to this day are hidden or willfully destroyed and damaged. I’m pretty sure there are warehouses and underground facilities similar to the film Indiana Jones at the end of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ as the authorities hide away the recovered Ark of the Covenant along side a huge catalogue of other similar history breaking artefacts.

I think it’s wholly inevitable that ancient technology, artefacts, scrolls, and books of information all paint a very different picture of humanity’s origins and history, our amazing divine potential. All obscured and hidden through the eons, rendering us suppressed and ignorant.

I’m sure the hidden knowledge and awareness would break most religions, scientific thinking, and most definitely certain power structures.

The Veil of Misconception

You come into this world; you are told what is true. The idea of academic hierarchy and authority figures is drilled into you from a young age. “Well, I won’t question this because I’m not an expert.” It’s only later on in life you realise, oh right, they can be experts potentially in misinformation, or partial truths, or even unfortunately outright lies.

After a series of catastrophic awakenings, society within your own mind starts to crumble around you, and you can see beyond the veil of misconception, the facade of Maya as the Buddhists would call our illusionary-based reality. The majority of limitations that are placed on us collectively is through social pressure, people not wanting to stand out from the crowd, to leave the herd, to feel accepted.

The Message of The Silo

I’m attempting to paint a picture of how on the nose The Silo is in mirroring the collective subconscious and shadow of our society and the controlling and descriptive aspects of the surveillance apparatus that is becoming more and more pronounced in our world.

What’s interesting is how aware the writer is when forming these stories in his reflections on society. And how consciously is the viewer making the connection? Even if they are locked into mainstream thinking, can these stories subconsciously help to stimulate and break down the barrier to hopefully see things for what they are, dissolving the veil, restrictions, and illusions within their own mind?