Ramin Bahrani's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon, is out Friday. Ahead of the HBO Films production's release, Jordan joined Stephen Colbert on the Late Show to discuss the dystopian classic, Black Panther's continued success, and more.
After discussing his method of penning backstory-filled journals for his characters, including Black Panther's Killmonger, Jordan discussed the importance of the Fahrenheit 451 source material. "Ray Bradbury wasn't a Luddite, you know, he loved technology," Jordan said. "Our adaptation is based around the technology that we have today. ... He was against media, he was against advertising in the sense of dumb images, of numbing your senses and not being able to free-think, not being to critically think and problem-solve."
In the new adaptation, Jordan plays so-called "fireman" Guy Montag. "Guy Montag is the poster boy for burning books and art and music and controlling the internet, basically what goes up on the internet," Jordan explained. "It's kinda similar to what we're going through today."
That similarity, Jordan added, is part of what inspired him to take the part. "If we don't start making conscious decisions and asking questions and resisting what we're constantly being fed, we're on a slippery slope down a way where we don't want to be," he said.
After you catch the movie Friday, you should definitely peep the book if you haven't already.
