Reality and Fantasy
Think about the blurring lines that separate reality from fantasy; news from entertainment; and the media, messages, and messages' recipients. Leaving aside arguments concerning the nature of reality, consider what's going on in broadcast media. An upcoming TV crime show CSI (fantasy) deals with a victim from a reality show. So-called "reality shows" are obviously contrived in plots, settings, and probably in participants, who aren't ordinary people when production crews finish coaching them.
What about the latest interactive edutainment that converts a TV into a toy? Children play with the set via a DVD and a hand-held device with content and a wireless connection to the DVD player. Heaven knows what's going on in the kids' minds when they have the ability to control what they see and hear. It's hard enough to teach children the difference between reality and fantasy even when it's clear to an adult!
The third incident that spurred on this thought-train was a review of Margaret Drabble's The Red Queen in the October 24, 2004, San Diego Union-Tribune by University of San Diego English instructor Bart Thurber. He remarked that the novel contains many references, and Her sources are real, he said. He also alluded to Nabokov and Umberto Eco as planting fantasy references in their books. It made me think of Brown's Da Vinci Code, Amish in the City, and back to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, all confusions of fantasy and fact, presented as reality.
What about the latest interactive edutainment that converts a TV into a toy? Children play with the set via a DVD and a hand-held device with content and a wireless connection to the DVD player. Heaven knows what's going on in the kids' minds when they have the ability to control what they see and hear. It's hard enough to teach children the difference between reality and fantasy even when it's clear to an adult!
The third incident that spurred on this thought-train was a review of Margaret Drabble's The Red Queen in the October 24, 2004, San Diego Union-Tribune by University of San Diego English instructor Bart Thurber. He remarked that the novel contains many references, and Her sources are real, he said. He also alluded to Nabokov and Umberto Eco as planting fantasy references in their books. It made me think of Brown's Da Vinci Code, Amish in the City, and back to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, all confusions of fantasy and fact, presented as reality.
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 3:14 PM
1 Comments:
I actually found “Amish in the City” to be one of the few “reality” television shows that I could actually stand. For the time being, I live in one of the most heavily populated Amish communities in the United States. I found that this show actually showed an honest, and mostly accurate portrayal of Amish society, while doing it’s best to educate both the audience and cast-mates as to the intricacies of the Amish lifestyle. This, of course, is not what made the show stand out. The greatest quality of the show, in my opinion, was that “Amish In The City” attempted showed the potential and variety of life outside of the Amish community. This seemed to affect the “city kids” as much as it did the Amish. The most winning quality of "Amish In The City" was that it reflected just how isolated most people were in their own lifestyles, certainly more so than "The Real World" has since its third season.
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