Monday, April 25, 2005
Fiction - again
When did fiction lose its status? I recently bitched about the Vatican up in arms about the Da Vinci Code and telling its members not to read it. Not too long ago there was a big ruckus over a movie called The Day After Tomorrow saying it showed stuff that wasn't real. Now I just finished reading an article in the Sunday paper about the CSI effect and how it affects real-life trials.
Again, and I am repeating myself here, it's FICTION folks. The book is fiction, the movie is fiction and the television show is fiction. You may find it hard to believe (actually I guess you won't) but not everything in print, on the big or little screen, or, dare I say it, the Internet, is not true. So when you're standing in the supermarket line and you read that Madonna gave birth to a three-headed boy from Elvis, it isn't necessarily true. When you see a movie that shows the White House being evaporated by an alien mothership, I wouldn't run out and cancel your vacation to Washington D.C. And while yes, that $29.95 Gonzo knife special demonstrated at 2AM may be the best collection of kitchen utensils ever made, it's unlikely.
Now in my case, I'm probably over cynical, but I rarely believe anything I read or see the first time. I usually have to have to some kind of confirmation. Does the paper say the sun is going to rise at 6:33AM? Well, maybe, but one of these days it won't and that day may be tomorrow. Did the local news report that the Lions won the Super Bowl? OK - bad example, no one would believe that - but you get my drift. Where's your source? I'd put a lot more weight on a story if it's ABC news, that if it's found in someone's blog (yes, like this one). However, I'd feel a lot safer if NBC, PBS and the Washington Post all report the same thing. One or two may get something big wrong, but it's unlikely they all will.
Just remember - some things are FICTION, that means they aren't supposed to be true. Tom Swift didn't build and Flying Lab and you don't get a DNA test back in twenty minutes. And although I've never actually seen it, I'm pretty sure the Eiffel Tower does stand in Paris, and the Liberty Bell has a crack in it. Not everything is fiction, some things are true - just remember there's a difference.
2fers: CSI (fiction) and CSI (non-fiction)
