Lost is perhaps the ultimate in TV fiction. The storytelling is the stuff of vivid imaginations and it's gotten millions watching and wondering and tuning in for more. Of course, in the midst of all that fantasy, some things we've taken as fact, like most of the technology. For instance, I don't know about you, but I believed those satellite phones they've been using since Naomi parachuted onto the island last season were the real thing. Well, guess what, it's no more of a reality than Mr. Spock's tricorder on Star Trek!fiction-related stories
Big shock - Lost uses fictional phones
Lost is perhaps the ultimate in TV fiction. The storytelling is the stuff of vivid imaginations and it's gotten millions watching and wondering and tuning in for more. Of course, in the midst of all that fantasy, some things we've taken as fact, like most of the technology. For instance, I don't know about you, but I believed those satellite phones they've been using since Naomi parachuted onto the island last season were the real thing. Well, guess what, it's no more of a reality than Mr. Spock's tricorder on Star Trek!Continue reading Big shock - Lost uses fictional phones
My Super Sweet 16 movie coming to DVD - VIDEO
So, according to Best Week Ever, a fictional, straight-to-DVD movie has been made based on the popular MTV reality series My Super Sweet 16.
I've placed the trailer below, along with another video featuring sick and injured kittens. This is part all part of a psychological test I'm performing on myself to see which footage will cause me to attempt suicide first. So far I think the Super Sweet 16 footage is the winner. It's pretty much caused me to lose all hope in humanity, and solidified my belief that God hates us. I can feel my desire to live slowly slipping awidfnifdopi;fedei
Continue reading My Super Sweet 16 movie coming to DVD - VIDEO
Underdog ticks off Rhode Island governor
The live-action Underdog movie has been shooting in Providence, Rhode Island, and as part of the shoot, crews have had to gussy up the Statehouse and surrounding elements to make everything fit with the theme of the movie. That's par for the course when a film crew descends on your town, but the crew also replaced Rhode Island's state flag with a flag for a fictional city, and Governor Don Carcieri took offense and demanded that the flag be removed. I think someone forgot to tell the governor that the movie is based on a fictional character who exists in a fictional world, and is not, as he must have assumed, based on the true-life tale of a rhyming canine who can fly.Desperate Housewives: It Wasn't Meant To Happen
This was one of the better episodes of the season. Well, it
was one of the best in my book. We had less Susan and more Applewhite, Scavo and Van De Camp this week, and that meant
more answers than questions. Though there wasn't a lot of the Solis family, what we did see was surprisingly
heartbreaking for a couple who aren't typically in such a situation.Obviously, with only three episodes left, we're seeing things finally start coming to a close, though so far it's really no match for what we saw in this series' first season.
Continue reading Desperate Housewives: It Wasn't Meant To Happen
In the Limelight: John Swartzwelder
Who in the world is John Swartzwelder? Trust me, if you watch The
Simpsons, you know who John Swartzwelder is. He has been a writer for the show since the first season, and has
penned more episodes than anyone else. You know all those references to old time America and obscure, antiquated
sayings? You can blame Swartzwelder for at least part of that.
Continue reading In the Limelight: John Swartzwelder
Will reality TV go too far?
Floris Vermeir wrote an interesting piece for Blogcritics about what might happen if reality TV ever gets out of hand. In a nutshell, she envisions a Truman Show kind of experiment where the "star" of the program is unaware they're being filmed and manipulated. Oddly enough, she never cites The Truman Show, even though it illustrates more or less exactly what she's talking about. She writes even further to explain how this would be considered a kind of slavery, and, we can assume, not a very good idea.
I don't see such a show ever seeing the light of day, at least not on television. I think the real question to ask is: If such a show existed, would people watch it? I think they would, and it's because despite having the word "reality" affixed to these programs, they're still very much fiction. To paraphrase an English professor from Todd Solondz's movie Storytelling, "Once you start writing, it all becomes fiction." No matter what medium you work in, and no matter how much you try to use "real" people or base it on true events, the end result will be tainted by your own subjectivity. Taping someone without their permission would be inexcusable, but placing a television barrier between "actor" and audience creates fiction, and it creates detachment. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, just watch the evening news.
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