Non-Fictional Prose

It seems to me that Orson Welles got real enjoyment out of deceiving and confusing his audiences. The two performances that we have looked at in class (War of the Worlds and F for Fake) both work to mislead people. (War of the Worlds by accident and F for Fake entirely on purpose.) 

I found myself confused at numerous points in F for Fake, along with many other members of the class. However, while watching the movie, I just assumed that being slightly confused and off balance was part of the appeal of the movie. I think that this slight ambiguity (who everyone was, what was going on) was part of the air of confusion that Orson Welles wished to create in his documentary.

While watching this film I was struck by the editing - the splicing in of different shots in an almost frenetic way gave the movie a fast pace and a flashy air. The editorial presence of Welles himself was strong as well, and he was shown in some scenes to be sitting at his editing desk going over the footage. The heavy emphasis on editing coupled with the disputed 'real-ness' of the film made me think that I was watching the first example to reality TV, or perhaps the inspiration behind the kind of programs we see today.

As someone who has listened to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast many times recreationally, having it on my iPod, you might think that it doesn't seem "realistic" anymore. 

But there are parts, particularly those towards the middle of the first half, before the intermission, that when I'm not attending to the recording entirely I get that weird, pulling, gut wrenching feeling of realness. That what I'm listening to is not a track on my iPod, but a radio station discussing some kind of cataclysmic event occurring in New Jersey. 

I've read War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, as well, several times. The stories differ, as does the voice, the time, even the tone. 

When looking at the definitions of Reality under the  OED online, I found that their definitions were contradictory to one another. Some stated that reality was based on what is real or true rather than desired or imagined,  making a definitive claim towards reality being based on something that is of so called actual existence. But other definitions explored the varying sense of the word. For instance, one definition ( the first  one on the list) stated that reality was " The quality or state of being real."  This definition, as I said in class, made me question what was exactly meant by "quality." When I looked up "quality" on the Merrian-Webster dictionary, one of the definitions said that quality was "degree of excellence".

 It was very interesting to listen to other people's experiences with dictionaries in class. It was also interesting to see how different dictionaries sometimes provide different word definitions especially Urban Dictionary. I found myself placing more trust in older dictionaries and those dictionaries that provide the origin of the word. I also trusted the dictionaries that provided me with an explanation and history with the definition not the definition alone. I find it also more helpful when dictionaries use phrases to explain the definition of the words.

 Fingo, Fingere, Finxi, Fictus - v., 3rd conj., "pretend, feign, disassemble."; from the Proto-Indo-European word meaning, "to mold."

In Latin, words do not have a direct translation. Instead they have "senses." For example, the "sense" of the adjective, "honestus" is "honorable" or "commendable"; either "honorable" or "commendable" would be an appropriate translation of "honestus", depending on context. Context determines the meaning of a word; words have no concrete meaning on their own - they only have "senses", the innate properties that mean nothing without surrounding verbal framework. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imjio167nJo

War of the Worlds Trailer (1953)

 I found War of the Worlds extremely interesting, and while listening to the broadcast, I found myself convinced of an alien invasion. It sounded very real, and sort of credible. If I missed the three statements that said the broadcast was fiction, I would have believed that there indeed was an alien invasion. This seemed to be the problem at the initial broadcast as well. I looked up some information about the War of the Worlds and saw that many who heard the broadcast thought that either Martians or Germans had invaded London. It is understandable seeing that at the time of the broadcast, tensions with Germany were escalating.