As promised about a month ago here is my short, biased take on the true story. I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a true story. This is not an attempt at outing all of our history in society or to make an entire section of your local library null and void. There are facts to life and there is no disputing factual evidence and data. What I challenge is the retelling of any of these events and facts. Everything has it's own bias and subjectivity to it. A writer who gives us the behind the scenes look at the presidential election is still giving his swing to the way things went. No matter how many interviews that writer does or how much film is used to capture all the events there is always a slight tilt to it. The writer is only taking from those anecdotes and connecting them together to make one cohesive unit. But we are dealing with human beings and not robots. Memories are not as photographic as people like to believe.
No you may be asking what about a documentary or anything caught on film? It is still based on a POV. That of the camera. The camera is cold and analytical. The cameraman is still capturing what HE wants to see. You are not getting the 360 degree view. Holes will always remain.
Back to the point. No true stories. Ever listen to someone tell you how their day was? It is retold from the perspective of that person. All the facts that person tells you maybe true, but what if they don't have all the facts involved? I would not call this person out as a liar. I am simply saying that the story is not complete and true, cause once you are involved you have swung it with your own emotions and input to the situation.
Perhaps I am looking into it way too much. I definitely fancy myself a fiction storyteller. I pull from real life and make it my own story. Even my attempts at true story telling fall under fiction cause I have allowed emotion to twist my objectivity. My own influence in the stories of my true past has caused me to remember the stories in ways that make it less than Truthful. Alcohol, anger, a lack of proper eyewear has caused me to miss something or to skew it. I only captured MY truth and not THE truth. Thus it is not really an absolute non-fiction.
There is my quick take on why there is no such thing as a true story. My 10-15 minute take on it anyways. Back to watching music videos and Smallville. A grapple a day keeps the bogeyman away. Rabble Rock!
3 comments:
Truthfully Rich, I think that they may be your best post yet. Very well written, but thanks for ruining my view of everything.
Very good Rich. Remember the childhood game of telephone. Someone would say something and pass it on. By the time it got to the last person it was totally different. It is exactly what they heard and from their POV as you state. Not that they are wrong. Again, Keep writing Rich.
Not only do you have the author and camera man's point of view, don't forget about the audience. How I interpret the story/truth will be very different to how someone else does. In most cases I believe the author (mainly on an unconscious level) tells their story/truth depending on the audience they are speaking to or trying to reach. "Supersize Me" will reach me in a very different way than the CEO of McDonald's.
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