Mercury Theatre on the Air

Several of you have posted comments on your blogs (and on each others' blogs) that you did not understand the second article assigned for reading. This article is from Time magazine and was published in 1940.

In general, the writer noted that the fears people were experiencing affected their ability to identify a weekly program as entertainment rather than a real news event. The Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast adaptations of famous fictional novels ever week, including Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," and Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Christo." You can see a list of the episodes on the homepage of The Mercury Theatre on the Air homepage.

The author quotes psychologist Dr. Hadley Cantril, who noted that some people had suffered from a lack of "critical ability." This term, critical ability, is described as the "natural instinct to question information before adopting it into your world view. The capacity to act on that instinct and draw reasonable conclusions during the meaning making process." (Urban Dictionary).

Dr. Cantril stated that some children recognized Orson Welles' voice from "The Shadow," a program that described the adventures of a crime fighter with psychic powers pretending to be a rich young man.

Why did people panic? One reason was a fear of the eventual start of World War II in Europe. This war did not start in one day; instead, it was a gradual series of events that caused the war. At this time, Great Britain and France allowed Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia. This delayed the war for another year. But people were very nervous about the possibility of war. During the broadcast of "War of the Worlds," some listeners who tuned in late thought that the invaders were Nazis.

I  hope this information helps you understand the confusion the program caused. Orson Welles stated that he never wanted to frighten people, just entertain them.

Critical Ability. (2012). Urban Dictionary [website]. Retrieved from http://www.urbandictionary.com

"Wag the Dog" versus "War of the Worlds"

"Wag the Dog" is a movie about an attempt to divert the public's attention from a potential scandal involving the U.S. President. It is fiction yet many people think the film holds some truth, especially the way people in power (i.e. government, the entertainment industry, corporations, etc.) can convince the public, distract the public, and/or confuse the public for political/financial/strategic benefits.

"The War of the Worlds" is a film adaptation of a famous science fiction novel published in 1898 by H. G. Wells. It has been adapted into several films, television programs, comic books, and radio programs. The 1938 broadcast by Orson Wells is most famous for the effect it had on many Americans, who thought the broadcast was true.

Both films demonstrate the effect media can have on the general public, one with a fictitious outcome; the other with real panic occurring among possibly thousands of people.

1. Do you think you would be able to tell if a media announcement regarding a space ship landing in Washington, D.C. was true or false, based on the information presented on TV, the Internet, and in newspapers?

2. If aliens, or an foreign army, invaded your country, how would you react? Would you act like the people described in the NY Times article and run out your homes, or would you plan an escape with food and water, as Tom Cruise's character did in "The War of the Worlds?"

The Chelsea / Loud Echos of American Family

The Chelsea

I chose the Wikipedia article on the Chelsea Hotel so that you could understand why Lance Loud would be attracted to living there. It has been a home to many famous actors, musicians, and artists over the past decades.

If you were in New York City today, would you want to stay in the Chelsea Hotel?

Loud Echos of American Family

I chose this article, now 10 years old, so that you would know how the Loud family's story was finished on television. They had a 10-year anniversary program in 1983 that visited them in their respective homes and careers. This final episode, filmed in 2001, shows the last days of Lance Loud. In this episode, he describes how being on television changed his life, not always in a positive way.

Does knowing about his death change your opinion of the family? Do you think Lance had a good reason to want to be on television again?

Christopher Reeve a Bigger Superhero than Superman?

I included two articles that describe the life and eventual passing of Christopher Reeve, after a horseback riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. Perhaps some of you did not know that he had died; I wanted to share with you the important contribution he made to medicine and science. He could have given up and allowed himself to die, but instead he fought the limitations of his body for 9 years.

I first saw Superman when I was a teenager. I grew up with Christopher Reeve as my idea of who Superman was; when he was paralyzed it seemed that it could not be true! How could Superman be paralyzed? I must admit that watching this film is a little difficult for me, a little sad.

However, in my opinion, he is a bigger superhero than Superman ever could be.

Superman as the Essential American Hero

Plock writes about the history of the Superman character from its creation in 1938 by two immigrant teenagers to its popularity today with even President Obama as a fan. The author gives us a lot of information about the development of the character over the past 74 years, and how the character has been used to guide American opinion. Based on your blog posts, I have 2 questions for you:

1. How has Superman changed over the past 74 years?

2. Do writers have a responsibility to teach morals to children?

Let's discuss these questions in class today before watching the 2nd part of the movie.

Superman & American Mythology

Hello Class!

I'm pleased that so many of you have already read the first article on Superman and have posted comments and questions on your blogs. As we watch the film together, I will assign more articles for you to read and discuss.

I'm also pleased that most of you have not seen the movie. I hope that you enjoy watching it and we can have good discussions in class.

Here is a link to the original movie preview from 1978.

Superman: The Movie (1978)

Mr. Hepler

Welcome to ALI 290 Multimedia Society. This course offers a view of American society through multimedia--images, music, film, and speech. The course also provides instruction in a wide-range of tools for creating visual and verbal semiotic texts.

I look forward to our semester together learning about media and its effect on (and reflection of) American society.