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?"