“Yet
across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of
the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded
this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against
us. And early in the twentieth century came the great disillusionment.”
From
H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
Yesterday
was the anniversary of the broadcast of Orson Welles’ infamous radio adaptation
of War of the Worlds. In the fall of 1938, the day before
Halloween, CBS radio interrupted its regular programming with a ‘special news
bulletin’. In the spirit of trick or
treat, reports came in from a Chicago astronomer and a journalist at the scene
of one of the Martian landings—near Trenton, New Jersey! There were audio special effects (people
screaming) and dramatic radio silence. Trust
in the veracity of the broadcast was supported by the source of the information—“Intercontinental
Radio News”.
There
had been a disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast, but listeners that
tuned in late to the show did not hear it.
Thousands of people were upset by what they took to be accurate
reporting, and scores required treatment for shock and hysteria. (The event is commemorated in two articles in
The New York Times last weekend; PBS
also aired a documentary this week.) The
story of the broadcast and its impact on a credulous public is considered by
some to be a cautionary tale of the power of media: thousands were more or less instantly persuaded
that earth had been invaded by Martians with death rays, and that the world as
we knew it had ended.
The
horror and significance of this media Halloween prank are still with us. Steven Schlozman’s article in the The New York Times Magazine (“The
Harvard Doctor Who Accidentally Unleashed a Zombie Invasion”, 10/27/13) reminisces
about a similar event that occurred just two years ago. Schlozman, who is both a physician and a
fiction writer, was being interviewed on a popular overnight radio talk show called
“Coast to Coast AM”, (http://www.coasttocoastam.com/).
Coast
to Coast AM specializes in reports, discussion and debate of such topics as conspiracy theories, extraterrestrials, cryptozoology, and supernatural
phenomena. Recently featured items
include “Annabelle: The True Story of A
Demonic Doll”, “I Was Healed by a Ghost...and There’s a Photo to Prove It”, and
perhaps most concerning, “Nuclear Missile Sites & UFOs—Sgt. Klancnik Speaks
on the Record.”
Schlozman
was interviewed between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m.—just think for a moment about who
might likely be listening at that time of day.
He and his interviewer were discussing Schlozman’s novel The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks From
the Apocalypse, and like Orson Welles 75 years before, played it straight,
as if the fiction were reliable fact. Credibility
was enhanced by reference to recently discovered documents, (a favorite device
of H.P. Lovecraft), and the coining of a scientific acronym: A.N.S.D., or “Ataxic Neurodegenerative
Satiety Deficiency” syndrome.
In an
earlier post there was discussion of how the trappings of scientific
objectivity can make pronouncements seem more authoritative and commanding, (see
“Isn’t Horror Better Than Science Fiction?” September 2013). It should also be noted that technical or
otherwise unfamiliar multisyllabic words can be used effectively to inspire
trust or fear. For the naïve or recently
literate, what is difficult or incomprehensible to read or listen to is
probably true.
Sure enough,
Dr. Schlozman was soon contacted by anxious listeners wanting his
recommendations for anti-A.N.S.D. medications and optimal security measures in
zombified neighborhoods. One listener
suggested that his broadcast violated the Hippocratic Oath, and some of his
peers were critical as well.
Schlozman
notes that listeners’ skepticism was not activated by the fact that the
discussion of a zombie apocalypse was occurring on a late night radio show
known for outrageous, minimally substantiated news reports, or that said
discussion was punctuated by advertisements for lawn fertilizers and automobile
insurance. More ominously, his coining
of a fictional disease causing zombification led to the creation of internet
web sites devoted to the dissemination of additional
information about the condition.
This
seems a special application of Samual Taylor Coleridge’s great insight about
literature. The creators of such media
events as OrsonWelles’ radio adaptation of The
War of the Worlds or Schlozman’s interview on Coast to Coast AM directed
their efforts in such a way as to “transfer from our inward nature a human
interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of
imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which
constitutes poetic faith.”
However,
this ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ did not lead to greater appreciation and
enjoyment of a creative work so much as confusion of fiction with fact. Where else are we likely to see this ‘willing
suspension of disbelief’?
Schlozman goes on to describe aspects of the internet
that can enhance and accelerate social hysteria. The
gerrymandering of our media habits creates conditions where information
consumers will self-select sites that confirm their fears, suspicions and
understandings of the world. Often the
more unsubstantiated a claim may be, the more likely it will be believed, at
least by those prepared to accept it as fact.
The radio audience for The War of the
Worlds heard that broadcast on the eve of World War II, and so had already
undergone psychological and emotional priming to believe in the possibility of
a catastrophic war.
Unlike
radio broadcasts circa 1938, the internet allows instantaneous dissemination of
information that most likely will not be complete, accurate or balanced. Television in America has been balkanized
into several cable networks, each with their own world view and competitive need
to achieve higher viewership ratings. Currently,
there are numerous emotional issues that aggravate and divide us: health care
reform, immigration, involvement in the Middle East, the education of our
children, tolerance for differences among people, and others.
One
can imagine a ‘perfect storm’ of media inventiveness, combined with narrow, self-selected information sources,
confirmation of our worst fears and beliefs about ‘the other’—and instantaneous, unreflective transmission
of fiction masquerading as fact. Fiction
in Halloween costume, as it were. What believable
horrors await us in the future?
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