Its a strange new world part 2

If you can get my video feed, I have changed my video again. This time it is of Gorillaz' Feel Good INC. The Gorillaz are a fake band with real music. Thus they are reflective of another thing in our society these days...the blending of reality and fiction.

I had a long debate on IM with Drea about the book by James Frey called A Million Little Pieces. Our discussion centered around whether the book was fiction or non-fiction. The truth of this story is that it had elements of both fiction and non-fiction. The story was based on his life story, but he embelleshed the truth a little too much for most people to truly consider the book a memoir. Though, Frey contends that a memoir is not an autobiography, and that the definition of a memoir is up for debate. In the end, the expose of his book as partially fictionalized will make the book more compelling. People will be discussing for ages with one another whether they think a certain part of the book is true or false.

In Christian circles, A New Kind of Christian that he labels "creative non-fiction". The characters in his story are often based upon real people, or composites of a couple of real people. Much of the book is theology and philosophy of what are now labeled "emergent church" discussion items. It is too much based on a true story for him to label it fiction, and too fictional for him to call it non-fiction. The difference between McLaren and Frey is that McLaren goes to great pains to be as forthright about what he is doing in the preface of his book, so he is not being deceptive.

Another example of this trend is reality TV. We are told it is based upon unscripted real life situations, but is it? How much of what we see on Survivor is scripted? Or at least manipulated? How "real" is the Real Life, and how much of the show is caricuture?

A lot of movies and novels are playing with our perceptions and understanding of reality as well. Think about the movie The Life of Pi. Both books play with your mind and make you wonder, what is real, and what is simply my filter for interpreting reality. The truth is we can never look at anything objectively...we can never escape our filter. Although, I would argue, some filters are more true than others.

Where else do you see this in our world? What are your "core realities" that you base your life on? Why do you trust these truths of yours?