For
a variety of reasons lately, I’ve been considering people that
change the narrative.
When
I say this, I’m not talking about innocent embellishments or details
forgotten for reasons such as time. I’m talking about sweeping,
self-serving, ignoring reality, seismic shifts that drastically
change the story.
Truth
ignored, fiction presented.
For
an example, let’s consider Hollywood.
Slightly
less than twenty years ago, a blockbuster wannabe was released,
and… flop. The primary distributor blamed a video game.
No,
really. A video game featuring the same characters had been released
about a month before the film, and that release was a spectacular
disaster on many levels. To be fair, the game was filled with
flaws and problems and almost assuredly had been rushed into release
in an attempt to capitalize on the wave being built around the
film’s release.
But,
stepping away from the video game for a moment, you just might
want to consider for a moment what you didn’t hear the primary
distributor say. Because you never really heard anyone associated
with the film blame anything about the film itself.
The
film I saw wasn’t that good. The story wasn’t well developed,
and a strong cast was essentially wasted. I was at the time, and
continue to this day to be, joined by a significant amount of
company sharing that opinion.
Roughly
fifteen years later, another movie was released. I haven’t seen
it, but many reviews focused in on a simple thing… weak story.
Did
that get recognized by those with an interest in the film’s reception?
Of
course not.
The
claims there became that it was so different, forward thinking,
and ambitious that audiences couldn’t appreciate it. In essence,
the film was so good in so many ways that everyone else was the
problem. Heck, they even went so far as to develop and stand upon
an argument that moviegoers as a whole had been spoiled by Marvel
and couldn’t recognize something special when it was offered.
Now
I’m deliberately not mentioning the specific movies here, because
those details don’t matter. (Plus, you actually have enough already
to find them on your own if you wish.) Instead, I’m trying to
nod at something different… the moments where personal interests
and investments cloud the truth (or at least create a scenario
where a person, group or organization is almost forced to take
a stand far from the facts involved).
When
it comes to the movies, in both of these instances those involved
in creating the films or at least promoting them have something
they can point toward with a bit of conviction. The video game
in question here truly had been delayed many times over, and the
release of it was possibly part of the larger mess where both
game and film release results combine. And Marvel, whatever your
personal views are, has created an imposing presence that included
bookending our second feature with two massive releases. There
are, potentially, bits of truth to grasp at.
But
the reality tends to lean toward something different. Both times,
the story behind the feature just wasn’t that good. The final
product was poor. The idea of blaming video games or competition
was more of an attempt at alternative history. Could be enough
truth to it so it shouldn’t be dismissed, but believing it was
at any level a major issue means ignoring far too many other factors.
And
it’s from there that we take another step into the true world
of opinionated narratives. There’s an argument to be made that
perspective matters. That it always matters as something to be
considered. It’s like watching a sporting event involving your
favorite teams and players. If a penalty is going to mean the
difference between a win or a loss for those you support, chances
are pretty good the glasses you are wearing have a certain level
of coloring to them. To not at least accept that might be true
is to approach with blinders.
For
me though, I tend to wonder about an even larger difficulty. It
bothers me when people ignore items because it suits their purposes.
(And it bothers me even more when volume of speech and professional
positioning are granted credibility for false histories being
acted upon.)
The
next time your confronted by a situation… regardless of the stakes
involved… I hope you’ll take a deep breath, and possibly even
step back for a moment. Consider if perhaps you’re being presented
with another social media falsehood… or, worse, the rants of someone
with a huge interest in how you ultimately view what’s going on.