However hard I try, art resists interpretation.
Which brings us to the written word. It’s an artform too after all. Yes, that’s right, even fake news.
Before the term fake news entered our vocab at the height of the red-tie-takeover, what did we say instead?
Untrustworthy source? Unsubstantiated rumours? Wavering of the truth?
Maybe we both made noises of aroused suspicion like “hmmm”.
Or did we just believe everything we read?
Of course not. Fake news isn’t new. Despite only being dictionary-official for five years, the concept is as old as the hills. Humans have always played with the truth. THAT’S what makes society so interesting. (That, and tofu).
What would life be without the fictional flair that makes the stories, myths and legends we love … and the social constructs and political statements we love to hate?
Maybe it’s relative truth. Like the old-as-time (and therefore “true”) tales told by the old aunt who gets wheeled out at Christmas. Where does she go, and what does she know? Who is she…really?
Surely everything could be fake news, if interpreted the wrong way.
Which begs the question, is fiction fake news? And if so, why do YOU read it?
To escape? But from what?
Surely it’s the real news we want to escape from; those awful, harrowing REAL stories that we only wish were made-up to keep grown-ups on the edge of their seats.
But we’re a fickle bunch, us humans. If we’re not hooked by the first 3 seconds of a TikTok, then we lose interest. And who doesn’t skip the trailers on YouTube?
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? That depends. We now have less of an attention span than goldfish. (Medical Daily)
We want to feel things. We expect to. Surely this is an inalienable human right?
Yet, I’m quick to reach for the remote control to switch off the constant bombardment of depressing (real) news with exasperated sighs of “what is happening to the world” and I sure as hell won’t buy a newspaper.
Because…WE DON’T WANT TO KNOW.
Or maybe, just maybe, we want to be fooled.
So, is fiction fake news?
Open to interpretation, I guess.
Want to fool yourself with some more fiction (or fake news)? Let us entertain you here.
