the need for narrative

Reality TV has been moving towards greater unreality. The first two seasons of Real World, as Shields himself points out, were much more “real” than subsequent seasons. The writers, cast members and directors of reality shows have increasingly opted for more scripted and constructed realities. Look how quickly we turned from “regular” human beings to B-list entertainers—people raised in the art of creating false personas—to star in our reality shows. Strange Love is a long way from Candid Camera. Perhaps these shows have only retained the label “reality” out of inertia.

Will anyone watch old seasons of these reality shows in thirty years? And yet I have little doubt that people will still be watching and analyzing The Wire, Seinfeld and The Sopranos for decades.

The old saying that you read nonfiction for the facts and fiction for the truth still rings true. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that narrative and characters connect you to the truth in a more powerful and emotional way. I would argue that The Wire will teach you about the failures of modern American institutions in a more memorable way than a social studies textbook.

But the second, more interesting, fiction, but not non-fiction, gets to suggest instead of tell. Fiction’s power is in its ambiguity. Christianity would have died out centuries ago if the Bible was a series of lists and essays instead of stories and parables whose meanings are both elusive yet powerful. Anyone who has studied literature in school knows that Shakespeare’s plays can be interpreted in infinite ways.

And ultimately, isn’t narrative fun? People enjoy reading interesting plots and following compelling characters, whether real or invented. Entertainment and enlightenment are not necessarily at odds.

We have heard the cries of the death of the novel for so long that even pointing out how many times we have heard it feels cliché. In a world where Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling are the best-selling authors, Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time and the biggest broadcast TV disaster occurred when NBC tried to push aside scripted dramas for an inexpensive talk show, speaking of societies hunger for reality over fictional narratives feels a little premature.

- Lincoln Michel