So far the novel Room
has changed my perspective on a lot of different things. I’ve always been a huge
fan of watching these TV talk shows where people like Ma talk about experiences
they have had. 48 hours and Survivor are a few of my favorites. But after reading
the interview scene in the section “After” I have begun to realize how fake and
scripted some of these interviews really are. Ma doesn’t even really want to
give the interview and when she thinks about pulling out, she reminds herself
that it is for Jack’s college tuition. When hearing these stories, I often
forget that the people involved in telling them may often just doing it for the
money and not because they truly want to share their story with the world.
After all these are sensitive topics and many wouldn’t want to share their
experiences anyways.
Even little things like when the puffy haired lady stops to
film and corrects her line make all of this seem overly rehearsed and not very genuine.
Just the entire fact that the interviewee is controlling to conversation and
not really allowing Ma to speak about what she feels is important makes the
entire interview seem like its already planned out.
Additionally, it seems like the types of questions that the
interviewer is asking are geared toward getting a reaction out of the
interviewee in order to entertain an audience. The puffy hair woman in this particular
scene keeps trying to bring up things that are obviously making Ma mad. She asks
personal questions and even suggests that Ma made a mistake in raising Jack. Ma
is obviously affected by all of this but the lady seems keeps pushing to get a reaction
out of Ma. I personally feel like asking these sorts of personal questions on
TV and having someone relive troubling experiences for the entertainment of
others is not a great idea.
Next time I watch a show like this, I will definitely see
things a little differently.
There's a lot that's crazy about this interview scene, and the effect of seeing it *produced* rather than seeing the final product (and the negotiations that went on beforehand, where the lawyer gets the production company to agree to their terms). But, given the need to construct a sensational narrative out of the news event, I am surprised that they don't want to make more of "the Great Escape" itself--you'd think this would be a pretty attractive story for a TV show to tell!
ReplyDeleteBut as your discussion-leading group made clear on Thursday, the interview is sort of for the *reader's* benefit, allowing Ma to answer questions that Jack can't ask, offering important insight into her experience. We already know the Great Escape, so there's no need for Donoghue to recount it here.