Someone has already made the point that 'realism' is a mode
of
representation and that which passes for realism (ie degree
of
verisimilitude) can and does change over time---which is why
old films
(like On The Waterfront, say) look 'dated'. Apart from
costume, what we
are seeing are the *codes* of realist representation from
another time.
Someone else made the same point, using the example of TV cop
shows:
once Hill St Blues was at the leading edge of a form of
realism; that
has been supplanted by NYPD Blue and Homicide. I agree with
all this
[ie this concurs with my pre-existing, firmly-held prejudices
about what
realism is].
The point I want to make here though is that 'realism'
depends less upon
procedural accuracy than on character and motivation. Thus
what is
represented as 'knowable' is ego-driven; characters are
motivated by
desire, revenge, etc. This is why space-operas like Star Trek
and Star
Wars are realist, and, of course, concerns about how
councillors operate
on Tatooine and the correct procedure for beaming alien life
forms
aboard an imperial craft have no bearing on realism.
OK, I need to get back inside the anorak now,
ED
-- +-----------------------------------------------+ | <http://www.ejmd.mcmail.com> | | |
# # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.