'War of the Worlds'. It aired over the C.B.S., (Columbia Broadcasting System) as a Halloween Episode. The radio play was directed and narrated by Orson Welles. It was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel, 'The War of the Worlds'.
(I always get H.G. Wells and Orson Welles mixed up. Silly huh?)
Anyway...........it was presented as a series of simulated news bulletins, which suggested to many listeners that an ACTUAL Martian invasion was in progress.
The story took place in the Garden State, at a place called Grover's Mill, New Jersey. The show was without commercial interruption and so the line between fact and fiction were blurred. Without the reminder of a commercial interruption, the listeners of the program began to believe that the events were real. Martians WERE attacking New Jersey! And so, the United States experienced mass hysteria, it was mostly seen on the east coast, in New York and in New Jersey.
The 1938 mindset.
In 1938 Europe was in turmoil. The U.S. was just beginning to poke it's head out of an economic depression. F.D.R. was President and the country was hurting. Not only were people looking for a hand up and/or a hand out, they became to rely on the calming tones of their radios, and the dole of the U.S. Government.
The Fireside Chats by President Roosevelt. The music and the news broadcasts, all diversions of a brand new media, radio. Motion Pictures and the radio provided a respite from the realities of 1938.
Not only was the adage, "If you see it written in the [insert favorite newspaper here] it must be true" a believed truth, so also was that if you heard it on the radio from a newscaster, this must also be the truth. They would not lie, would they?
Today this event is still studied for the mass hysteria it created. Some people to this day still believe that the events WERE indeed real, and the broadcast a mere cover-up. (See the website http://www.war-of-the-worlds.org )Interesting!
Why do I bring this up? Well, it was 71 years ago this week that the broadcast took place. Many radio stations over the U.S. will be replaying a recording of the original event as it happened. Others may do re-creations.
This made me think.
People will believe anything! I do not suppose that many of the hysterical people fearing for their lives from the Martians took the time to go outside and check the skies for spacecraft, for if they had, they would have found skies clear of spacecraft. Unfortunately, instead of thinking for themselves, they took the word of a talking head on the radio. They lived in fear for the duration of the 60 minute broadcast.
People are still doing this today. They are listening to the talking heads and lapping up their words like mother's milk. They are not going to the window and looking up to find the truth. Instead they are willing to allow the government to tell them what the truth is, and make all of their decisions for them. They falsely believe that the government knows better than they what they need.
*Remember what happened to the world in 1938?!? Think back.
Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it!
People in 2009 America are hurting once again, they are leaning in with baited breath. As those in 1938 sat to the side of their radios waiting for the voice of their beloved leader F.D.R., to hear the words of hope and change in his Fireside Chats. They are mistakenly waiting for Obama, Pelosi and Reid to tell them what they need and what they will do to fix it.
Scary stuff.
Happy Halloween!
