The Reality That I Know

The 1961 "Freedom Rides" heightened tensions between King and younger activists, as he faced criticism for his decision not to participate in the rides.

Stanford.edu MLK, Jr Biography

Some things in life just feel right--some don't. You watch a film and are put off by its non-realism. Sometimes it isn't just you who are put off; many other viewers might have the same reaction. So, who in his right mind would even put such a story to film? Even a fantasy should have some basis in reality otherwise it doesn't work. There have to be rules of some sort, parameters that restrict what happens even within the world of fiction and fantasy.

So, what is this reality and why do some writers or storytellers seem not to quite get it? Perhaps reality, as we interpret it, differs from one person to the next. Perhaps it is largely interpretation, rather than fact, arising from the accumulation of who and what we are. It is perhaps no more and no less than that which was borne of our genes and filtered through the place and time in which we evolved.

Reality, as we perceive it, is shaped by what we have read, learned and experienced. Certain elements of this reality will be shared by others to greater or lesser extent. Conversely, no two individuals will have the exact same perception of reality. Therein lies our individuality, and therein lies the storyline which is, even to the fantasy writer, based on reality--the writer's reality, which is shared to greater or lesser extent by the reader or the viewer of a film.

The reality that I know...


Across the Great Divide, NYT book review

It started in 1961. It started in a small USA town in the American South, in a community defined by race, in a whole country defined by race and in a society where--history and recollection tell me--changes were-a-coming. The decade of the 1960's was a decade of not only discontent, but one of pronounced activity to change the world--or change reality.

The reality that I know started unbeknownst to me within this setting in 1961.