reflection

In class, we read about an article that stated that history is not entirely true and that there are some facts that are hidden from us. History is actually a selection of selections and it is usually impossible to deal with it in its entirety. This effectively means that it is twice removed from what actually happened. Although it is a reconstruction of the past and the study of it, it involves social bias and also since most governments take a great interest in the way history is taught in schools, it is easy for national pride to dictate a one sided interpretation in which a particular country’s achievements are highlighted and its mistakes are overlooked. For example, in schools which teach American history, they do not mention the Vietnam War as America lost it.
We discussed facts that we previously believed or thought were true, but after a certain period of time; we realized that there is much more to it than what is presented to us. We learn something, and later realize that either it is untrue or that the information we learned of was not complete. Theatre arts is which such subject that I was interested in, and had a brief idea of what it is, but my knowledge was incomplete. In my opinion, the plays I watched were what they were in front of my eyes. I did not think of the fact that a production itself was divided into three stages: the pre-production, show day and post production, especially about the post production or post show day, I was completely unaware. Only after learning the subject in the IB, did I realize that after the show, the actor is still in process, that is, he is till in character, and approaching him is not advisable as he needs his space. It was told to me, that meeting the actor immediately after a play would help me in extracting information out of him, but I was wrong, as it is against the theatre etiquette.
Another fact that I believed was true, was that the legendary film star, Heath Ledger, died due to an over consumption of drugs after acting in the movie, ‘the dark knight’. We studied Method acting in theatre arts, in which an actor completely gets into the role of the actor in such a way, that he starts living and thinking like the character. It is difficult to draw a line between the actual life and the life of the character. This is exactly what happened to Heath Ledger, when he completely got into the character of the joker, that it traumatized him which led to his death. Facts are presented in front of us, but hey may or may not hold true. Information given to is cannot necessarily be taken at face value as al the sources are not reliable. There is a bias involved be it a higher authority or government propaganda or a personal bias. History is a recreation of memory, and memory cannot entirely be trusted. What I initially thought was true, is an alteration of the same truth, and as time passes we become aware of more facts and more truths, and start looking at things differently.