What is real

This could be an interesting blog entry as it covers something which has been on my mind for a while. More recent activities have made me consider how sometimes we can build and artificial image of people. The deadly side of this is when you come to care about that person but it turns out that perhaps it is just an artificial idea you have ascribed to a person which you care about. Getting to know the individual properly can potentially then show how false the image you painted in you head is. This is potentially both a painful and embarrassing situation to be in. Perhaps I am not too proud to admit that this has happened to me at least once. Perhaps it is the kind of thing which most adults would experience at some time whether they would admit to it or not. I am reminded of the words of Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings" when quietly rebuking the Princess of Rohan who has taken a liking to him "It is but a shadow and a thought that you love".

Why is this relevant right now? Perhaps it might be clearer as this blog post goes on. In the world of theater and cinema as well as literature stories are told designed to invoke our emotions. Characters are portrayed for whom we are intended to develop an attitude towards ether to hate them or care for them or pity them. In the worlds of Theater and Cinema and Literature it is clear to discern that the characters are indeed just pure fiction and as such any attachment to them is just a fleeting thing (or should be). It would not be reasonable no matter how much we might get attached to a character in a book to feel we have a meaningful friendship with them. You cannot by definition because the character is not real and does not exist. In cinema it can be reasonably clear cut too. Wall-e in spite of the sympathy which can be felt for him is obviously not real. When it comes to characters depicted by actors and actresses we know that the person acting is just acting out a role. I can watch Troy for example and sympathise with the role of Hector who seems to always be trying to do the right thing yet suffering as a result of bad decisions by others ultimately culminating with the loss of his life. I would not go out of the cinema though thinking I had a friendship or meaningful understanding of Eric Bana. It is just a role being acted out.

The problem gets more complicated though in a situation where a role is known to be fictional but is known to be at least to some degree based on the person who is acting out the role. It may be the case that the exact degree to which the role represented matches the reality of the person is a mystery. In this case you may simply not know how much is real and how much is just fiction.

None of that matters particulary unless....

If you care about that character would it be reasonable to wonder how much is real and how much is not? Such a dilema. The cold hard logic would throw out the prospect. If a character is acted out even partially then logically any friendship or such would not exist. You cannot have a real friendship with someone who is not real. Fiction friends beget fictional friendships.

Perhaps if the person behind the character were known it is possible that a similar friendship would exist. That is pure speculation though and basically would come down to the potential that anyone may or may not be someone with whom after getting to know them you would wish to be friends with. I must stop this blog entry to go to work. Perhaps as well. I might just talk myself into a corner otherwise.