La Mancha Screwjob
from Radiolab on February 25, 2015
Episode summary from Pots:
A look at the blurry line between reality and fantasy, as seen through both professional wrestling and Don Quixote. The first segment takes us back to 1997, when the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob' changed how pro wrestling dealt with authenticity and the fourth wall. The second segment takes us back 400 years to the release of Miguel Cervante’s Don Quixote, which was similarly groundbreaking in how it employed a meta-narrative to upend traditional ideals of storytelling authenticity. Combined, some great insight in how our evolving forms of entertainment relates to narrative, storytelling, reality vs. fantasy, canonical authorship vs. fan fiction, and so on.
Episode highlights:
- 0:48 – First segment starts, telling the tale of the professional wrestling 'Montreal Screwjob' in 1997 (Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels). We learn how this event subtly changed the way pro wrestling dealt with authenticity and the truth.
- 36:16 – Second segment starts, looking at Miguel Cervante’s Don Quixote and how it dealt with narrative authenticity (or lack thereof) in an entirely new way. Unreliable narrator, meta-narration, and how Cervante used these in Don Quixote's sequel to deal with unlicensed fan-fiction someone else had written.
- 44:13 – Conclusions. Initially a wrap-up of the Don Quixote segment, but then a transition into insights on the appeal of multiple layers within fiction, meta-narrative, and how this has resonated with audiences in the modern age.
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