1984 [1]
I know, I know. Been there. Done that. But which one of you can say, even in December 2008, that Mr. Orwell's story does not hold hidden terrors for you? That its possibilities do not sometimes keep you up at night? That it's not one of the scariest ever speculative fiction stories. Emphasis on stories.
The Unemployed Lawyer is taking the opportunity to leave all immediate troubles behind for a moment. I'd like to intellectualize with you. I wish that sounded more appealing, but I like it.
And now, here is the weirdest ever twist of fate. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT"), hardly the place where one would seek a new Shakespeare, a new Orwell, or even a new Agatha Christie, a school whose very name indicates that it does not specialize in the study of language, history, or performance arts, has announced the founding of the Center for Future Storytelling ("CFS"). The Unemployed Lawyer first heard about it through the Telegraph, a British paper I enjoy reading.
If I read all pertinent papers correctly, the study has been funded by a movie studio, Plymouth Rock Studios. As far as I have been able to discover, this "Center" really has nothing at all to do with the telling of stories, but rather with how to present stories, perhaps our least technological resource, in a highly technologized way. See, Media Lab Creates Center for Future Storytelling.
If a lawyer can't tell a story or weave a narrative that makes a judge or jury clearly understand a client's position, then it's time for everybody to pack up and go home. Storytelling is an essential part of everybody's life (the dog ate it, I overslept, my mom is sick, etc.). It gets us out of trouble if done right and earns us credit if done even better (Imagine whatever you want to imagine. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings). We all do it; the world is built on it; and storytelling is what lets us know one another and holds us all together. Storytelling allows free courts to exist--if they were not free the totalitarian government would give you your story and that would be that. Storytelling gives all clients a chance to be innocent until proven guilty.
What do you think of this, lawyers? We're no different than anybody else. We love to spin a good yarn. We LOVE our war stories. We love making the truth work for ourselves and our clients so that we have cases to win and stories to tell. We'd never give it up.
Do we need this "Center"? Does the world need this Center, that makes the natural unnatural? I ask it, as one asking for research. But it seems incredible to me that anything short of a mallet to the head would stop a lawyer from telling stories.
________________________________________________________
[1] Holiday Film Productions, 1956, Directed by Michael Anderson, starring Michael Redgrave, Jan Sterling, Winston Smith.
The Unemployed Lawyer is taking the opportunity to leave all immediate troubles behind for a moment. I'd like to intellectualize with you. I wish that sounded more appealing, but I like it.
And now, here is the weirdest ever twist of fate. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT"), hardly the place where one would seek a new Shakespeare, a new Orwell, or even a new Agatha Christie, a school whose very name indicates that it does not specialize in the study of language, history, or performance arts, has announced the founding of the Center for Future Storytelling ("CFS"). The Unemployed Lawyer first heard about it through the Telegraph, a British paper I enjoy reading.
If I read all pertinent papers correctly, the study has been funded by a movie studio, Plymouth Rock Studios. As far as I have been able to discover, this "Center" really has nothing at all to do with the telling of stories, but rather with how to present stories, perhaps our least technological resource, in a highly technologized way. See, Media Lab Creates Center for Future Storytelling.
If a lawyer can't tell a story or weave a narrative that makes a judge or jury clearly understand a client's position, then it's time for everybody to pack up and go home. Storytelling is an essential part of everybody's life (the dog ate it, I overslept, my mom is sick, etc.). It gets us out of trouble if done right and earns us credit if done even better (Imagine whatever you want to imagine. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings). We all do it; the world is built on it; and storytelling is what lets us know one another and holds us all together. Storytelling allows free courts to exist--if they were not free the totalitarian government would give you your story and that would be that. Storytelling gives all clients a chance to be innocent until proven guilty.
What do you think of this, lawyers? We're no different than anybody else. We love to spin a good yarn. We LOVE our war stories. We love making the truth work for ourselves and our clients so that we have cases to win and stories to tell. We'd never give it up.
Do we need this "Center"? Does the world need this Center, that makes the natural unnatural? I ask it, as one asking for research. But it seems incredible to me that anything short of a mallet to the head would stop a lawyer from telling stories.
________________________________________________________
[1] Holiday Film Productions, 1956, Directed by Michael Anderson, starring Michael Redgrave, Jan Sterling, Winston Smith.
Comments