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wolf · 12-17-2004, 05:17 AM

Ok, well for those of you who didn't pay attention in History, or had school systems that sucked ass, here's a quick lesson.

War of the Worlds was originally a book, which was then turned into a radio address read by Orson Wells on October 30, 1938. Millions of people tuned into the very popular radio show, but there wern't any "coming attractions" in those days, sometimes an announcer would say "stay tuned next week for...." but in this case they didn't do it. They decided to read the book like it was a news bulletin. They played the same sounds they would for a news flash and began reading. People thought it was real. Actors played officials and there were eyewitness accounts. At the beginning of the program, there was a statement that it was fiction,but many people missed it. The next announcement didn't come until 40 minutes into the program.

People panicked, they hid in cellars, they packed the roads trying to get out of town and hide, they loaded guns, they wrapped their heads in towels to save themselves from the Martian's poisonous gas.

Once it was learned that it was all fiction, people went back to their normal lives, but it was commented that Hitler was able to scare people like this, but he had an army and air force to back him up. Orson Wells had only some well trained actors and some sound effects to have almost the same effect. It was one of the first entertainment scandals. After this was the "Quiz Show" scandal in the 50's.

12-17-2004, 05:17 AM	#21 (permalink)
wolf Ravenous Location: Right Behind You	Ok, well for those of you who didn't pay attention in History, or had school systems that sucked ass, here's a quick lesson. War of the Worlds was originally a book, which was then turned into a radio address read by Orson Wells on October 30, 1938. Millions of people tuned into the very popular radio show, but there wern't any "coming attractions" in those days, sometimes an announcer would say "stay tuned next week for...." but in this case they didn't do it. They decided to read the book like it was a news bulletin. They played the same sounds they would for a news flash and began reading. People thought it was real. Actors played officials and there were eyewitness accounts. At the beginning of the program, there was a statement that it was fiction,but many people missed it. The next announcement didn't come until 40 minutes into the program. People panicked, they hid in cellars, they packed the roads trying to get out of town and hide, they loaded guns, they wrapped their heads in towels to save themselves from the Martian's poisonous gas. Once it was learned that it was all fiction, people went back to their normal lives, but it was commented that Hitler was able to scare people like this, but he had an army and air force to back him up. Orson Wells had only some well trained actors and some sound effects to have almost the same effect. It was one of the first entertainment scandals. After this was the "Quiz Show" scandal in the 50's. __________________ Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as Gods. Cats have never forgotten this.