Each week on The Torrent we take the torrential downpour of information on the web, distill it into a fine spirit, and serve it nice and neat in your favorite tumbler. This week: verisimilitude, leaks, whisky-flavored toothpaste, and celebrity action figures. Relax, enjoy.
ver·i·si·mil·i·tude
[ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood]
–noun
1. the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude. 2. something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.
Verisimilitude is on my mind. So many times things seem one way, only to turn out to be something quite different. Take the word “leaks” for instance.
It's confusing when you read headlines in newspapers (okay online newspapers) about "leaks" and it's unclear whether they're talking about top-secret documents or oil spills.
The Adobe Photoshop program can also be confusing. It is sometimes used to “doctor” photographs to appear to be something they are not. It may be used to airbrush away a blemish on a model’s cheek.
Or remember when one too many Iranian missiles showed up on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune, and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo! News, NYTimes.com and many other major news websites?
In the case of BP, company photoshoppers attempted to create an alternate universe where they look like they know what they’re doing when, in fact, they don’t.
A blogger noticed that BP doctored a photo of its crisis room. It seems BP is as inept with Photoshop as they are with the business of not spilling oil.
WikiLeaks on the other hand, is in the business of showing us unfiltered reality. They proved so in their release of the Afghan War Diary this week. It must be said, that this voice box of the truth is a nonprofit!
How about more WikiLeaks and fewer oil leaks?
But back to verisimilitude. Celebrity impersonation has long been a much loved pastime in our country and elsewhere. Now we can bring the impersonators home with us: Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, and eight more celebrities are getting the action-figure treatment.
And on to the topic of advertising—where advertisers sell you a similar yet better world than your own—the wildly popular Madmen premiered this week. Take a look at these wonderful examples of advertising and how they create a curious verisimilitude of real life.
And lastly a Library got smart and capitalized on a parody of Old Spice Guy ad and got 1.2 million views on YouTube. Now that is using verisimilitude and the torrent to your advantage!
Until next time, relax. Enjoy.
Nonprofit news from around the country and the world. Today, tenants don't want nonprofit to become their new landlord, declining workplace campaigns in Charlotte and the solution posed, are HUD rules too restrictive? or is this CDC off topic? and more.
In The Torrent we’ve taken the torrential downpour of information on the web, distilled it into a fine spirit, and served it nice and neat in your favorite tumbler. This week: pets and bait, Tumblr, and Kanye Tweets! Relax, enjoy.
