“Because it’s fantasies and reality, baby which one are we living in?” This is my favorite line and once Facebook status taken from the song When It Hurts by R&B singer Avant. In probably all aspects of daily living, I believe we lose sight of what is real and strive tirelessly for what is ideal. This goes without saying that we fail to realize that reality and truth are merely products of our personal choices heavily influenced by what we’ve been through in life.
As a journalist, war stories are not my fancy but I am quite aware of the chaos and commotion it results to in different areas of the world and particularly here in the Philippines. As a viewer, I believe coverage of war stories depends on what’s at stake for everyone involved (i.e. journalists, media networks, government, civilians) at the particular time it is aired. Tim O’ Brien in his book The Things They Carried wrote in the final chapter “this too is true: stories can save us”. I believe this was proven time and again by journalists all over the world not only covering wars but even hunger, oppression, poverty and political feuds. The stories they write give readers a grasp of the world they live in; moreover, the part they play in improving these depressing conditions—each in his or her own way.
This however leads me to say that although journalists paint a picture of the world, there is still and will always be more to the world that is up for the viewer or reader to discover. Reality and truth as I said is relative to one’s personal experiences. There is no total objectivity in media. The very step of filtering what facts to include in the documentary or news report and what angle to take is already a manifestation of personal choices on the part of the journalist.
Reality, truth and objectivity are concepts that are dynamic and evolve depending on context. German physicist Werner Heisenberg really summed everything up when he concluded that we cannot see everything at once. What is real is what is in front of us. Truth is what we choose to believe in. Objectivity is lost when thought processes kick into mere observation. Even as children, we already have our concept of truth and reality, like Prince Charming, fairy godmothers and one true love. But these change after heartaches and heartbreaks and are formed again when a new love comes.
So at the end of the day, I believe there’s no answer to that line in Avant’s song. Nothing is absolute, not fantasy nor reality. We can live in either or we can’t live in any because we can’t even tell which is which.
