Daringly Truthful

It's all come down around my ears; as I suppose I should have known it would-
but what exhilaration we had there for a while, how amazed and astonished we were, with every moment's discoveries of the possibilities of truth.

Or the flexibility of truth.
Truth can never be perceived.
Truth is only that which we perceive.
Choose an option (or don't).
The truth changes; it remains the same.


I really did set out with honest intentions (paving the way to my own private hell),
but fate intervened, and took things in a direction I never would have chosen.

The man who served as the focus of my film, himself a famous and loved documentary maker,
was as committed as I was to the project; actually, it was likely that the stress he felt over the responsibility of conveying just the right image of himself, that led to his sudden death.

What were we supposed to do?!
The film was practically finished.
We just needed those few key scenes, to provide the touch of........I suppose that to call it authenticity would push the limits of irony, but that's what I think it was.

His adoring audience had their image of the man, as he had a self-image that had driven and shaped his important work.
His films had shaped public perception at pivotal moments in human history;
had helped changed the world- most would say for the better.


As it stood, with the main protagonist dying before our story was rounded off, tied up,
we were left without the happy ending our sorry planet so desperately needed.

So we lied........in the service of truth, of course.
I would say that here is no other noble reason to do so.


Some selective editing (which is only what we do in our brains and with our memories, anyway),
some old footage of our hero, interspersed tastefully with long, blurred or fleeting shots of a lookalike double.
Intelligently written script and an emotive narrator- these things are essential.


We sounded out the paying punters, asked them what they wanted.
We then threw their suggestions out, and made them what they needed.


All in all, the piece has been a success.
The group mind has a saint, an idol.............one that can help push it towards greater growth andan opening of possibilities.
One shouldn't let something as ephemeral as death get in the way of that!


The principal lesson I've learnt in all this, is that the truth is a great responsibility,
and that it really shouldn't be entrusted to just anybody....