Justin Andress
5. War of the Worlds
There’s a fabled myth wherein Orson Welles supposedly performed an adaptation of H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds and his enthusiastic performance and spontaneity was so powerful it convinced the entire country that we were under attack from extra-terrestrials. The truth is that, while some people were fooled, it wasn’t really that many. Not because people aren’t stupid — they really are — but because a lot of people didn’t tune in when Welles did his thing. I mean, a radio adaptation of a stuffy sci-fi novel isn’t exactly a huge ratings draw. Why do we remember it? Because of newspapers who apparently didn’t have anything better to do that day and reported the crap out of a couple of baffled bumpkins. Wait, you mean people didn’t want to listen to an adaptation of a sci-fi novel AND reporters made more of a story than there was to it just for ratings? Good thing none of that happens these days.
