List of fiction that builds the fourth wall
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If you are unfamiliar with the term Fourth wall, you can get more information in the article about it.
Contents |
[edit] Film
- The Truman Show
- The Truman Show creates a viable sense of hyperrealism by starting out with a credits sequence that puts the characters in the show forward as actually playing themselves, i.e. "Starring Truman Burbank as Himself", and then beginning the story as if it was an episode of the fictional television series. In the film, Truman actually breaks his own fourth wall by discovering that his world is fake, and speaks directly to the (fictional) viewing audience.
- The Matrix
- The Matrix quietly builds a fourth wall of its own by subtle references to real-life locations and time periods, along with the obvious breaking of the main character's own fourth wall, which leads the audience to question the nature of their own reality, in much the same fashion as The Truman Show.
- The Blair Witch Project
- When The Blair Witch Project was first released in cinema, the advertisements for the film built the fourth wall to an extreme, so much so that many people genuinely believed the film to be a documentary. This was developed through both the official site [1] and the on-screen credits.
[edit] Literature
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- This novel builds the fourth wall by presenting Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula as fiction, but inferring that the historical figure Vlad the Impaler (who was the basis for Dracula) actually became a real-life vampire.
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- An example of building the fourth wall to an extreme. In the collector's edition of the novel, the author even went to the trouble of crafting a full history behind the "discovery" of "original manuscripts" and legal issues related to a sequel.
- Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo
- Throughout the story, the narrator passes critical comment on much of the happenings, including some particularly sharp digs at the protagonist. However, the very last scene in the tale reveals that the narrator has actually been a character within the book's fictional universe all along, and that his narration - including snide remarks - has been made to an assembled crowd.
- The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allen Poe
- At the time of publication (1845), The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar was taken to be a factual account. It was not until Poe later admitted it was fictional in his marginalia.
[edit] Music videos
- "Take on Me" by a-ha
