Behavior: Confession As Entertainment

Story telling is as old as man is. There is a human need to tell of one’s experience. The need is very, very old. Cavemen told stories by writing them on the walls of their caves so that others could read them. The Bible is a series of stories that people felt the need to tell and have heard. The daily newspaper is a series of stories that journalists want to record and readers want to know about.

So it’s no surprise that two filmmakers want to put strangers on the couch and have them tell their stories. It’s what artists and musicians and writers and filmmakers have been doing forever — either in non-fiction, documentary format, or fictionalized format. Regardless of the genre, the stories are told to be heard.

People’s need to hear and watch confessional entertainment is a desire for them to know themselves. Every time we eavesdrop or covertly read someone’s diary — or watch reality television, we are looking for our own feelings and our own reactions to intimacies revealed in others. We’re looking for a mirror image of ourselves.