Now that TV examples have finally been raised, it's worth remembering that soap operas--which are as much about storytelling as they are stories being told--are completely obsessed with questions about the relative reliability/unreliability of various characters' narration, as well as creating constant tension between what viewers know/can guess/speculate about and what the narrative apparatus actually tells us. Although viewers usually know more/better than characters, and so can evaluate the conflicting versions they offer, that's not universally true, & we're occasionally surprised at having been (deliberately?) misled. Experienced viewers know we may be getting only a partial, or even inaccurate, version of events, whether from deceptive/uninformed characters or more directly from the controlling narrative itself, e.g. when "history" is rewritten or a character turns out to have an identity different from the one we thought he/she had. And by the way, although it's a different thread, soaps are a demonstration of everything in the world, so it's worth mentioning that "The Young & the Restless" had a plastic surgery storyline several years ago in which an actress' facelift was incorporated into her character's life. Laura Stempel Mumford ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]