Certainly not! Folklore is fun (for the most part), though I should not go without mentioning that some folklore can be considerably more fun than others. No where do I feel this is more true than with the tall tale. Its wild mixture of fact, fiction, fancy, nonsense, exaggeration, &c. imbues it with a sense ripe for wonder and hilarity. It is undoubtedly incredulous but nonetheless infectious. It is likewise a highly adaptable genre. And, while some may argue that tall tales are outdated and a thing of the past, it is well worth reminding such detractors of a little thing called social media. And, while this means of communication is certainly a novel one, what it conveys is not. Social media is a bold exaggeration of truth in its purest form. And it would seem the bolder the exaggeration the more your audience's fascination. Hence, social media is for all intents and purposes a tall tale. Not a lie, but not a whole truth. It lives somewhere between reality and the re-imagining of that reality. Consequently, what you see on it, what you read on it, is at its base form little different than what elevated such luminaries as Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan, or Baron Munchausen to heights beyond the extraordinary.
And when you look at it like that, the tall tale is not a dying art form. Oh no, my friend, it is more alive today than ever it was before.
Unserendipitously, your comrade with arms,
Lenwood S. Sharpe, Director
Lumberwoods, Unnatural History Museum
Parts Unknown, The Woods, U.S.A.
Lenwood S. Sharpe, Director
Lumberwoods, Unnatural History Museum
Parts Unknown, The Woods, U.S.A.
