Psychology, Entertainment, Work, and Technology
The Affair is a Play on Attention
The Affair is a Play on Attention

The Affair is a Play on Attention

I just started the fourth season of The Affair on Netflix and it brings me back to why I think this show is brilliant. The episodes show the same story in from two different perspectives and the difference in the story-telling is drastic. You’re not sure whose retelling is more accurate.

I feel this boils down to how we pay attention to things. Not a lot of media plays around with this phenomenon – what comes to mind are easter eggs that directors hide into the background. Some movies and series show a certain event from different perspectives but usually the storytelling is the same despite the varying perspectives. In The Affair, the style consistently shows a separate retelling of events.

Different people pay attention to different things. This can be the basis of optimism, pessimism, anxiety, and depression. An individual might pay more attention to negative cues and therefore experience negative emotions where another person would pay attention to the positive cues and have a different experience entirely. In The Affair this variety in personal differences in selective attention is highlighted by different stories of the same events.

Another thing prevalent in the series that relates to the separate attention mechanisms is the use of unreliable storytellers. Not often enough seen in popular series or movies, the unreliable storyteller shows the story in their perspective, with all their personal misjudgments and mistakes of observation.

Without spoiling anything of the plot, I can happily recommend the show, just for the unusual storytelling’s sake.