The Photo
Date: 1991 Running Time: 9:15 Sound: Kevin Deal Narration: Les Williams Editor: Jeanne C. Finley and Larry Andrews
In Involuntary Conversion, meaning stunned by language and words function as cluster bombs. The language of the "new media" also known as double-speak is represented in an ominous science fiction in which human fear is instilled as the condition of interaction with others. The text of this "fiction", however, is entirely real, having been excerpted by Finley from various contemporary media sources. Punctuated by images of a cruising Stealth bomber, Involuntary Conversion creates a strong subtext of government paranoia in a society policed by tactical language: the urban environment is portrayed as a site where "peace prevails," yet we are doomed to a state of "terminal living."