Word: faking
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Those afflicted with the syndrome (named after Baron Münchhausen, an 18th century raconteur whose tales of adventure made his name synonymous with exaggeration) are driven to immerse themselves in hospital dramas. With a combination of medical knowledge and dramatic flair, victims produce or fake symptoms so skillfully that they are admitted to hospitals, treated and often operated on for nonexistent disorders...
...disability, a neurological disorder that affected his upper torso and arms and conceivably could have spread to other parts of his body. That made it easy for him to feign numbness wherever and whenever he chose. But he also could use medical jargon to describe the symptoms he could fake so well. When he suffered his frequent temporary losses of speech, he compensated by writing a technical account of his medical and personal history. These invariably included the fact that all his relatives had met violent deaths at the hands of I.R.A. "bombers and gunmen" -which made it difficult...
Though Brook has brought more new ideas to the stage than any other contemporary director, his film-making skills remain primitive; even his adaptations of his own brilliant theater productions (King Lear, Marat/Sade) have been flat. Here he is hobbled by lapses in continuity, fake-looking studio sets and a multinational cast. The scenery, much of it shot in Afghanistan, is breathtaking, but the photography is routine. What is needed is some sort of theatricality-if not the forthright vulgarity of DeMille, then at least the romanticism of David Lean. With its incongruous mix of radical content and stodgy style...
...your new roommate has read all of Proust's A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, come right back at him with your A.P. scores (fours are dull), or your knowledge of physical chemistry. Lying is permissable, because no one will ever know the difference if you can effectively fake it. Make pronouncements about everything. Wear a lot of preppie clothes; LaCoste shirts and khaki pants are recommended. Topsiders are passe. Scoff at naive enthusiasm with a knowing, sardonic grin. Categorically refuse to be excited or amused by anything except yourself. Potential hazard: everyone will hate your guts. In many cases...
Hackett should have tried writing a straight-forward account of the strengths and weaknesses of opposing forces in Europe, something he is probably competent to handle. Instead, he has coated his diatribe for rearmament with a nauseating layer of future history, complete with fake footnoting and eyewitness accounts. But then, the derision Hackett opens himself to makes it less likely anyone will listen to his argument--which is just as well...