Tag Archives: The Medium is the Massage

Blog Post: Red Riding Hood.

@DTC_AlexTDTran

The affordances of the electronic medium in the story of Red Riding Hood presented by Donna Leishman, titled Redridinghood is a piece of electronic literature that must be viewed or read on a computer or another compatible device. This work is an interactive fiction piece that is very immersive as it requires the reader to engage within the work by using pictures, videos and interface connectivity (a term I use that basically means that a person must connect with the interface or the piece of art in order to continue on with the plot or to enjoy the piece as a whole). This interface connectivity allows the user to enjoy the story of Red Riding Hood not through just pictures and words like in a book but rather through the ability to choose what Red Riding Hood does; a common critique to reading books (the inability to choose what you want the character to do,  giving rise to the alternative works known as fan fiction). Tying the idea of fan fiction and the ability to choose, this is what McLuhan was talking about in this quote, “Countersituations made by the artists, provide means to direct attention and enable us to see and understand more clearly” (McLuhan 68). The countersituations that the artist provides to us through this specific medium allows us to clearly understand what awaits Red Riding Hood. The environment created through this new medium enhances the message of the work providing a more in-depth and new way to tell the story.