Many of you out there might already know everything about this phrase and what it means within the realms of storytelling. However, it took a ridiculously long time for this phrase to cross my own path (I was an avid reader; already setting myself up to be a literature major in some way, shape, or form; and most embarrassingly of all, I had been doing theater for years before I finally learned what “Breaking the Fourth Wall” meant), so here it is for those who might still be in the dark on it.
Whenever you tell a story, no matter the medium, the world of the story exists inside of its own little sheltered space. Like watching a play, for example: there is a back “wall” of the stage that sits behind the characters at all times, and two side “walls” (or the parted curtains), all of which are containing the story (usually) on the stage. And then there is the figurative “fourth wall” which separates the characters and the settings of the story from the audience. In the case of play or TV-watching, this is the open part of the stage / the glass screen that you, the audience, are watching the story through. (For other mediums, of course, these walls are all figurative, but it is a little easier to understand the concept with a visual example.)
If you “break the fourth wall,” it means the story / the storyteller is acknowledging the audience in some way. A lot of children’s entertainment does this in the most obvious fashion (remember, we are all Mr. Rogers’s neighbors, not just the people on the show!). But the fourth wall can also be broken by the characters / the narrative either directly or indirectly acknowledging the fact that they represent a fictional universe (Mel Brooks films do this all the time, but Spaceballs probably has the best examples of the characters acknowledging their own fictitiousness).
“Breaking the Fourth Wall” is a literary and storytelling device that can be used for the sake of drama or comedy, depending on the context. It is also a device you want to be very careful about using. By definition, breaking the fourth wall takes your audience out of the story, which could weaken their focus on what is going on as well as limit their suspension of disbelief. Now, again, depending on the context, you might want to take your audience out of the story. But usually you don’t.
So be mindful of where / when you use it.
Night Owls, what is your favorite example of “Breaking the Fourth Wall?”
