The Constant Terror of New Media

L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat

This film is associated with an urban legend well-known in the world of cinema. As the story goes, when the film was first shown, the audience was so overwhelmed by the moving image of a life-sized train coming directly at them that people screamed and ran to the back of the room. Whether or not this is a true account of the film's first showing is disputable but reminds us we were always gullible when it came to new technology.