Conspiracy In Pop Culture

[stilicho]

This is a thread about the use of popular culture by conspiracists and vice versa. It came to mind because of some discussions I've had with conspiracists in which they have referred to movie, television episode or novel plots as though they were real.

I will start with a short list and ask any of you if you've experienced the same thing and which pop culture references you've encountered.

The Prisoner:

This came up at one forum where my sparring partner explained that my position was influenced like the eponymous hero by mind altering substances that he, himself, was mysteriously immune to.

Enemy Of The State:

This one has come up in discussions and is widely quoted by conspiracists, especially since it refers to the numbers 9 and 11 several times.

Wag The Dog:

A lot of CT'rs seem to like this movie. I've had it show up in numerous discussions as though that's how (especially) 9/11 was 'produced'. Apparently the 'tell-all' book that Hollywood types are renowned for is ruthlessly being suppressed by the NWO media. The same NWO media that produced and distributed 'Wag The Dog'.

 

[Cl1mh4224rd]

The Matrix:

The red pill/blue pill thing. Take one and you "wake up" to all of the evil things the government is doing in the shadows. Take the other and keep "dreaming".

Also, the implication that the NWO are equivalent to the Machines, controlling/creating reality and secretly using the general population as slaves without their knowledge.

 

[yodaluver28]

I wouldn't say that alot of CTers see these movies as "real" but I do think that they see them as fairly realistic. Since corruption, conspiracy, and large-scale murder are portrayed so routinely in fiction, they just accept them as a given. Because they have more dramatic punch, they are far more common in fiction than they are in life helping create, in some, a rampant paranoia. I think you can really see the influence of these movies and in how CTers refuse to acknowledge coincidence and randomness. They seem to think that everything must be connected and done for a reason and in fiction, that's true, every plot point has it's purpose even red herrings. But reality is fraught with randomness, coincidence, and counterintertuitive occurences and they just seem loathe to accept that because it's not what they're used to. They're used to all the crimes getting solved eventually, the bad guys getting theirs, and the noble hero who knew that something "wasn't right" all along saving everyone. That's why I like to call CTism Luke Skywalker Syndrome.

 

[Cl1mh4224rd]

I wouldn't say that alot of CTers see these movies as "real" but I do think that they see them as fairly realistic. Since corruption, conspiracy, and large-scale murder are portrayed so routinely in fiction, they just accept them as a given. Because they have more dramatic punch, they are far more common in fiction than they are in life helping create, in some, a rampant paranoia. I think you can really see the influence of these movies and in how CTers refuse to acknowledge coincidence and randomness. They seem to think that everything must be connected and done for a reason and in fiction, that's true, every plot point has it's purpose even red herrings. But reality is fraught with randomness, coincidence, and counterintertuitive occurences and they just seem loathe to accept that because it's not what they're used to. They're used to all the crimes getting solved eventually, the bad guys getting theirs, and the noble hero who knew that something "wasn't right" all along saving everyone. That's why I like to call CTism Luke Skywalker Syndrome.

Well, plenty of movies are commentaries on "current" affairs or take situations from the real world and weave them into their story. I think this is what attracts the CTists. They know this. They just have trouble separating pure fiction from fiction inspired by reality.

 

[Myriad]

That's why I like to call CTism Luke Skywalker Syndrome.

But if CTers know about Luke Skywalker, then they should know that even a flying craft only a fraction the size of a jetliner can completely destroy a steel structure vastly larger than a WTC tower, if it happens to hit a small unshielded magnetic exhaust port. So why all the CD theories?

Don't even get me started on the 4,000 Jawas that didn't show up for work that day.

Respectfully,
Myriad

 

[MG1962]

Capricorn One

The X files

NCIS (The implied technology thats avaliable)

 

[realitybites]

V For Vendetta practically became their mantra.

I'm surprised half the people at Ground Zero on the anniversary weren't wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

 

[stilicho]

Capricorn One

Oh yes, I see you've heard of Eric Hufschmid.

And I had to have forgotten about The Matrix. There are a lot of people, on both sides, who use The Matrix characters for their avatars.

What is it that's so compelling about The Matrix? It certainly can't be Keanu Reeves' acting ability. He makes Al Gore look positively life-like. Maybe it's Laurence Fishburne.

Funny thing is, every time I see Laurence Fishburne, I think of Cowboy Curtis on PeeWee's Playhouse. Maybe we ought to regress a little and start looking for clues to the New World Order in that show.

 

[boloboffin]

As much as I hate to say it, the cartoon Underdog. Humble Shoeshine Boy's arch-nemesis was Simon Bar Sinister, drawn like every Jewish caricature ever. He was trying to make people do his every bidding, and even had a golem-like sidekick (drawn like Frankenstein's monster, a golem figure as well).

And who did Simon always threaten? That tribute to eugenics everywhere, Underdog's sweetheart, Polly Purebred.

It's so wrong, so terribly wrong.

 

[Brainache]

Well there was "The Lone Gunmen" a show about a world where all the CTs are true. Aliens, Illuminati etc.(remember the pilot episode?)

Or "24" where the secret agents can track anyone anywhere with sattelites and a few key strokes of a laptop and people at high levels of the US Government are always out to attack the population to further their evil agendas.

They also like to talk about George Orwell's "1984" a fair bit.

 

[8den]

As much as I hate to say it, the cartoon Underdog. Humble Shoeshine Boy's arch-nemesis was Simon Bar Sinister, drawn like every Jewish caricature ever. He was trying to make people do his every bidding, and even had a golem-like sidekick (drawn like Frankenstein's monster, a golem figure as well).

And who did Simon always threaten? That tribute to eugenics everywhere, Underdog's sweetheart, Polly Purebred.

It's so wrong, so terribly wrong.

Ugh I hate it when you revisit childhood favourites and discover they're tainted like this. Underdog may well have been Roger Myers Senior misunderstood opus; "Nazi Supermen Are Our Superiors".

I find the fact that Bill Hicks was friends with Alex Jones, insanely depressing.

 

[PerryLogan]

They Live

Truthers also like John Carpenter's film They Live--an awful movie with one terrific scene.

It turns out the world has been taken over by yuppy-type aliens, but you need these special sunglasses to see them. The good scene is where the hero first puts on the glasses--and sees that yuppies are space monsters and billboards are actually big subliminal messages saying things like "Obey"!

That scene probably encapsulates the way many Truthers feel. They've got the magic glasses...now if only they could give them to us.

 

[Hamradioguy]

Let's not forget:
Executive Action

Maybe Truthers are too young to remember this 1973 movie that like Stone's "JFK" also implied a plot to kill Kennedy. IMHO a rather atrocious film, but apparently quite a few people seem to think there might be something to it.

 

[Donal]

Manchurian Candidate gets thrown around.

Scanner Darkly for the cameo.

Casino Royale because of the chase scene through the airport and the stock shorting reference.

Alice in Wonderland was a CT favorite before the Matrix.

Fight Club.

 

[CHF]

Enemy Of The State:

This one has come up in discussions and is widely quoted by conspiracists, especially since it refers to the numbers 9 and 11 several times.

There's a conspiracy loon on Toronto radio (Richard Syrett) who, when asked about how the government monitors the population, said something to the effect of: "watch Enemy Of The State; it's all there."

These movies are basically documentaries in their minds.

 

[Brainster]

Some other paranoid thrillers:

The Parallax View. Warren Beatty discovers that a corporation is behind the assassination of a US senator and many other events in the news.

Blow Out. John Travolta unravels a conspiracy behind the death of a gubernatorial candidate.

Conspiracy Theory. Although not commonly cited by CTers for obvious reasons, this movie shows the unstable nature of the CT crowd. Mel Gibson plays a New York cabby who produces reams of material on conspiracy theories. Unfortunately for him, one of them turns out to be true.

 

[boloboffin]

Ugh I hate it when you revisit childhood favourites and discover they're tainted like this. Underdog may well have been Roger Myers Senior misunderstood opus; "Nazi Supermen Are Our Superiors".

I find the fact that Bill Hicks was friends with Alex Jones, insanely depressing.

I know - I loved Underdog. When I finally saw all that, a little part of my childhood died. I wish I could believe it was unconscious, and I know that most people who like the show don't go there at all (I didn't).

And look what's coming August 3, 2007:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/underdog/large.html

Sigh.