The Atlantic's Shadowland Series
Debunked
Part 7: Paranoia in Hollywood
Part 1 of 9: Debunked "Shadowland" The Power and Danger of Conspiracies
Part 2 of 9: Debunked The Birther Issue
Part 3 of 9: Debunked The American Civil War Conspiracy
Part 4 of 9: Debunked The Teenage Conspiracy Theorist known as Ellen Cushing
Part 5 of 9: Debunked The Conspiracy Theorists are Winning
Part 6 of 9: Debunked QAnon, the Pro-Trump Conspiracy Religion
Part 7 of 9: Debunked Paranoia in American Entertainment
Part 8 of 9: Debunked One America News, Trump's Favorite TV Network
Part 9 of 9: Debunked The 5G Radiation Conspiracy
By: Shawn Alli
Posted: June 20, 2020
Copyright Pixabay
* All individuals and organizations receive 3 full days of pre-publication notice to respond to questions.
The next article is called "The Paranoid Style in American Entertainment" by Megan Garber.
Garber apparently has an axe to grind with Hollywood.
Umm...Hollywood is supposedly a "liberal institution." If you have a gripe about it, take it up with them. I hope you won't be blaming the lack of trust in mainstream liberal media outlets today on reality TV shows. And I hope you’re not blaming conspiracy theorists for it. You give us far too much credit (and that says something coming from a conspiracy theorist). But as I mentioned in Part 6, Hollywood has done well in exploiting the conspiracy theory movement for profit.
"The hyperbole highlighted a truth. Reality TV really does encourage viewers to question everything—in part because it nullifies the distinction between fiction and fact."
Umm...what?
That's the dumbest thing I've heard this morning. It's going to be a long day for me.
No, reality TV isn’t the reason why people have become conspiracy theorists or have "conspiratorial thoughts." Only unintelligent liberals would make this claim. But that's the way the Atlantic staff rolls.
Sh*t from our ideological bubble is equal to golden nuggets in the real world.
And just so we're clear, I don't watch reality TV shows (except the 5th Wheel in the early 2000s). That show was funny. Why don't I watch them? Because I'm too intelligent. Or at least I like to believe that I am. And perception always wins. Yay for me.
But in all seriousness, I've never watched a full episode of Survivor, the Amazing Race, the Bachelor, American Idol, the Real Housewives, or the Apprentice. Not even once. Unlike liberals, I have too much respect for myself to do such a thing. The only reality TV show I watch is the Gordon Ramsey ones. And yet I became a conspiracy theorist, even though I wasn't one in high school during a "vulnerable" period.
If you believe that watching reality TV shows will cause you to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist and distrust authorities...I'm sorry, but you can't be helped.
And the journey continues. Garber now insinuates that the unseen producers behind the scenes are analogous to the wizard in Oz. It's interesting because that's how we see liberal media outlets and the deep state. Pulling the strings behind the scenes. Oh, was that the point of the article? Well done. But wait, that doesn't account for the conspiracy theorists before reality TV. In all seriousness, conspiracy theorists skip the reality TV show model and usually go straight to the 1939 Wizard of Oz film for the analogy.
Oddly enough, one thread that I've constantly seen in these articles is the reference to someone named Joseph Uscinski.
Never heard of him.
You and me both.
...which means that he's an academic who "studies" conspiracies. Yah, conspiracy theorists have little regard for academics who study us and our beliefs. I wonder if it was Uscinski's influence that oversold the idea in the Atlantic that conspiracy theorists were "super powerful and dangerous" to global society. Get that academic rubbish outta here. It has no basis in reality.
Ah yes, the 1998 film, The Truman Show. A movie about reality TV shows. It was a good movie. And? The idea that it's the "founding stone" for America's mistrust of liberal institution is laughable. It's just a f*ckin' movie. Garber is reading too much into it.
As I continue to read, I come to the conclusion that this is one of the dumbest articles I've ever read. I now have less respect for Megan Garber as a journalist. Assuming I had any respect for the profession from the start. Joking...I support investigative journalism. Everything else can burn in bankruptcy hell.
Garber is now referencing the X-Files line to "trust no one." Lovely, but in reality, viewers maintain a level of suspension of disbelief. If a person is university educated, they're most likely aware that reality TV shows are...for lack of a better word...fake. But they still enjoy it because of their suspension of disbelief. The idea that Hollywood's use of suspension of disbelief has somehow "warped" American culture is just stupid.
But yes, Hollywood is complicit in creating the false image of Trump. In one sense, you could say that Hollywood put him in power.
It's part of the Q plan.
Comey and Trump are working together to get Hilary and the deep state.
Yah...no. The reality is that many liberals now feel responsible for pushing Trump into the White House and have taken their destiny into their hands to "undo their mistake."
Liberals and their purpose in life. A deadly combination.