Conspiratainment and Ghostly TV

Leifer

Senior Member.
Lately, there seems to be a rise in proliferation of conspiratorial, ghostly, and alien investigative mainstream cable programming, often showing up on the so-called "documentary and scientific" type cable network channels....such as the History Channel, Arts and Entertainment Channel, etc....and surprisingly the National Geographic Channel as well.

History channel:
http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens
http://www.history.com/shows/brad-meltzers-decoded
http://www.history.com/shows/monsterquest
http://www.history.com/shows/mysteryquest
http://www.history.com/shows/nostradamus-effect
http://www.history.com/shows/ufo-hunters

A&E:
http://www.aetv.com/paranormal-state/
http://www.aetv.com/criss-angel-mindfreak/
http://www.aetv.com/paranormal-cops/
http://www.aetv.com/psychic-kids/

NatGeo TV:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/the-truth-behind/
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/nat-geo-wild/wild-all-videos/ngc-ghosts.html
...and others, from Witch Doctors, to the Paranormal....

The Learning Channel (TLC, Discovery Channel)
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/long-island-medium
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/ghost-lab/
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/ghost-lab/kids/ghost-lab-mission.html
and other paranormal stories...

SyFi Channel:
a plethora, not surprising at all...too long to list.

...but listen....I'm not getting in a huff over these shows, as we have to view such channels as entertainment. The channels play to people's interests, as that is how they "sell" the shows, and the adverts between.
People like paranormal and conspiratorial entertainment. They always have.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_conspiracy_movies/
...as well as sci-fi, and the mysterious....because visual cinema brings it closer to reality....from Hitchcock, to Tim Burton, to Oliver Stone....


part 2...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtWi3-eLQqY&feature=related


 
You can tell they are entertainment, but unfortunately a lot of people see it as validation of their ideas. Why would the History Channel do a show on chemtrails if chemtrails were not real?

One could point out they do shows on ghosts and aliens, but unfortunately they may well think those things are real too.
 
I have to admit, I made a great analogy between Hitchcock's idea of the refusal of introducing a frightening prop....and Burton's character realizing he is just but a frightening prop, and rather soulless without his obvious, and frightening image.
 
Yes...it's the validation that seems to attract the ardent viewer.
Strange though, that they only believe the shows that seem to "validate" their claims.
They may be that hungry for validation, that they put aside their fears of "mass media lies", in favor of selected mass-media stories.

I venture to guess, that we are all like that to some extent.....that we favour the stories we want to believe
 
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