Skeptic Project

Conspiracy theorists go on and on about social conditioning via media and what not, I recently read a post about how crime dramas are a way to condition people to accept authority... but it seems like the media caters far more to conspiracy theories and woo (in fiction at least).

Conspiracy theorists and woo believers in general don't realize how positively they are portrayed in most cases. They are nearly always correct, and the skeptic is nearly always wrong.

In fact, aside from Scooby-Doo I can't think of any other examples where the "skeptics" are right. Anyone know of some more shows or movies that follow this theme? Alternatively, any shows or movies where the skeptics are wrong? I'm sure the latter would far outweigh the former.

Scientists are also portrayed very unrealistically.

"oblivious to obvious events taking place in the show or movie."
I think this staryotype started with Agent Scully from the X-Files.

The X-Files is a pretty decent show, except for the last season.

If Scully was always right, it would have been boring as shit.

It's not a movie or TV show, but "Foucault's Pendulum" by Eco absolutely trashes conspiracy theories and their believers. A medieval document describing a grand, 1000-year plan by secret masters to rule the world and harness the primal energy of creation turns out to be nothing more than a shopping list.

I agree, CT's are glorified by movies. National Treasure, Da Vinci Code, X Files, just about every Oliver Stone film, etc.

But movies and TV where the supernatural/conspiracies take place is just social conditioning so that when REAL conspiracies happen, everyone just says "that's just a movie!" It's another form of control.</end conspiracy theorist>

PS. Yes, I've actually heard that argument used before.

Joe: not true. "Nixon" was full of CT's, especially the very egregious part where he conjectures about what's on the 18 1/2 minute gap of the Watergate tapes. (In Stone's version, it's Nixon confessing that a secret intelligence black op may have been involved in the assassination of JFK).

"Salvador" was also very CT in a low-key sort of way. "Wall Street" didn't expressly assert CT's but played into the whole "bankers rule the world" stuff. "Scarface" (which Stone wrote but did not direct) hints at CIA involvement in the Cuban drug trade.

Scully was hot...mmm Scully.