The Truth is Out There!Paranoia in the 90’s

Definition - A theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act.

"I felt that the '90s are going to be the 'conspiracy decade,' that a belief in conspiracies was going to be the predominant way of the thinking in the national Zeitgeist."

-Jonathan Vankin (Senior Editor at Vertigo Comics and author of The Fifty Greatest Conspiracies of All Time: History's Biggest Mysteries, Cover-ups, and Cabals)

Conspiracy Theory

The Roswell UFO Incident involved the recovery of materials near Roswell, New Mexico, on July 7, 1947, and since the early 1980s has become the subject of intense speculation, rumor and questioning.

The military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named "Mogul."

Many UFO conspiracy theorists maintain that a crashed alien spacecraft and bodies were recovered, and that the military engaged in a cover-up.

The incident has turned into a widely known phenomenon, and for some, Roswell is synonymous with UFOs.

Roswell

UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL (1991) by Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt

Crash at Corona (1992) by Stanton Friedman

The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell (1994) by Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt

The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You To Know (1997) by Kal K. Korff

Numerous Books on Roswell Emerge in 90’s

A large secretive military airfield in southern Nevada.

Conspiracy theorists state:

It’s a storage facility for crashed alien spacecraft.

Government has meetings and allegiances with alien life-forms.

The development of exotic energy weapons for things such as weather control.

The development of technology for teleportation and time travel.

Existence of a secret government agency.

Area 51

President Clinton lied about his sexual involvement with Monica Lewinski

Worldwide Football Hero OJ Simpson is accused of murdering his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman.

Michael Jackson is accused of child molestation

The 90’s-Distrust With Public Figures

There are conspiracy theorists who still believe that Kurt Cobain may not have killed himself.

Courtney Love or Other Parties may have been responsible for his death.

Courtney Love-Conspiracy Theory

There were never any pictures released of Tupac in the hospital.

In the song "Life Goes On", Tupac raps about his own funeral.

The video "I ain't Mad at Cha" was released only a few days after his death. "I ain't Mad at Cha" is track 13 on the album All Eyes On Me. The video shows Tupac as an angel in heaven. In the video, Tupac was shot after leaving a theater with a friend, which is very similar to how he was shot in real life. Interestingly, Tupac dies in his last video released under the name "Tupac". His new video "Toss It Up" from the new album was released under the name "Makaveli".

The second video to be released by the name Makaveli is "To Live and Die in L.A." But how could they shoot the second video when he is "dead". Do you really think the video was shot 4 months ago, back in August of '96? Think about it.

In most of his songs he talks about being buried, so why was he allegedly cremated the day after he "died"? And since when do they cremate someone the day after death without an autopsy? Furthermore, it is illegal to bury someone who has been murdered without an autopsy.

Tupac's alias is Makaveli. Though the spelling is different, Machiavelli was a 16th century italian philosopher who advocated the staging of one's death in order to evade one's enemies and gain power.

In Machiavelli's book Discourses Upon the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, in Book 2 Chapter XIII he says "a prince who wishes to achieve great things must learn to deceive". This is Machiavelli's main idea and is the connection between Tupac and the writings of Machiavelli.

In the video "Hail Mary" released under the name Makaveli, there is a gravestone that says Makaveli. But the gravestone is cracked and there is a hole right in front of it, inferring that Makaveli rose from the dead.

The Tupac Conspiracy

Detective Munch –conspiracy theorist

In real life-Munch’s portrayer Richard Belzer wrote a book entitled "UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy To Believe.“ (1999)

Munch Ado About Conspiracies

Conspiracy in the Cinema

Created by David Lynch (Eraserhead, The Elephant Man,Blue Velvet) and Mark Frost.

Aired on ABC from April 8, 1990-June 10, 1991 (29 episodes)

Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer is found dead, washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic sheeting.

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate the murder of this young woman in the small, Northwestern town of Twin Peaks.

As the investigation ensues, the audience learns that virtually nobody can be trusted. Even the victim herself lead a double life.

Who Killed Laura Palmer?

Volunteered at Meals on

Wheels

Loved by the town and was perceived as pristine and innocent

she was the high school homecoming queen

Had football captain boyfriend-Bobby Briggs

she was seemingly adored by her parents

Laura Palmer-The Facade

Cocaine abuser

Victim of child abuse from BOB (who inhabited her father’s body)

had secret lovers-James Hurley and others

worked as a hooker in a secret brothel in the casino One-Eyed Jacks.

The Real Laura Palmer

We learn that Leland is possessed by an evil spirit named BOB who molested Laura as a child and through her teenage years.

He suffered from numerous breakdowns after Laura’s death—he begins to sing and dance uncontrollably in certain instances.

After killing a suspect in Laura’s murder, his hair turns completely white.

Leland also kills Laura’s cousin Maddie.

Leland Palmer-Laura’s Father

Benjamin Horne-Town’s Business mogul—morally ambiguous, also had sexual and emotional relationship with Laura

Audrey Horne –sexually promiscuous and deceitful.

Bobby Briggs—drug dealer—was used by Laura for his cocaine connections

Josie Packard-appears innocent, but committed murderous acts to gain control of the town mill. She also attempts to kill Agent Cooper. She also had a sexual relationship with Laura.

A Town of Distrust

Incomprehensible characters are integrated into the narrative to increase the paranoia and distrust.

These characters work to increase the paranoia, because nobody knows what they anyone is thinking, what their motives are, or even if they are a sane and a reliable source of information.

Nonsensical Characters

Even the perceived heroes become a source of unreliability.

Agent Cooper is always confiding into a tape recorder to someone named “Diane.”

However, the audiences never sees Diane, which leads the audience to question his motives, and even his sanity.

Who Can We Trust?

The X-Files Aired September 10-

1993 thru May 19,2002

202 episodes

2 feature films “Fight the Future”(1998) and “I Want to Believe” (2008)

This long running FOX drama on the exploits of FBI Agents Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, John Doggett and Monica Reyes and their investigations into the paranormal.

From genetic mutants and killer insects to a global conspiracy concerning the colonization of Earth by an alien species, the series created by Chris Carter has been one of the world's most popular sci-fi/drama shows.

From Mutants to Global Conspiracy

Fox Mulder was the believer.

Dana Scully was the skeptic.

The show explored urban legends,

sci-fi/horror b-movie plots

Urban Legends, Aliens, Monsters

The show resonated with the anti-government stance taken by conspiracy theorists.

Smoking Man, Well-Manicured Man, Alex Krycek were some of many duplicitous characters to create paranoia within narrative.

In composing fan-fiction, the fans themselves invented their own conspiracy theories.

TRUST NO ONE!

Aired March 10, 1997 – May 20, 2003 on the WB/UPN

The horror composition of duality is presented most significantly in four pivotal characters that have a close relationship with the show’s protagonist Buffy Summers.

Angel and Spike are the two prominent loves of Buffy’s life whose duality resulted in relationships fraught with volatility.

Buffy’s best friend, Willow Rosenberg’s duality was manifested after the death of her lover Tara.

Finally, Faith’s duality was not only presented within her own self, but was also mirrored in her relationship with Buffy.

The show adheres to the notion that identity is never stabilized. Buffy can play fast and lose with plausibility, using supernatural triggers as metaphoric means to throw characters into identity confusion.

Duality—Distrust in One’s Self

Aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 – May 14, 1998

The untrustworthy concept is magnified in the fact that Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are the central unit-whereas everyone else in the world becomes suspect.

The distrustful element takes on a greater dynamic since the foursome are capable of deceit as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBABFpAkJMM&feature=PlayList&p=B30519CA20008514&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEzBeP6pRoY&feature=related

SEINFELD

Newman is constantly making Jerry’s life miserable while also being Kramer’s partner in schemes.

Frank and Estelle Costanza –George holds them responsible for his failures.

Kenny Bania—Jerry’s nemesis-also stand-up comedian

Susan Ross—George’s late fiancée who hated Kramer, Elaine, and Jerry.

The Soup Nazi.

What’s The Deal With These People?

Aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004

Utilizes the same “central-unit” concept as Seinfeld.

Example “Kathy” Joey’s girlfriend.

She causes distrust in the group when Chandler takes a liking to her.

Eventually, Chandler’s paranoia leads to Kathy cheating on him

FRIENDS

Aired on ABC September 24, 1997-April 30, 2002

Dharma was homeschooled

Unfamiliar with Western Culture

Naïve with Trusting Strangers

She is the opposing force to the distrust that exist in her environment

Dharma And Greg

Myron Lawrence "Larry" Finkelstein, Dharma's father

Sixties radical who frequently rants about various conspiracies.

He also thinks he's wanted by the FBI.

When Greg discovers he's not, his family goes to great lengths to prove to him that he still is because, oddly, this is a source of great pride to him.

Pride in Paranoia

Dharma’s friend Jane hates and distrusts men

Greg’s friend Pete is a terrible and lazy

lawyer who failed the bar exam seven times before passing it in Barbados.

Dharma’s Mother in Law Kitty is initially a manipulative and controlling woman.

Bad Karma

Aired on NBC from March 4, 1997 thru August 16, 2003.

Despicable characters that worked at a fashion magazine called Blush.

Even though they engaged in deceit, they were still a central unit outside of the workplace.

Distrust in the Workplace

Aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 thru September 8, 2004

Drew and Mimi constantly are playing practical jokes on each other in the office which resulted in comic destruction (shredded clothes, destroyed vacation requests, etc)

Mr. Wick (The Boss at Winfred-Lauder) is a former cocaine addict, unorthodox firing procedures—would always seem to fire someone named Johnson)

Distrust in the Workplace

The Shield –distrust of police The Sopranos-distrust of the family LOST-distrust of characters and narrative

From the 90’s thru Today

Desperate Housewives-distrust of outsiders

NCIS-distrust within military Damages-distrust of the legal system

Distrust in Television Today

The Hills-Distrust in friends Reality Television-Distrust in Opponents

Distrust in Television Today