I think it'd be more constructive to go after scummy tabloid kitsch scam culture, like Jerry Springer, game shows, reality TV, the Enquirer, the Apprentice, etc. That kind of lowest common denominator consumerism does serious damage to our society.
I will admit my wife and I were extremely entertained by and binge-watched this reality TV show, where contestants are holed up in an apartment complex and can only interact with others through a social platform called The Circle. They create profiles (real or gimmick) and instant-message chat with others in groups and 1-on-1.
Come to think of it, The Circle is actually the perfect show for quarantine times, though it was filmed before then.
The dramatic irony is off-the-charts.
And I think the show does in its own way raise awareness of things like catfishing and not trusting everything you see online. And yet: a big part of the reveal is still realizing the "catfish" on the other end is a real person with real feelings.
But this is one of the higher-brow reality TV offerings, I think :)
Fair. That said what inspired this is the fact I have relatives who eat this late-night UFO stuff up and then go and eat up the stuff on Fox News and then vote Trump.
Watching UFO tales doesn't turn you instantly into a Trump supporter and some people are capable of distinguishing reality from provocative think-pieces.
But others aren't.
I think for many it's a part of the same credulous mindset: I saw it on TV, therefore it must be real.
And then they never change the channel to MSNBC, NBC, CBS, or CNN, because that's fake news because the President and Fox News told them so.
Conspiracy theories or speculation on unexplained phenomena, when they are based on actual evidence, are better than conspiracy hypotheses or fundamentalist religious apologetics, which argue to conclusions or to smear opponents without or against existing evidence.
It's one thing to have a belief in the absence of proof, it's another to have a belief that rejects facts.
THIS GUY IS A GOOD MEME, BUT HE’S PART OF THE PROBLEM. Late-night UFO TV shows, aired on once-reputable channels, have primed a large fraction of the American public to entertain bullshit and established a format of “just asking questions” for YouTube and other social-media conspiracy artists to run wild.
Caption this Meme
