I’m sure social media and very skewed supposed “news” channels do, but what about fiction? I would think some shows contribute as to paranoia as confirmation bias.
Millie and I collect dramas and watch them when we eat supper or breakfast. The latest DVR collection has been Criminal Minds: one right after another.
Watching one right after another can be damn depressing. The view of society it presents, mostly minus an ounce of humor, is as infectious as some propaganda is to weak minds.
With the dominance of rather graphic dramas these days on TV I think I get some of today’s paranoia. Watch Criminal Minds and one might begin to think the whole country is filled with with very, very, VERY sick people who constantly conspire against us. One character was shot, tortured, then his pregnant girlfriend was shot, then the tormentor plays Russian Roulette with the guy’s head. Just a little of all the two go through.
As with all dramas one or two events this bad would be possible. More than that most likely bad fiction. Even with the fact law enforcement does tend to see more of the dark side.
And that’s not even the worst. Another guy has a guillotine. Never guess what he uses that for, after beating his victims? Over… and over… and over again. Each one of these perps had severe issues growing up and is taking them out on their victims. At least 90% of the perps are men. At least 90% of the victims are women. Not unusual for these kinds of shows that specialize in the increased empathy that, to be honest, involves gender bias.
Even “Baby Girl” (Penelope) who mostly stays at work computer being their nerd deluxe, spends most of her time in panic mode and sheer angst when she could be providing more comic relief. Her constant over the top angst about the safety of the agents is so over the top it COULD be comedic relief, but absolutely not the intent. Having her seriously well focused during serious moments yet freaking out over imagined events? I could see, well written, how that could be comic relief. Something the show DESPERATELY needed.
These programs skew our view of humanity and life in problematic ways. I promise you, 90% of people out there are trying hard to live the life they had been given, and live it well. Or as well as they can. We all have issues. Like you or me somehow they muddle their way through.
In some ways the view inspired by this show reminds me of an incident years ago. A bus driver was VERY nasty to me for no reason: I simply asked how I got a ticket since the station was closed. The bus driver apologized to me later, saying he had had a tough day and thought I was saying something else. But for a while the incident colored my whole day, though I know far more good things probably happened during that otherwise rather surreal day. Long story could follow, but won’t.
My point being one bad incident, or event, in a day or a week tends to skew our perspective. These shows exploit that natural tendency to over accentuate the bad as if every day is a hot, horrific, mess when these events are usually a small portion of life, or even one day.
They shows color our view of society even more darkly and those who love to fear monger are like vultures who prefer to eat their victims live.
I’m not referring to Bones, or Castle, or Monk. The better shows, in this sense, all have a great sense of humor, have more moments of hope and joy, and while somewhat graphic there’s balance. I find far less balance to the darker shows like Criminal Minds.
I am not for banning anything, but I am for writing something that warns people not to let these programs get into their heads too much.
No wonder there’s so much wild conspiracy thinking out there. Y
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“Inspection” is a column that has been written by Ken Carman for over 50 years. Inspection is dedicated to looking at odd angles, under all the rocks and into the unseen cracks and crevasses that constitute the issues and philosophical constructs of our day: places few think, or even dare, to venture.
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