Profile On Conspiracy Theorists PDF

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Essay on videos and discussion about conspiracy theories. ...

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Kimberly Jones Dr. Horn English Composition 2 September 28, 2015 Profile on Conspiracy Theorists

"Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, cuz Kansas is going bye-bye." These are the first words spoken during a Youtube video about the fall of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. An image of the world in an array of colors with the words "BEHOLD Media" accompany these spoken words. The video is called " 9/11 Proof Of Used Laser Weapons Part 1" (hereafter "Laser Weapons"). This phrase referencing "The Wizard of Oz" seems to be a parallel for the goal of BEHOLD Media, to rip the innocence of a person away by taking away what they know to be true. By creating other videos such as "Hit Man Killed Bin Laden", "9/11 Truthers", and " 9/11 Challenge" (captioned as a game to challenge show how fast the World Trade Center towers fell), BEHOLD Media has established themselves as a group whose goal is to take Dorothy away from Kansas. The method by which they do this in "Laser Weapons" is methodical and shrewd. After a thirty second video of the plane hitting the World Trade Center and the aftermath, accompanied by slow rap music, written on the screen appears a challenge. The challenge is to see whether or not the viewer believes that the people being interviewed in the next segment of the video get "hot under the collar", which they describe as a tell-tale sign of anxiety, which accompanies lying. The next part of the video is a press conference where a reporter asks Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, if he envisions being able to implement the new high-powered microwave technology soon. Rumsfeld then proceeds to

choose his words carefully, as one should in an interview, explaining that the technology is still in the developmental phase. He does go on to describe how the reporter's question is unanswerable due to the fact that this is the real world and things sometimes need to be taken out of the developmental stage to be used. Following this section, there is section where the creators of the video claim to be exposing the truth. They take a clip from something aired on "The Discovery Channel" that describes what this new technology is. The creators of "Laser Weapons" then tell the viewer that these weapons were developed a little over a year before 9/11 occurred. They say this with no documentation or convincing evidence. BEHOLD Media then goes on to show many videos taken of the plane crashes from all different angles and speeds to demonstrate the flash of light that occurs before each impact. They tell us that this is a "tell-tale sign" of laser weapons being used to bring down the World Trade Center. The video ends with a Bill Nye-esque man saying that because of these videos, one can conclude without a doubt that it was not "a terrorist with a box cutter." How can one conclude, without a doubt, that 9/11 did not happen exactly as the official report describes? People make conclusions based on the facts presented to them. In the case of the 9/11 conspiracy, the facts are presented vaguely and based off of nameless witnesses. In the video "9/11 Inside Job: Bombs in Buildings" one of the pieces of information that was served to the audience as a fact was that witnesses say there were explosions inside the building. The creator of the video then goes on to cover his or her lack of objective reporting by saying that few witnesses are brave enough to stand up and speak out about what they saw. This reckless push of so called facts onto the viewer can also be seen in the video "9/11 Truth Behind It All" in which the claim that the towers were evacuated the week before 9/11 for security reasons. This supposed evidence of planted bombs was at least cited, but the credibility of the source does not do much when it comes to supporting the validity of this claim. It was taken from "People Magazine."

While the people that make conspiracy theory videos about 9/11 seem to be completely sold out on their belief, they are not satisfied with that. They wish to line up all of the evidence in a way that can make it seem like a logical possibility for there to be an alternate theory to the event. By using phrases like "You Judge!", they try to make themselves appear to be the objective reporter of information. By looking at the sources, or lack thereof, of these piece of evidence, one can assume that a person who supports 9/11 conspiracy theories does not have much regard for the validity of a claim. Another driving force behind the radical beliefs of a conspiracy theorist is that there is an "us" versus "them" mentality. If a conspiracy theorist believes that they have discovered that something is being hidden from the public, they will then make it their personal duty to instill this mindset upon others. They utilize tactics such as fear or condemnation to encourage the viewer to side against "them." In the case of conspiratorial events such as the 9/11 and also the assassination of John. F. Kennedy, the "them" group represents the government. In the video "FBI Agent's Testimony About KKK Connection" about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the main catalyst for the movie maker's argument was a former government agent's heart wrenching story. The argument that the government is multi-layered and cannot be trusted was exemplified by the fact that an F.B.I. Agent that was closely connected to the assassination event also distrusted the government's decisions and conclusions. At the heart of both conspiracy theories there is simply a mistrust of the government and higher authorities. If someone is not an average citizen, they become part of the "them" in the "us" versus "them" mentality held by these conspiracy theorists. As part of the battle against "them", the average man must rise up. In order to accomplish this, conspiracy theorists use false logic, fear, and anger from being deceived to put some fire under their viewers. In the cases of the falling of the World Trade Center towers and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it is obvious that those who refuse to believe the official reports handed down from the

government are considered conspiracy theorists. However, there are cases where a group of people may not buy into what the official report says but are not considered conspiracy theorists by the public. So is the case in the death of George Reeves, who was known for his role as Superman. People like his mother simply refused to believe that the cause of his death was suicide. She went through evidence, gathered support for her claim, and tried to convince others of her belief. While no one would blame her for distrusting her son's company the night of his death, she is acting in a similar way to the conspiracy theorists who support an alternate cause for 9/11 or the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The thing that sets people who believe in an alternate cause in the death of George Reeves from those who believe in an alternate cause in 9/11 or the assassination is the fact that these radical conspiracy theorists have a deep seated mistrust of the government and believe that action should be taken. Those who were close to George Reeves have a disbelief due to the fact that they thought more highly of Reeves than to commit suicide. The people surrounding the death of George Reeves that do not believe the official report could be classified as conspiracy theorists, but it is clear that they are not as radical as those who have an alternate theory about 9/11 or the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The creators of Youtube videos that support their theory take their belief to the extremity of trying to convince others. They attempt to line up an argument made up of invalid or poorly put together facts, then maybe do a little bit of tugging on the viewers' heart strings. In the end of each video, it is clear that they have a deep seated mistrust in the government. As a result of this mistrust and anger towards the government, conspiracy theorists take it upon themselves to make their audience view the government in that same way. This is evident in the slogan on BEHOLD Media, the creators of many 9/11 conspiracy videos such as "Laser Weapons." With the beginning of the video, a voice says " Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, cuz Kansas is going byebye." This clearly implies their desire to strip the public of its innocence and trust toward the government. While this may be their goal, the irony can be found in the fact that Kansas never went

away for Dorothy. While her body stayed in reality, her mind went to a place where things weren't true or real. So is the case with the unrealistic beliefs of a conspiracy theorist....