It seems to me that The X-Files are prejudiced against the unknown and the paranormal. If something is paranormal or unknown, it's automatically something bad or grisly, or at least scary. Isn't this a biased picture of the paranormal? Why not portray the paranormal etc as something fascinating or interesting instead -- something to be understood and studied for whatever knowledge it may prove to contain? Surely not all things paranormal are bad or grisly. As Marie Curie said so well, "Nothing is to be feared, only understood." I think as a result of shows like The X-Files, people who have actually had encounters with the paranormal in real life are going to be shunned with fear and horror rather than approached with genuine interest -- not a very good state of affairs surely.

What do you think? ;)

Well you have to remember the X-files are cases handled by FBI agents...their job is to investigate CRIMES....so it would stand to reason that their cases involved the BAD-Paranormals. I can't think of any off hand, but I do recall that there were some rather benign paranormals on the show too.

That said, Im pretty sure 99% of the paranormal has explanations rooted in the all too normal :D Just callme Mr. Skeptic.

Oh and Marie Currie died of cancer induced by her work with radioactive materials....I think a little dose of fear might have been warrented.

[ 04-23-2002, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

Well, why have TV shows on the paranormal that focus only on criminal cases handled by FBI agents? Why not have TV shows on the paranormal that focus on the paranormal in general -- both the grisly and the not-so-grisly forms? And shift the emphasis towards adventure and exploration, rather than horror and the sensational...

Oh, and certainly a bit of fear is warranted... Or is perhaps caution a better word?

Finally, I'm actually also prepared to accept that a lot of the so-called paranormal is actually just something normal. But that still leaves 1% that looks genuinely paranormal. ;)

Perhaps ultimately the paranormal is just an aspect of nature not yet understood.

I agree that there ia at least 1% that isn't easily explained [img]smile.gif[/img] Even though I doubt things like ghosts and spirits of the dead, I still have to admit, that I have "experienced" things that I can't explain. As for Television, there have been many attempts at doing the Serious intelectual search but unfortunately the TV viewing audience likes the flash and panache of the crime drama. The History channel still shows episodes of "In Search Of" hosted by Leonard Nimoy [img]smile.gif[/img] and on the Sci-Fi channel that psychic guy talks to your dead reletives if you are int he audience...Im sure if I thought about it long enough Id come up with a couple more non-hostile para-normal shows.

<font color = lightgreen>The "unknown" generally causes fear in many people. The fact that a majority of those who experience/encounter paranormal activity also have some history of paranoia (or have paranoid tendencies) then trend with "paranormal" shows is to portray anything not easily explainable as scary or something to be feared.

If you are tired of the X-Files (I know I don't bother watching it anymore :rolleyes: ) then catch Strange World on the Sci-Fi channel.</font>

Perhaps that should be called the "Paranoial", then? ;)

Seriously, I agree with the thought that most TV shows are out there for the basest, most flagrant sensationalism with little thought to truth or substance. How else could programs like Jerry Springer continue to exist? [img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img]

Cheers,

i guess that's just the way we humans are .
first we fear the unknown, then we kill it

I know it! The paranormal isn't always bad! its just the bad stuff that people like because the good stuff sounds like something out of a hippie movie...

Here's an example for ya:

Jovius Carton of Groundhog Mississippi said that a dream told him to take his Bernellie and fire it into the sun nonstop for 24 hours... he did so and since has been able to play any musical instrunment just upon touching it... he doesnt even have to know what the instrunment is and he can play it!

And another example:

Once there was a man in Whyoming who seemed to have no talen whatsoever... he was pretty much down on his luck and had a hard life. One day he claimed fo have been "Abducted" and swore that a metal devide had been implanted in his brain. He even ORDERED to have a Cat Scan! The Scan (and later an X ray) revealed that, indeed, a large metal object had somehow become loged in his skull! The Doctors were amazed that he was still alive but because he put the words "abduction by aliens" in his case he was never studied by psychologists... The metal was so far lodged that it would be fatal to be removed, so instead they let him go on and live his life.. a few months later he was a millionaire. Do you know why? Because one day he took some paint and decided to place it on a canvas. What he created was a free-hand style for himself that was unlike any other type of art seen. IT was both Abstract and Modern while also portraying emmotions, it normally had a distorted face infront of a quadrocemetrical pattern in the background which looked alot like a star or something streaming through the air. He also never makes the face proportional. What is most interesting is how much this art actually SELLS for because of its uniqueness... And to add to the irregularity of the art, he places a signature on every pastel and it always looks the same. He claims that it is his signature though he doesn't exactly know how to translate it himself. Language experts of many kinds have tried to interperate the form of character which is used but it is nothing which humans have ever used in any linguistic form to date. This odd writing only makes his works all that more priceless...

I wish i could find a picture of the paintins and his signature but the website i got this from went out of business because they reported a story on black helecopters and how they were used to collect cattle and test their organs for the effects of long-term radiation and the government shut them down : / oh well...

Hey, Sazerac, don't dis Jerry...He's my best bud...I invite him into my living room every day!

Besides, if he and his show are not the perfect example for the existence of extraterrestrial life, I don't know what is!

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