Category Archives: Conspiracies
Illuminatus! Trilogy: “They” with a capital “T”
You probably hear the word thrown out offhandedly; maybe you played a board game when you were in high school; maybe you listen to the wrong radio stations. Maybe it just got shouted down the bar from you the other night in the middle of a heated political discussion after someone’s fifth cheap whisky.
Why is there an eye on a pyramid on the American dollar bill?
Who killed Marilyn Monroe?
What is “Fnord”?
Wait, forget that last one.
What are the dolphins up to?
Why does nobody talk about George Washington’s past as a hemp farmer?
What is the connection between Atlantis and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”?
Who are the Illuminati?
And finally… what is the significance of the number five in so many suspicious places?
The Truth and the Conspiracy were out there – looking back at the final episode of The X-Files
One of the main reasons I like Netflix here in Canada is that you can catch up on a lot of your favourite television shows from days gone by, especially those shows you’re just not willing to pay for on DVD.
If you’re like me, one of those shows is The X-Files.
From 1993 until 2002 and over the course of nine seasons and 202 episodes, The X-Files became a cultural phenomenon that, along with The Simpsons, helped secure the fledgling Fox Network as a major player in the ever-expanding cable television universe.
In the spirit of Biff Bam Pop’s “Conspiracy Week,” I recently caught up with old friends Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) over the two-hour series finale, “The Truth,” originally aired on Sunday, May 19th, 2002. Creator Chris Carter wrote the two-hour event, wrapping up the series in an exposition-heavy clip show that laid out the conspiracy behind UFOs, alien abductions and their connection to the U.S. government.
If you ever wanted to believe but were never really sure of what was going on, today’s look at “The Truth” will set your mind free.
Or burden it with a whole lot of frustrating questions.
Fair warning: set your spoiler-sensors to full from here on.
Take The Red Pill – The Matrix Conspiracy
I submit, for your conspiracy consideration, The Matrix – one of my all time favourite mind-blowing conspiracies. Now, I’ll admit that movie enthusiasts and college professors have ruined the metaphorical subtly of the franchise (and the third film didn’t help) but I firmly propose that The Matrix is one of the best examples of this week’s Biff Bam Pop theme… because EVERYTHING is a big fat conspiracy.
Paul Is Dead, The 27 Club and Faked Deaths – Rock ‘n’ Roll Conspiracies That Never Die
Since its earliest incarnation in the 1950’s, rock ‘n’ roll music has long been dubbed the devil’s music by religious groups and fundamentalists who didn’t care for the effects the music was having on the youth of the day. From Elvis’ swivelling hips causing a sexual revolution to Judas Priest inciting satanic serial killings, popular music of the last century is deeply steeped in mythology and its fare share of conspiracy theories.
The most common or popular conspiracies in rock range from the merely coincidental to the completely absurd, and today we take a look at our Top-4 Rock n Roll Conspiracies…why four you ask?
Conspiracies, Commercialism & Cheap Sunglasses: They Live 23 Years Later
If nothing else, John Carpenter’s 1988 film They Live, which celebrated its 23 birthday this past weekend, will be remembered for two memorable moments. The first is this:
The second would be one of the longest fight scenes I’ve ever seen, and that apparently found both Piper and Keith David pulling few punches. Sit back and relax for a few minutes and check this out – I’ll be here when you’re done.
Believe it or not, there is actually more to They Live than either of those legendary cinematic moments. What may have been thought of as a simple sci-fi story back in November of 1988 has managed to age nicely, thanks to its overt commentary on consumerism and mind control.
If you didn’t see it back in the day or haven’t caught it in the ensuing 23 years, They Live folows out of work drifter John Nada, who unknowingly uncovers the truth behind the advertising and television we consume. Nada discovers that when he puts on sunglasses he discovers in a church formerly used by rebels, he can see subliminal messages such as “consume”, “marry and reproduce” and, when he spies a few dollar bills, “this is your god”. The sunglasses also reveal that the wealthy elite on Earth are actually aliens who have taken over the planet. Nada manages to convince his new friend Frank of the truth, and the two attempt to reveal it to the rest of the planet. If you’ve got a Netflix subscription, you can watch it here.
Like a lot of John Carpenter’s later work, They Live isn’t as well regarded as films like The Thing or Halloween. It didn’t do huge business at the box office, but it has managed to retain a life, thanks in part to the great performance by Roddy Piper. They Live was Piper’s first big film following his departure from the wrestling business, and he managed to do a great job, playing quiet when he has to and turning it up as the film progresses.
But for fans of conspiracy theories, there are other strengths to They Live, which come from Carpenter’s script (which he wrote under the alias Frank Armitage, a character from an H.P. Lovecraft story). Having grown frustrated with the obsessive consumerism of the 1980′s, Carpenter wanted to clearly attack and demonize big business and corporate monopolies, the wealthy elite looking to take control of our world. He uses aliens among us as the reason North American culture had become so materialistic and devoted to acquiring more and more, but in They Live those aliens are in line with the power hungry people of Earth looking to get rich quick. They Live may have been released back in 1988, but it sure feels like it could be set in Los Angeles circa: right now.
I think it’s pretty fair to say that, as a culture, we can all be influenced a little too easily. Definitely more than we’d care to admit. I don’t know, maybe it’s mass hysteria or something in the water, but I have no doubt there are subliminal messages in the commercials on our tv screens. Probably our movies and music too. How else can you explain the popularity of the Twilight films or Nickleback?
23 years later, They Live continues to live on. What I wouldn’t give for a pair of those sunglasses. How about you?
