This two week period of the year that runs from just before Christmas till just after New Years are a television wasteland. All of the specialty channels have been running marathons of their favourite programs. For twelve or even twenty-four hours one can become comatose watching episode after episode of some of the most mind-numbing television available. I suppose in a way it makes sense for the channels because complete seasons of most programs are available on DVD and people seem to enjoy gorging themselves on this type of television candy.
Well last night, before I shut off the TV in disgust, I came across a couple of programs being run back-to-back on the Discovery Channel. The station that prides itself on educating the masses was showing two documentaries which each ran for two hours. The first of the two supposedly revolved around a shark attack that had sunk a fishing boat. From this start, the show interviewed "eyewitnesses," scientists and "experts" to attempt to prove that a fifty-foot megalodon shark was cruising the waters off South Africa. In the second, the evolutionary development of mermaids was explored. Both "documentaries" mirrored the typical type of evidence that such documentaries typically explore. Both included high levels of technical ability and superb animation. Of course, the only issue was that both were patently false documentaries. Neither megalodon nor mermaids exist in our world.
The burning question for me today is Why? Why would a channel that supposedly specializes in bringing us the unvarnished truth devote its time and resources to such foolishness? What did they intend to accomplish? Was it originally an elaborate and expensive April Fool's joke? Was it designed to poke fun at all the whackos and conspiracy nuts who roam the forests looking for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster?
I have absolutely no clue why the Discovery channel would involve itself in such nonsense. However, I do know one unintended consequence of their actions. These documentaries were extremely convincing. In fact, they were just as convincing as all the other phony documentaries that the Discovery Channel airs every week. They have shown that they are capable of taking complete myths and making them look possible through a few expert opinions and a little fancy animation. Of course this is exactly what they do every week in their regular programing on dinosaurs and evolution. They have unwittingly shown in these two false documentaries how easy it is to take a myth for which there is not a shred of true scientific evidence and make it sound totally reasonable through clever editing and some sharp animation. These two fakes should serve as a warning for people everywhere to be very careful about how easily we can fall for something just because it comes in a clever and entertaining package.
Well last night, before I shut off the TV in disgust, I came across a couple of programs being run back-to-back on the Discovery Channel. The station that prides itself on educating the masses was showing two documentaries which each ran for two hours. The first of the two supposedly revolved around a shark attack that had sunk a fishing boat. From this start, the show interviewed "eyewitnesses," scientists and "experts" to attempt to prove that a fifty-foot megalodon shark was cruising the waters off South Africa. In the second, the evolutionary development of mermaids was explored. Both "documentaries" mirrored the typical type of evidence that such documentaries typically explore. Both included high levels of technical ability and superb animation. Of course, the only issue was that both were patently false documentaries. Neither megalodon nor mermaids exist in our world.
The burning question for me today is Why? Why would a channel that supposedly specializes in bringing us the unvarnished truth devote its time and resources to such foolishness? What did they intend to accomplish? Was it originally an elaborate and expensive April Fool's joke? Was it designed to poke fun at all the whackos and conspiracy nuts who roam the forests looking for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster?
I have absolutely no clue why the Discovery channel would involve itself in such nonsense. However, I do know one unintended consequence of their actions. These documentaries were extremely convincing. In fact, they were just as convincing as all the other phony documentaries that the Discovery Channel airs every week. They have shown that they are capable of taking complete myths and making them look possible through a few expert opinions and a little fancy animation. Of course this is exactly what they do every week in their regular programing on dinosaurs and evolution. They have unwittingly shown in these two false documentaries how easy it is to take a myth for which there is not a shred of true scientific evidence and make it sound totally reasonable through clever editing and some sharp animation. These two fakes should serve as a warning for people everywhere to be very careful about how easily we can fall for something just because it comes in a clever and entertaining package.
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