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TV and The Paranormal
- Thread starter Gene Steinberg
- Start date
No product placement
Brian Now
Paranormal Pimp
I absolutely think the paranormal has gone more mainstream in terms of entertainment at least. It's always been popular in film, but now it's on TV in the living rooms more than ever before. I am not sure to what extent it has affected people's belief in the paranormal though. But It has certainly stirred up interest in ghost hunting at least.
Also, we see mediums like John Edward and James van Praagh getting second chances. Edward is now on Lifetime or We or something like that, and van Praagh is a producer of the "Ghost Whisperer" I believe.
Someone mentioned the show "Medium". I saw the pilot and was a little turned off by the Hollywoodized portrayal of Texas!
But anyway, someone wrote (maybe here, don't know) that she gets everything through dreams instead of in real time. That suggested the show was presenting mediumship in a more digestible form of the audience.
Also, we see mediums like John Edward and James van Praagh getting second chances. Edward is now on Lifetime or We or something like that, and van Praagh is a producer of the "Ghost Whisperer" I believe.
Someone mentioned the show "Medium". I saw the pilot and was a little turned off by the Hollywoodized portrayal of Texas!
But anyway, someone wrote (maybe here, don't know) that she gets everything through dreams instead of in real time. That suggested the show was presenting mediumship in a more digestible form of the audience.
tommyball
Skilled Investigator
While the prevalence of the paranormal in media may lead it to be viewed as strictly fiction across the board, isn't there some benefit in keeping the topic out there if only to pique the interest of the curious who might otherwise never hear of paranormal phenomena?
There is a significant number of paranormal related shows on the History,Discovery and Science channels which regularly demonstrate (however unpersuasively ) that there may be something real behind these phenomena often presented in mainstream fiction.
Personally I think more people may be aware of these topics now, but not necessarily embracing the possibilities of a larger reality. I'm a digital artist and have worked extensively over the years with professionals from the film, comic book and video game fields and year after year I am surprised by how conservative and narrow minded some of these people are. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy science fiction but I have known many people who live lives so enveloped by fantasy worlds that I assumed that they would be open to the possibility of paranormal phenomena, but this is not the case. Grown men spend countless hours killing aliens but will give no thought to and laugh off a discussion of UFOs.
People are for the most part sheep, content to live in the 4 dimensional reality that we are led to believe we are the masters of. You can throw in some religious dogma that's been passed around for a few thousand years and some rich fantasy and fiction and people will follow and defend that too, but try to get them to peek outside of the blinders?
It's tough.
-todd.
There is a significant number of paranormal related shows on the History,Discovery and Science channels which regularly demonstrate (however unpersuasively ) that there may be something real behind these phenomena often presented in mainstream fiction.
Personally I think more people may be aware of these topics now, but not necessarily embracing the possibilities of a larger reality. I'm a digital artist and have worked extensively over the years with professionals from the film, comic book and video game fields and year after year I am surprised by how conservative and narrow minded some of these people are. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy science fiction but I have known many people who live lives so enveloped by fantasy worlds that I assumed that they would be open to the possibility of paranormal phenomena, but this is not the case. Grown men spend countless hours killing aliens but will give no thought to and laugh off a discussion of UFOs.
People are for the most part sheep, content to live in the 4 dimensional reality that we are led to believe we are the masters of. You can throw in some religious dogma that's been passed around for a few thousand years and some rich fantasy and fiction and people will follow and defend that too, but try to get them to peek outside of the blinders?
It's tough.
-todd.
Michael L.
Coffee swillin' Devil's advocate
All in all, the proliferation of "paranormal" shows probably indicates an interest in escapism more than anything else. People are sick of reality shows and TV is trying hard to kill the sitcom, so what else is left? Witness that they are accompanied by other escapist type action shows such as Bionic Woman and Chuck and the subtle return of soap operas (Dirty Sexy Money). It is probably the same reason that magic shows are slowly returning (even Uri Gellar has a show now).
Frootloop
Nutball
The main reason that the paranormal has become more mainstream in the realms of "entertainment" is probably that the special effects required to make such things believable have become cheeper and far more accessible.
Take Star Trek (the original series). Most people would now laugh at the effects presented in the show. Indeed, the continuing stories from original Star Trek era have found their way into fan made films, most notable (and my favourite) Star Trek New Voyages. Check out "World enough and time", the latest offering featuring one of the original cast
While Star Trek is more "science fiction" than "paranormal", it is a pretty good example of why paranormal storylines have made it from the big screen to tv, and now into the hands of fanbases.... the ability to manufacture, edit, post produce and distribute the shows has become cheeper.
Take Star Trek (the original series). Most people would now laugh at the effects presented in the show. Indeed, the continuing stories from original Star Trek era have found their way into fan made films, most notable (and my favourite) Star Trek New Voyages. Check out "World enough and time", the latest offering featuring one of the original cast
While Star Trek is more "science fiction" than "paranormal", it is a pretty good example of why paranormal storylines have made it from the big screen to tv, and now into the hands of fanbases.... the ability to manufacture, edit, post produce and distribute the shows has become cheeper.
Frootloop
Nutball
Michael L. said:
I agree, escapism from our daily lives and responsibilities.
But arent there far more varients of escapism? sitting in front of TV, playing the playstation for hours on end, its an escape from reality. I truely believe that we are missing out on so much information that is right there in front of our eyes just because of these diversions. We all need to escape from our reality sometimes, but is the reality we have created for ourselves the correct one?
S
schticknz
Guest
As something of a PC games fiend, I tend to find games featuring paranormal themes more interesting than the paranormal TV programmes I'm seeing on TV at the moment. Maybe its something to do with the fact the paranormal TV programmes I notice always seem to be a bit witless (see "Dog ... oops ... sorry ... Ghost Whisperer", etc) and lacking in any entertainment value. Or maybe its because with video games you can shoot the kill a ghost or monster (aren't they dead already??) with a large weapon of some sort ... whereas on programmes like the Ghost Whisperer ... you ... can't (???) ... but my god you wish you could.
S
schticknz
Guest
There are a tonne of games like that out there. Clive Barker's Undying is a fave of mine. Has some very creepy moments.
FEAR wasn't as scarey as I thought it would be (sorry the little girl thing was done in The Ring (Ringu), already ... and i just didn't find it that scarey this time around ... still she could certainly create a mess).
Scariest game ever (which wasn't really paranormal) for me was "Aliens vs Predator 2" ... arrghhh ... I'm in the dark again ... and here come the aliens ... from all directions ... argghhh ... where's me flamin' gun???
Still the paranormal does seem to be a great source of inspiration for video games. Maybe its because they can do more creepy stuff in the video game environment or that they can just do stuff that wouldn't be allowed on TV??
FEAR wasn't as scarey as I thought it would be (sorry the little girl thing was done in The Ring (Ringu), already ... and i just didn't find it that scarey this time around ... still she could certainly create a mess).
Scariest game ever (which wasn't really paranormal) for me was "Aliens vs Predator 2" ... arrghhh ... I'm in the dark again ... and here come the aliens ... from all directions ... argghhh ... where's me flamin' gun???
Still the paranormal does seem to be a great source of inspiration for video games. Maybe its because they can do more creepy stuff in the video game environment or that they can just do stuff that wouldn't be allowed on TV??