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Last night my daughter had some friends over to spend the night and they stole the television in the living room. (surround sound is important for 'spooky shows' apparently.
So 'Most Haunted' comes on. Some guy named Derek Acorah is wandering around making announcements about his feelings, energies, what he 'sees' while claiming to speak with someone named Sam. His link to the ghost world or something like that. Every so often a graphic would appear insisting that Derek had 'no prior knowledge of the Queen Mary'. So I Google a few terms and sure enough, the entire history of the Queen Mary is available.
For a guy that pretends to be able to speak with ghosts you'd think he'd be familiar with one of the 'most haunted ships' in the world.
Anyway, what I noticed is that the entire crew of people charged with spending time in this haunted ship are a bit flakey. In fact, there's NO science involved. Just a group of people that hear noises, see things, (always off-camera) and insist that they are overtaken by odd feelings. I feel tingly, I feel cold, I've got goosebumps, this area feels negative, and on and on and on.
My insistence that those people are really susceptible to suggestion was met with derision by the sleep-over crew. The entire show looks like a bad rendition of the Blair Witch. Ooh... spooky green eyes and closeups of scared faces...
Did you see that? Of course not you idiots, the camera is focused on yer face! Did you hear that? Big deal, you've got a whole crew there and many of them are off-camera. A ship launched in 1936 produces noises! Amazing.
I'm pretty confident I could spend the night in any place deemed to be 'haunted'. Tower of London, Amityville house, The Bell Witch place, (close to where I live) all by myself. In fact, I think the reason many of those people on that show get freaked out is because they have other people around making comments about ghosts and spirits and they freak themselves out.
Now, with all that said, I know people that claim to have seen ghosts. And I believe that they believe that they've seen ghosts. But why on earth do people watch a show like Most Haunted and think they've witnessed 'proof'?
But Derek Acorah! He just stikes me as a fraud so camp its unreal.
why on earth do people watch a show like Most Haunted and think they've witnessed 'proof'?
I assume that is a rhetorical question? But just incase, my own take is that some rather gullible and frightened individuals will clutch at any straw to reinforce their own tenuously held beliefs.
I agree with you, these popular TV shows are at best entertainment only, and at worse misleading with their pseudo-science.
Matt
Amityville house
That whole deal was probably a scam to sell the movie rights for a fortune. As I recall, the studio later added a disclaimer about how "real" the events were.
That NY home still exists (and people were murdered there years ago) but current owners report seeing no ghosts. In fact they love the home.
