Unspun: UFO Cults and Us

In Chapter 4 of Unspun, the primary focus is how people are generally easy to convince and sometimes becomes followers rather than leaders.  The story that interested me most in this chapter was about Marian Keech, who claimed that she had received messages from beings called Guardians on Planet Clarion saying that North America would be destroyed by a floor, but her followers would be taken to safety on a UFO before the calamity.  People were frantic and prepared for their journey.  Of course, the tragedy did not occur and Mrs Keech claimed that she had received another message saying it had been called off because of the believers' devotion.  It intrigues me how people can follow absurd things without question.

The idea of this as a cult reminds me of the Jim Jones' cult, the Peoples Temple.  I think it is ridiculous how many followers he maintained.  The cult began in Indiana, moved to California, and became famous in Guyana.  The cult members believed everything Jones told them and were incredibly devoted to him.  Eventually the government became suspicious of the cult and Jones acted by giving his members a drink laced with cyanide so they could kill themselves.  The mass murder was the result of the followers being unable to think for themselves. 

It is scary how people will believe everything they hear and it seems to be the case in Unspun.

Unspun

When reading Unspun I was especially interested the chapter "From Snake Oil to Emu Oil" for various reasons.  On page 21, the use of tall tales were mentioned.  One example was the book A Million Little Pieces, written by James Frey.  I remember when the book came out, many people praised its story and the author for writing about his experience in overcoming his horrible additions.  It was highly recommended and a best seller on Oprah Winfrey's book list.  Later it came out that the book was a fabrication and lied about many events in order to be more popular.  When I read this chapter in Unspun, it was relevant to me because I am currently reading A Million Little Pieces.  While I have the knowledge that many "truths" in this book are false, many previous readers were unaware of this fact and their hearts broke for the author. I can understand why the audience would be upset that many lies were told to embellish the story.  The supposed memoir seems to lose its appeal because in some ways it is just another book of fiction, whereas before it inspired readers whose family members deal with addiction.  When the truth came out that the 'memoir' was not entirely true, many readers lost faith in the idea that a person with that serious of an addiction to so many substances can come out of it. 

Another portion of Unspun that I enjoyed was the Fahrenheit 911 lie that the bin Laden relatives were able to fly on a chartered plane out of the United States.  Downright lies are inappropriate and the film should have clarified that this was completely untrue.  It was so unnecessary for Michael Moore to lie in his documentary and allow the American people to believe such a falsity. I actually did not hear of the "bin Laden Baloney" at the time of September 11, but if I had I definitely would have believed it. I guess I am too gullible but I would not have thought to check the facts because I sometimes assume that others will not lie to me.  Obviously, in this world I have to be more careful.

On another note, Unspun reminds me of the Bill O'Reilly Show because of his "no spin zone".