Deceptive and lucrative: Fake animal videos and concocted Conjuring movies
Viewers on an emotional ride will suppress critical thinking
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Fake animal videos
There are plenty of fake animal photographs circulating out there. They are ‘shopped or worse, staged. The animal could be wired into a funny pose with supports later edited out. People laugh at the image but it's hardly funny when you realize the animal is being abused. The viewer does not realize they are being manipulated, too.
Videos can more easily be monetized than photos. There are thousands of examples on YouTube that show exploited and abused animals in unnatural situations. In some cases, the video promoter thinks it's cute to depict animals in seemingly human situations or to show a dramatic animal rescue. It's not usually wise to interfere with nature - better to call experts who will know what to do. In other examples, these videos are deliberately staged and animals are put in danger so that the uploader can get views and subscriptions, and subsequently, ad revenue. National Geographic recently posted a report on this growing sector of media and how media platforms are not doing enough to stop it.
[A] Burmese python, a constrictor that normally kills birds and small mammals, was locked onto a gibbon. The panicked primate was fighting for its life as the snake, coiled around its torso, began squeezing. Soon, the gibbon stopped moving. A man in a blue soccer jersey and jeans appears. Hurriedly, he uncoils the python, freeing the gibbon, and carries the snake offscreen. The traumatized gibbon cowers, covering its head.
“It’s so obvious this is fake, but people believe it,” says Auliya, a herpetologist at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig. The video seemed to suggest that the rescuer had arrived just in time to save the gibbon.
[...]
To Auliya, the only things that appeared real were the mistreatment of the animals being forced into these situations and the stress it must have caused them.
YouTube prohibits violent and disturbing content. But sometimes the videos look innocent or coincidental - such as filming a fight between two animals. There is evidence that many of these are also staged. TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook also feature content that is exploitative or faked with little policing being accomplished. It's often hard to tell if the videos depict animals in safe and healthy conditions or if they are being abused. Exotic animals usually don't make good pets unless you are trained to care for them. Kids, especially, will not understand the context of these videos. They will think it’s OK to have a tiger or lion living in your house or be encouraged to make contact with wild animals.
Suggested links
Helping kids deal with animal exploitation on social media
YouTube Starts Banning Fake 'Rescue' Videos of Snakes Attacking Puppies and Kittens
STOP SHARING Fake Dog Rescue Videos! They’re Full Of Horrific Abuse And Prey On Your Empathy
How Social Media Supports Animal Cruelty and the Illegal Pet Trade
Video platforms normalize exotic pets
YouTube also promotes the exotic pet trade by featuring interactions with primates and big cats. People think tigers and monkeys are "cute" and this encourages the acquisition of animals by owners who are unqualified or ill-equipt to provide for them. Thus, you have tigers roaming Texas.
People view these videos, like them, and share. In doing so, they gain and subsequently promote a wrongful view of these animals associating with humans. When certain animals are popularized or glamorized on TV and in the movies (examples include chimps, Dalmatians, and clownfish), the demand goes up even if the specific animals are high maintenance.
Whenever you see a video featuring an animal in a "cute" or "dramatic" situation, think twice before you comment and share. If you see someone sharing them, speak up. Let everyone know that the backstory may not be so cute and heartwarming.
Speaking of fake, let's discuss the Warrens
I really despise Ed and Lorraine Warren for their decades of exploiting people's experiences for their own profit. It's well-known that they were, at the very least, duplicitous in their dealings with people who said they had paranormal experiences. The couple set themselves up as experts in parapsychology and demonology when they were not. There is a collection of even more disturbing rumors about the Warrens but it’s unclear how true they are. If you are interested, you can find these accusations online. Sadly, The Conjuring movie franchise has continued to popularize this sanitized image of them as self-sacrificing, God-fearing warriors against the devil himself.
A great article in Diabolique magazine by Robert Skvarla details how the latest Conjuring movie again misrepresents a case the Warrens were involved in. The death at the center of the case is not a mystery. Yet the movie depicts it as a case of demonic possession. As with several other supposed cases of demon possession, the victim is suffering from mental illness.
The Many True Stories Behind The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
In case you wish to argue that viewers can distinguish between fiction - as portrayed in movies - and facts, that line doesn't hold much weight. Even when people know that they are viewing fiction, they still retain this information that will later influence their decisions and thoughts about the topic. When people are absorbed in a narrative, their critical thinking skills drop. (Source: Green and Brock, 2000, The Role of Transportation in the Persuasiveness of Public Narratives, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 79, No. 5, 701-721)
In this situation, portraying the Warrens as heroes enhances the belief that they were doing righteous things. Though these movies do not resemble the real story whatsoever, those with preexisting beliefs in demon possession will see their worldview supported and enhanced.
I don't agree that increasing belief in demon possession is good for modern society. The more the Warrens legacy is exposed as the awful thing that it is, the better.
Recommended reading: The Delusion of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups, by William J. Bernstein, 2021.