A Warning from Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

"The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim."
--Gustave Le Bon

I have long been interested in the subject of crowds and mass movements, perhaps stirred in part by having come of age during the antiwar Vietnam protest era. In my second semester I took a sociology class related to this theme (mass movements, not Viet Nam).

Gustave Le Bon's The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1895; often subtitled The Psychology of Revolution in later editions) is a seminal work in social psychology. Le Bon argues that individuals in crowds lose rationality, descending into a collective mind driven by emotion, suggestion, and impulsivity. I witnessed this first-hand on two occasions while in college, the first during the Mayday protests in Washington D.C., 1971. The second was at Ohio University. 

I remember a hilarious Dave Berg cartoon in Mad Magazine in which four self-conscious teen-aged boys of the "Aw shucks" variety are hanging out. Once together they are suddenly hoisting a battering ram to break into a house where there's a party of girls. Berg's amusing cartoon illustrates how we often change when part of a group.

What is a crowd? Gustave Le Bon described it as a group of people brought together by a shared idea or belief. But this shared belief isn’t necessarily formed through careful thinking or by weighing evidence. Instead, crowds tend to accept ideas quickly and emotionally, often using them as motivation for action—sometimes even radical action.

According to Le Bon, when a person becomes part of a crowd, something changes inside them. They no longer think or act the same way they would on their own. In a real sense, they stop functioning as an independent individual and begin to take on the mindset of the group.

Crowds can become barbaric, credulous, and led by simplistic ideas, images, and prestige rather than logic, Le Bon correctly observes. He classifies crowds as heterogeneous or homogeneous, explores leaders' manipulative role via affirmation, repetition, and contagion, and applies this to revolutions (e.g., French Revolution), warning of democracy's risks from mass irrationality. His writings influenced both Freud, and Hitler, as well as modern crowd control.  

Le Bon argues that "when societies decay, it is always the masses that bring about their downfall. This is a controversial but thought-provoking idea, especially in today’s era of viral outrage and mass protests."*

Critique

Le Bon's insights on suggestibility and deindividuation prefigure modern psychology (e.g., Leary's deindividuation theory) and remain relevant in analyzing mobs, social media echo chambers, or populist movements. Deindividuation explains how people in groups or anonymous situations can lose their sense of individual identity and self-awareness, leading to reduced inhibitions, less accountability, and behavior that deviates from personal or social norms—sometimes impulsive, aggressive, or antisocial. LeBon's emphasis on emotional contagion explains rapid idea spread.

Critics, however, say the work is pseudoscientific: anecdotal, elitist, and racist (portraying "inferior races" as crowd-prone). They also say it overgeneralizes, ignoring rational crowds (e.g., protests achieving reform) or positive collective action. Deterministic and anti-democratic, it influenced authoritarian propaganda. Empirically weak by today's standards—no data, experiments—but historically pivotal for understanding group dynamics' dark side. Having witnessed the manner in which crowds can seduce people into abandoning common sense, I would suggest that LeBon was to some degree on target with his own early observations.

* Tapan Desai

The Politics of Hate: From Orwell to Dylan

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
--Bob Dylan, Only a Pawn in Their Game

One of the memorable features in Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 was a seven-day period of orchestrated mass hysteria directed towards the Party's current enemy. It served as a crucial element in maintaining the Party's control over the population by suppressing individuality and critical thought, strengthening social cohesion and loyalty, and channeling emotional energy towards the Party's goals.

In 1984 Hate Week was a constant bombardment of propaganda and mass manipulation. Rallying against a common enemy not only served as a convenient outlet for negative emotions, it also prevented questioning of the Party or its policies.

And as Dylan so poignantly notes, Hate Week served as a diversion, much like a magician uses misdirection to accomplice his or her illusions. Hate relieves us from noting our own emptiness, our own pettiness, our own smallness. Hatred becomes a tool movements use to manipulate people and their perceptions.

Eric Hoffer, who was noted for his insights and observations about mass movements, wrote, "Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil." In other words, hate can serve as a powerful glue for uniting people, especially when a common enemy or scapegoat is identified.

In the end, Orwell, Dylan, and Hoffer are all pointing to the same uncomfortable truth: hatred is one of the easiest tools for those in power to use. It simplifies the world into heroes and villains, good people and enemies, leaving little room for reflection or self-examination. When anger is constantly directed outward, we rarely stop to ask who benefits from that anger or what problems are being ignored while we are busy blaming someone else.

The challenge for any free society is to resist that manipulation. It requires citizens willing to think beyond slogans and question the narratives they are handed. Look around and listen. Who are we being told to hate today? Turn on the news. Scroll through social media. Notice how quickly outrage is manufactured and spread. Be aware—and beware. Otherwise, like the pawns in Dylan’s song, we risk being moved around the board by forces we scarcely see.

Crowds On Demand: How Money Can Be Used to Create Illusions

My first trip to Las Vegas was in 1991. I'd gone to attend a trade show on trade shows at Bally's Convention Center. It was highly informative. For two days my boss and I attended workshops and walked the show floor, absorbing everything we could learn. 

One thing we observed was there seemed to be three pricing tiers in the booth business, just like McDonald's, except that instead of 1, 2 and 5 dollar prices, these structures were priced 5, 50 and 200.... thousands. If you had the money, there was no limit to how much you could spend once you had consultants and architects paid off.

In a similar vein, there was a wide variety of talent you could purchase for your show booth. There are national organizations with models who you can hire for the duration of your show. Kelly Girls is one such organization, but an internet search will unearth others. There are also magicians you can hire to draw crowds. Who doesn't enjoy a good magic show? This is where the "almost famous" end up, I suspect. 

There are also look-a-likes of famous people whom you can rent to work your booth. A smiling Michael J. Fox stepped over and shook my hand. A veritable twin. Same voice and mannerisms, too. Ever wonder what an actors' doubles do when the actor is not working? Yep. You can probably rent him to attract people to your booth. And for a price, you can even have the real person, if you have the bucks.

All these memories came to mind when I saw an email this week about a company called Crowds On Demand. Having been an extra in a Hollywood film, I'm aware that when movies need lots of people for crowd scenes they have systems in place to recruit them. Were you aware that there are systems in place for manufacturing crowds in real life? 

Here's their sales pitch:

"Are you looking to create a buzz anywhere in the United States? At Crowds on Demand, we provide our clients with protests, rallies, flash-mobs, paparazzi events and other inventive PR stunts. These services are available across the country in every major U.S city, every major U.S metro area and even most smaller cities as well. We provide everything including the people, the materials and even the ideas. You can come to us with a specific plan of action and we can make it happen. OR, you can approach us with a general idea and we can help you plan the strategy then execute it."
https://crowdsondemand.com/

Next I learned about another group called Demand Protest. Here's info gleaned from their site.

We are strategists mobilizing millennials across the globe with seeded audiences and desirable messages. With absolute discretion a top priority, our operatives create convincing scenes that become the building blocks of massive movements. When you need the appearance of outrage, we are able to deliver it at scale while keeping your reputation intact.

Demonstrations

We develop, recruit, manage, and execute on your high-level objectives. Our trained operatives can lead entire crowds or simply steer events in your favor.

Movements

We have the proven expertise required to expertly shape political, corporate, or public health perceptions.

Intelligence

Our operatives can embrace and steer existing organizations, providing you valuable insights about those involved and their future actions.

Training

Our strategists can train your organization in our methods of creating effective demonstrations and design the situations that will deliver your goals.

Website: www.demandprotest.com

https://www.demandprotest.com/?fbclid=IwAR0A6p6AmfcudnVvNIlJCdcziBZ3seSf_b1e2H1CoCC2-ROz9BIye3vXeOs

* * * *

When I was growing up I remember being told, "Don't believe everything you hear." When the Internet came along, we were told, "Don't believe everything you read on the Net." As time went on, online misinformation was given a name: Fake News.

The purpose of these two sayings was to encourage a healthy skepticism and critical thinking. To these I'll add a third, attributed to Edgar Allen Poe. "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."

When we read about these two groups--Crowds On Demand, and Demand Protest--it ought to cause us to question the things we're seeing in real life. What is really happening? Who is manipulating whom? When you see protests, are they spontaneous or organized? If organized, what's the real agenda?

Both of these organizations claim to be skilled at influencing public opinion. That is how they set their prices. Purportedly they are able to deliver on their promises. 

When we take a closer look, over the last 80 years U.S. clandestine activities have included similar hocus pocus shenanigans. On this topic much has been written and more can be said. As we following stories in the news, let's make an effort to be a little more discerning regarding what we swallow. As George Harrison once noted, "You know that what you eat your are // but what is sweet now turns so sour." 

* * * *

Related Link

He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

Photo at top of page by Rob Curran on Unsplash

The original blog post here was published in November 2020. I republished with a new ending because I noticed some recent stories in the news about Crowds on Demand.

The Unhappy Consequences of Government Data Manipulation

Governments have a long history of manipulating data to get what they want, which generally means expanding their powers. In George Orwell's dystopian vision of the future not only was freedom of speech gagged, even freedom of thought was forbidden. And rewriting history was a full time branch of government.

Orwell was correct to be concerned about the erosion of freedom as we move toward the consolidation of power in the hands of the few. One of their chief tactics is the manipulation of data so as to control the narrative.

Here are some examples where governments manipulated data with dire consequences.

--In the 1930s, the Soviet Union manipulated agricultural data to hide the fact that it was experiencing a famine. The government forced farmers to report inflated crop yields, and it executed anyone who reported the truth. As a result, millions of people starved to death. 

--In the late 1950s and early 60s, the United States government manipulated data to justify its intervention in the Vietnam War. The government exaggerated the number of communist troops in Vietnam and downplayed the number of civilian casualties. This helped to build public support for the war.

--In the 1970s, the Argentine government manipulated data to hide the fact that it was committing human rights abuses. The government falsified death records and thousands of people disappeared. This helped to cover up the government's crimes.

--More recently, the Chinese government manipulated data to downplay the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government silenced whistleblowers and delayed reporting the outbreak. This helped to spread the virus around the world. And in this country, we've learned how our own government coerced social media platforms into censoring view that questioned the "official narrative."

These are just a few examples of how governments have manipulated data to get what they want. Governments often use data to control their citizens and to justify their actions. It is important to be aware of this and to be critical of the data that governments present.

In addition to the above examples, here are some other ways in which governments can manipulate data:

Selecting the data that is presented: Governments can choose to present data that supports their claims and to ignore data that doesn't. It's well known that every president seeking re-election tends to claim things are better than ever. From an ocean of data, incumbents select a constellation of numbers to show how well off everyone is. "Vote for me so I can finish the great work I've begun. We're only half-finished."

Here's another example. The government wants to increase military spending so it presents data on the increasing number of threats to national security, but ignores data on the cost of all this military spending.

And how many times have we heard that we will be out of oil in ten years? I have heard this claim for near fifty years.

Changing the way that data is measured: Governments can change the way that data is measured in order to make it look more favorable. For example, a government that wants to reduce unemployment might change the definition of what constitutes unemployment.

Suppressing data: Governments can suppress data that is inconvenient or embarrassing. For example, a government that wants to hide the fact that people in our inner cities are increasingly afraid can suppress actual crime statistics and parade a few cheerful people in front of the cameras who express their delight in living here or there or wherever. I'm sure that all the employees of big box retailers leaving San Francisco or Chicago are less than thrilled at losing their jobs, etc.

Becoming aware of the ways in which governments can manipulate data enables citizens to become more critical consumers of information. In ight of these things it is apparent that as media consumers we become more discerning.

It takes work to become informed, and even more work to separate the wheat from the chaff. Because of this, Nietzsche was correct when he said that men (and he meant people) are generally lazy in this regard.

C'est la vie.

Related Links He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes

Throwback Thursday: Is That Really What You Want? How Do You Know? Thoughts from The Century of Self.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FIVE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes 1:18

A couple weeks ago I saw a question on Quora that intrigued me. Someone asked, "What is the hardest truth?" Several thoughts came to mind, one of them being the awareness of how chained we are by habit, genetic disposition, the formative influence of our upbringing, our tastes, our temperaments… and that to change our selves is exceedingly hard and far more difficult than we imagine.

The irony is that we believe we're free agents. It certainly feels like we're free. I can order anything on this menu that I want, right? I can watch any movie I want. Or read any book I want.

In 2002 the BBC broadcast a four-part documentary called The Century of Self. It's an eye-opening look at recent history from a new angle, from "behind the curtain" as it were.

When we think of influential people in our lives, I doubt that very many of us think of Sigmund Freud. Most people (I have no evidence and am only guessing here) associate Freud with the idea of a patient lying on a couch talking to a psychologist taking notes, or with what seem like strange notions of repressed sexuality, Oedipal complexes and the like. The Century of Self addresses another way in which Freud influenced us, through techniques of mass manipulation developed and implemented by his nephew Edward Bernays, the founder of modern Public Relations (a term which itself is a euphemism for propaganda.)

"By satisfying the masses' inner selfish desires one made them happy, and thus docile." Bernays, this program claims, was central in the development of "the all-consuming self which has come to dominate our world today."

Why are there so many hoarders among us these days? How is it that there are so many storage facilities in existence today, a whole industry that sprang up to store excess stuff, stuff that people don't use or need or know what to do with because they have so much other stuff?

* * * *
The series has four parts. They were:
"Happiness Machines"
"The Engineering of Consent" 
"There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads; He Must Be Destroyed" 
"Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering"

A description of Part 1 includes this paragraph:

Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticizing the motorcar. His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.

The BBC PR for this documentary describes the program this way:
To many in politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly, the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

* * * *

Related Link

PR & Propaganda

There's much more that can be said here, but it's time to start my day. If you have time, the programs are enlightening. You can also read a synopsis here on Wikipedia.

Meantime, life outside goes on all around you. Think about it.

Another Media Trick To Watch and a Word to the Wise

How many issues can you name where everyone is in agreement? Nearly everything that matters has proponents and opponents. Argument is as American as pumpkin pie.

While flipping through headlines the other I saw this one: Push to oust judge over absentee vote ruling sparks outcry

It's really a perfect setup for a fight, isn't it? If you're a journalist on a slow news day all you need to pick any issue or action by a public official and add the words, sparks an outcry or creates an uproar or incites a furor.

Nearly anything can be turned into an argument. Check out this headline: Tom Brady called 'Racist' for winning Super Bowl during Black History Month. Who could have predicted that headline? It's almost as if the media's primary purpose is no longer to inform but to make people angry. 

* * * 

Here's an article that encourages writers to find ways to create controversy, or build on it, in order to corral eyeballs, get more readers. She begins by stating:

Many people want to avoid controversy, but "smart Publicity Hounds know controversy commands attention. And they use it a variety of ways to claim their time in the spotlight."

Make people angry. That's how you get readers. Carry that notion over into television and the film industry, and you have precisely what is going on today. 

Marshall McLuhan observed this more than 60 years ago. "The young today cannot follow narrative but they are alert to drama. They cannot bear description but they love landscape and action."

and...

Nobody can doubt that the entire range of applied science contributes to the very format of a newspaper. But the headline is a feature which began with the Napoleonic Wars. The headline is a primitive shout of rage, triumph, fear, or warning, and newspapers have thrived on wars ever since.

* * * 

Journalists on both Left and Right use the tactic. My hope is that we become more discerning as readers and consumers of media. 

The root of "discernment" is Discern. Discern means to perceive, find out, detect. We're to be alert detectives looking for clues as to why this story has been told and the spin has been put on it. 

The origin of the word conveys the meaning "distinguish (between) separate" things. Beneath that is the Latin discernere -- "to separate, set apart, divide, distinguish, sift."

In other words, separate gold from muck like a miner with his pan. Or separate fake news from real. Or recognize when we are being manipulated vs. being assisted. (Yes, news can be informative.)

 * * * 

There are a gazillion things happening at any moment in time. When the media became our conduit through which we learn about the happenings in the world it also appointed itself as divine arbiter to dictate to us what we should be paying attention to, and how to interpret it.

As media consumers we need to get better at discerning the spin, differentiating between information and manipulation.

Use discernment. Don't just mindlessly accept what you see and hear. 

* * * 

Related Link

He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

The Art of Artifice: Capitalism and the Events Industry

My first trip to Las Vegas was in 1991. I'd gone to attend a trade show on trade shows at Bally's Convention Center. It was highly informative. For two days my boss and I attended workshops and walked the show floor, absorbing everything we could learn. 

One thing we observed was there seemed to be three pricing tiers in the booth business, just like McDonald's, except that instead of 1, 2 and 5 dollar prices, these structures we priced 5, 50 and 200.... thousands. If you had the money, there was no limit to how much you could spend once you had consultants and architects paid off.

In a similar vein, there was a wide variety of talent you could purchase for you show booth. There are national organizations with models who you can hire for the duration of your show.  Kelly Girls is one such organization, but an internet search will unearth others. There are also magicians you can hire to draw crowds. Who doesn't enjoy a good magic show? This is where the "almost famous" end up, I suspect. 

There are also look-a-likes of famous people whom you can rent to work your booth. A smiling Michael J. Fox stepped over and shook my hand. A veritable twin. Same mannerisms, too. Ever wonder what actors' doubles do when the actor is not working? Yep. You can probably rent him to attract people to your booth. And for a price, you can even have the real person, if you have the bucks.

All these memories came to mind when I saw an email this week about a company called Crowds On Demand. Having been an extra in a Hollywood film, I'm aware that when movies need lots of people for crowd scenes they have systems in place to recruit them. Were you aware that there are systems in place for manufacturing crowds in real life? 

Here's their sales pitch:

"Are you looking to create a buzz anywhere in the United States? At Crowds on Demand, we provide our clients with protests, rallies, flash-mobs, paparazzi events and other inventive PR stunts. These services are available across the country in every major U.S city, every major U.S metro area and even most smaller cities as well. We provide everything including the people, the materials and even the ideas. You can come to us with a specific plan of action and we can make it happen. OR, you can approach us with a general idea and we can help you plan the strategy then execute it."
https://crowdsondemand.com/

Next I learned about another group called Demand Protest. Here's info gleaned from their site.

We are strategists mobilizing millennials across the globe with seeded audiences and desirable messages. With absolute discretion a top priority, our operatives create convincing scenes that become the building blocks of massive movements. When you need the appearance of outrage, we are able to deliver it at scale while keeping your reputation intact.

Demonstrations

We develop, recruit, manage, and execute on your high-level objectives. Our trained operatives can lead entire crowds or simply steer events in your favor.

Movements

We have the proven expertise required to expertly shape political, corporate, or public health perceptions.

Intelligence

Our operatives can embrace and steer existing organizations, providing you valuable insights about those involved and their future actions.

Training

Our strategists can train your organization in our methods of creating effective demonstrations and design the situations that will deliver your goals.

Website: www.demandprotest.com

https://www.demandprotest.com/?fbclid=IwAR0A6p6AmfcudnVvNIlJCdcziBZ3seSf_b1e2H1CoCC2-ROz9BIye3vXeOs

* * * *

When I was growing up I remember being told once, "Don't believe everything you hear." When the Internet came along, we were told, "Don't believe everything you read on the Net." As time went on, this misinformation was given a name: Fake News.

When I read about these two groups--Crowds On Demand, and Demand Protest--it causes one to question the things we are seeing in real life. What is really happening? Who is manipulating whom? Both of these organizations claim to be skilled at influencing public opinion. That is how they set their prices. Purportedly they are able to deliver on their promises.

How does this make you feel when you read these websites and then watch today's news?

* * * *

Related Link

He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

Photo at top of page by Rob Curran on Unsplash

Behavior Modification as Illustrated by The Truman Show

"We've become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We're tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there's nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts. No cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare but it's genuine."
--Ed Harris as Christof, The Truman Show

THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

The Truman Show has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it. Released in 1998, it won numerous awards for its original screenplay, perfect pitch acting and fabulous soundtrack, much of it scored by Philip Glass.

The concept is simply this. Truman Burbank has from birth been the central character of a 24/7 live reality show. The city of Seahaven where he grows up and now lives is essentially a simulated reality, a massive Hollywood set in which everyone except he himself is an actor. The show generates its revenue by product placement with all products available for purchase via the Truman Catalog. ("Operators are standing by.")

The show's creator and director is Christof, played by Ed Harris. Truman, the first child legally adopted by a corporation, is played by Jim Carrey.

* * * *
The film raises numerous issues. For example, is turning a human life into a character on a TV show even ethical? On another level, Truman's whole life has been shaped by the director and the artificial world he lives in, what he reads in the artificial newspapers, hears on the fake radio station, sees on the fake television programming. He has no real sense of what the world is like or what life is like. He is in the happiest city on earth. What it actually is is a massive studio set, so large it is visible from the moon as a dome.

After a brief setup, the movie we're watching begins when Truman is married, a somewhat happy young adult with a desk job. Three minutes into the film a studio light falls "from the sky" and shatters on the street 50 feet from where Truman is walking. It's bizarre and he is confused. What was it? Where did it come from?

The next day's newspaper interprets the event for him. It fell off a plane.

At 5:45 into the movie the newspaper headline reads: "Seahaven Voted Planet's Top Town."

Every person in his life is playing a role, including his best friend Marlon.

Add caption

Truman: Don't you ever get itchy feet?
Marlon: Where is there to go?

In another scene Truman is down by on a beach by the waterfront and a shower begins, but it is only ten feet wide, and misses him. Then it moves to where he is standing, but still very narrow. A thunderclap triggers a full-scale heavy rain, but it's clearly a technical glitch that hasn't escaped Truman's notice. He just doesn't yet know how to interpret it.

The return of his father creates another complication for the show's director. Truman's dad had supposedly died, eliminating him from the script. Television does this all the time when an actor becomes a problem. But in this story his father sneaks onto the set and Truman sees him before he's whisked away, and the media explains this incident away.

If you watch enough movies you know that at 27-29 minutes into a film there will be a major plot pivot and it's no different here. First, there is a bit of backstory on how Truman fell in love with an extra named Sylvia, but was manipulated to marry Meryl. After this yet another glitch occurs--the radio in his car accidentally gets jarred to a station in which a set director is telling all the other players where Truman is at the moment.

In light of all the other anomalies, Truman is thrust into a personal existential crisis. What is going on? He begins to pay closer attention to the people around him and begins to question the authenticity of what he's seeing.

* * * *

Mastermind Ed Harris (center) flanked by assistant Paul Giamatti.

So, what do you think about the present state of our country? Are you paying attention? It seems like more and more people are questioning the narrative we're being fed through our media about so many things. 

Every aspect of Truman's world was designed to manipulate his thinking. He wants to go to Fiji, but the poster on the wall in the travel agency is of a plane being struck by lightning. "It could happen to you!"

* * * *
Later in the film Christof is being interviewed by a journalist who asks. "Why hasn't Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world until now?"

Christof: We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented. It's as simple as that."

* * * *

Truman confides to Marlon. "I think I'm being followed."

After the car radio incident, Truman seeks out his best friend Marlon, who makes a living stocking vending machines.

Truman: I think I'm being followed.
Marlon: Who?
Truman: It's hard to tell. They look just like regular people.

A little further on we see the two buddies since childhood out on the end of the dock where they sometimes hang out.

Marlon: I mean, think about it, Truman. If everybody is in on it, I'd have to be in on it, too.
[pause]
Marlon: I'm not in on it, Truman, because... there is no 'it'.

Marlon, you lied! There are so many great lines in the film. I like this pair as well:

Truman: Maybe I'm losing my mind. It feels like the whole world revolves around me.
Marlon: That's a lot of world for one man, Truman.

* * * *
There's still another way to look at this film, as a story of spiritual awakening. In Eastern religions there is a concept called "Maya" or illusion. All this world is itself an illusion, a veil that conceals the real.

The Incredible String Band once had a song about Maya with a chorus that went like this: "Maya, Maya. All the world is but and play and I am but a player." Sounds a lot like the Truman show.

In another ISB song the chorus becomes a cheerful proclamation, "Farewell darkness, Praise God the open door, I ain't gonna live in this world any more."

This is the choice Truman makes, once he has seen the light. And I couldn't help but think of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as Truman ascended those stairs in the final scene.

He realized the limits of his power
when Truman went off script.

* * * *
In that final scene Christof makes himself known to Truman for the first time. This dialogue exchange takes place just before Truman's final exit.

Truman: Who are you?
Christof: I am the creator of a television show that gives hope and joy and inspiration to millions.
Truman: Then who am I?
Christof: You're the star.

Truman chooses to take a bow and bow out. He's lost interest in being part of someone else's game, tired of being manipulated for someone else's purposes.

* * * *
On a final note, the soundtrack is superb, much of it produced by the mastery of Philip Glass. This last comment is an anti-climax, but had to be underscored. So powerful, so inspired, so rich, so perfect throughout.

Related Link
He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

PR & Propaganda

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” ~ Edward Bernays, Propaganda, c. 1928

“We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of… It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.” ~ ibid.

I have finally obtained my own copy of Edward Bernays' ground breaking manual on mass manipulation. The irony is that the word propaganda was a good word back then. When this book was written, the liberal elite liked the idea of controlling the masses without having to resort to guns.

Unfortunately for the mind-shapers and benders, a not so nice guy across the seas liked these ideas so much that our first mental association when we say the word Propaganda these days is Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda who made the famous statement “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

Quite naturally, after the war American proponents of values shapers and manipulators could no longer call what they did propaganda. Thus was born the public relations industry. Today, it is PR that rules the world. No elected official in high office could exist without spin-masters at his or her right hand. Spin…. organizing today’s massive quantities of information into a tool for massaging minds, controlling perceptions, creating a pseudo-harmony that enables our complex society to function as a somewhat cohesive whole.

Heaven forbid, however, that people should read between the lines and think for themselves. What’s really going on here? What’s really happening in America today? How much of what is really happening do we see in the papers… and how much is spin?

This is a theme that I will undoubtedly return to…

Sound and Unsound Bytes

In 1991 Duluth MN experienced a four day blizzard that literally buried the city in snow. The Halloween Blizzard, as it came to be known, dropped nearly four feet of powder on our Northland city-on-a-hillside, blanketing cars and everything else. With the mayoral election just days away, it became an amusing spectacle to see even the weather used as a political issue.

Once the snow finally ceased, the city began the challenging process of digging itself out. I lived in the Central Hillside at the time, and decided to take a walk around our neighborhood on the first illustriously sunny day after the four day blow.

It was probably Sunday morning. I had walked down the hillside to Fourth Street and headed east. There were no cleared roads except the snow emergency routes, which are maintained in all circumstances.

When I got to the corner of Fourth Street and Fifth Avenue East, I was somewhat surprised to see three people tromping through the snow up the middle of the road from below. It was a news camera from Channel 3 TV, along with mayoral candidate Gary Doty and his handler. I was the only person in sight, and so they walked up to me. I greeted them. They were looking for people in cars who were stuck and needing help getting pushed out of the drifted snow. Mayor Doty had makeup on his face for the sake of the camera to help reduce the glare of the sun on his shiny white skin. In other words, it was a staged event

Did I get a warm fuzzy from seeing the mayor-elect pushing cars out of snowbanks? Truth is, it left me feeling weird. What I do not understand is how they think people don’t see through this kind of bogus “compassion.” They (the people orchestrating media, political candidate and news byte) were looking to capture images for the evening news, to show that Mr. Doty cared about the people in our city when it was obvious all they cared about was getting that staged image.

It brought to mind my short term involvement in politics in 1984. I was at a Republican district meeting where they were seeking volunteers to show up on a Saturday morning to paint a house for an 87 year old woman in St. Paul. The media would be there to cover the (staged) event. I asked the question, “If our (Republican) policies help the poor and needy, why don’t we explain HOW our platform is better for everyone than the Democratic platform.” The facial expressions essentially dismissed my remarks as impertinent. The sound byte was more important than facts. Besides, they had already made arrangements with the TV news directors. It would make a good story.

Sadly, what is important is not truth, not rationale, but the sound byte. Manipulation based on the assumption that people are too stupid to see through the crap they are told to swallow.

This submission to the PR “experts” was the nail in the coffin for the Dukakis campaign in the 1980’s when he allowed himself to be filmed riding a tank… in an effort to show he was pro-military. Stupid. The real message is, “You are not a leader. You listen to your idiot PR experts instead of following your own gut based on experience, observation, expertise.” (I can't believe Michael Dukakis thought of his bungled byte all by himself... when he road in a tank to show he was pro-military. It was his handlers, right?)

I like Gary Doty as a person, but politically, that day in November a few days before the election was too fakey for me and a symbol of at least one thing wrong with America today.

And why do the journalists go along with it? I thought the media was supposed to be a watchdog that informs, not a tool in the hands of power seeking orchestra conductors.

From where I sit, things are not getting better any time soon. A lot of our leaders are themselves only pawns in a game.