The Conspiracy is a 2012 Canadian found footage conspiracy thriller horror film written and directed by Christopher MacBride. It features actors Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Alan C. Peterson, and Julian Richings.[2] It tells the story of two documentary filmmakers who set out to create a film about a conspiracy theorist named "Terrance G" who disappears during the making of the film. The two filmmakers are subsequently drawn into the world of a global syndicate whose aims and machinations are clouded in secrecy.
After watching an online video that mocks a local conspiracy theorist, filmmakers Aaron and Jim decide to make a documentary about him. The man, Terrance G., agrees to show them the various newspaper clippings that he has collected and that he uses to draw connections between significant historical events, including World War I and the September 11 attacks. Impressed with the depth of his research, Aaron begins to sympathize with Terrance, while Jim remains skeptical. During an interview, Terrance becomes agitated and points out a man whom he believes to be following him. Shortly afterward, Terrance disappears without a trace. Worried, Aaron and Jim return to his apartment, which is being cleared out. Aaron manages to salvage the newspaper clippings. When his house is broken into, Aaron moves in with Jim, his wife, and their young child, where he attempts to figure out what each of the newspaper clippings has in common.
The Conspiracy
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It becomes apparent that Terrence had connected several significant historical events to the Tarsus Club, a non-governmental organization founded on an ancient secret society noted for the fact that its members tend to meet just before significant historical events, which has led conspiracy theorists to believe that the Tarsus Club is responsible for said events. The only evidence of its existence is a single article written in Time magazine by Mark Tucker. Unable to find further information about Tucker, Aaron and Jim turn to the Internet and solicit information from the public. A man claiming to be Tucker contacts them and agrees to meet for an interview on the condition that Aaron and Jim remove from the Internet everything that they have written about the Tarsus Club. During the interview, Tucker explains that the Tarsus Club worships Mithras and as such is said to sacrifice a bull at each of its meetings.
Writer and director Christopher MacBride said that a friend introduced him to conspiracy theories. According to him, "For several months I got lost down that rabbit hole and eventually a light bulb just went off and I realized there was a really compelling story to tell set in that world."[3] The film makes use of both actors and real-life people involved in the conspiracy community.[4] MacBride said that he sees the film as an evenhanded faux documentary, not as "found footage".[5]
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 88% of eight surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6.5/10.[8] Linda Barnard of the Toronto Star rated it 2/4 stars and called it "a tense but far-fetched thriller".[9] Adam Nayman of The Globe and Mail rated it 4/5 stars and wrote that it "does more with a found-footage conceit than any horror movie since The Blair Witch Project."[10] John Patterson of The Guardian called it "both plausible and watchable", though it "can be faulted for its predictability".[11] Joe Leydon of Variety called it "a modestly suspenseful faux documentary" that turns silly near the climax.[12] Peter Martin of Twitch Film wrote, "With absolute conviction and unwavering intelligence, The Conspiracy unpacks complex theories and raises disturbing questions that are not easily dismissed."[13] Richard Whittaker of the Austin Chronicle wrote, "The Conspiracy succeeds, not just because it successfully mimics the post-Michael Moore generation of directors who love to put themselves in front of the camera. It succeeds because it mimics the fever-dream paranoia of conspiracy documentarians."[14] Matt Glasby of Total Film rated it 4/5 stars and called it "plausible and chilling".[7]
One reviewer, writing in The Lexander Magazine, accused the filmmakers of plagiarizing a 2006 film entitled The Brandon Corey Story, which featured British conspiracy theorist David Icke.[18]
Conspiracies are sometimes real. The Watergate break-in is a good example of a political conspiracy that actually happened. But thanks to the social-media algorithms that push users toward ever-more-emotional, conspiratorial content, it's probably never been easier for false conspiracy theories to spread.
Some famous conspiracy theories rely on anti-Semetic tropes, such as the attacks being orchestrated by Israel. Many claim that because "jet fuel can't melt steel beams," the Twin Towers must have been brought down by controlled demolition from bombs planted before the planes hit. (A 2006 NOVA documentary debunked these claims. It is, in fact, quite possible for the columns holding up skyscrapers to fail catastrophically when exposed to fires burning on multiple floors.)
Within hours of Princess Diana's death on Aug. 31, 1997, in a Paris highway tunnel, conspiracy theories swirled. As was the case with the death of John F. Kennedy, the idea that such a beloved and high-profile figure could be killed so suddenly was a shock. This was especially true of Princess Diana: Royalty die of old age, political intrigue or eating too much rich food; they don't get killed by a common drunk driver.
Unlike many conspiracy theories, though, this one had a billionaire promoting it: Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who was killed along with Diana. Al-Fayed claims that the accident was in fact an assassination by British intelligence agencies, at the request of the Royal Family. Al-Fayed's claims were examined and dismissed as baseless by a 2006 inquiry; the following year, at Diana's inquest, the coroner stated that "The conspiracy theory advanced by Mohamed Al Fayed has been minutely examined and shown to be without any substance." On April 7, 2008, the coroner's jury concluded that Diana and Al-Fayed were unlawfully killed due to negligence by their drunken chauffeur and pursuing paparazzi, The New York Times reported (opens in new tab).
Ever been watching a movie and suddenly get the munchies? Or sitting on your sofa watching TV and suddenly get the irresistible urge to buy a new car? If so, you may be the victim of a subliminal advertising conspiracy! Proponents of this conspiracy theory include Wilson Bryan Key (author of "Subliminal Seduction") and Vance Packard (author of "The Hidden Persuaders"), both of whom claimed that subliminal (subconscious) messages in advertising were rampant and damaging. Though the books caused a public outcry and led to FCC hearings, much of both books have since been discredited, and several key "studies" of the effects of subliminal advertising were revealed to have been faked.
The conspiracy was described in a 1976 self-published book, "We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle," and a 1978 movie, "Capricorn One." Even as late as 2001, there was a Fox documentary, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" that gave air time to the claims that the whole Apollo moon-landing program was faked.
Many astronauts have been offended by the implication that they faked their accomplishments. In 2002, when conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel confronted Buzz Aldrin and called him a "coward and a liar" for faking the moon landings, the then 72-year-old punched Sibrel in the jaw.
The "Paul is dead" conspiracy goes something like this: On Nov. 9, 1966, Paul McCartney got into an argument with the other Beatles, stormed out of the studio and was promptly decapitated in a car accident. To cover the whole thing up, the band hired a look-alike (and sound-alike).
"The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" is a hoaxed antisemitic book that purported to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to achieve world domination. It first appeared in Russia in 1905, and described how Christians' morality, finances, and health would be targeted by a small group of powerful Jews. The antisemitic idea that there is a Jewish conspiracy is nothing new, of course, and has been repeated by many prominent people including Henry Ford and Mel Gibson. In 1920, Henry Ford paid to have half a million copies of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" published, and in the 1930s, the book was used by the Nazis as justification for its genocide against Jews (in fact, Adolf Hitler referred to the "Protocols" in his book "Mein Kampf").
For years during the 1980s and 1990s, America became convinced that an underground network of Satanists was working together to kidnap, torture and abuse children. None of it was real, but the conspiracy theories destroyed lives and livelihoods.
But to some conspiracy theorists, these condensation trails are much more nefarious. The "Chemtrails" conspiracy theory holds that condensation trails are full of other chemicals that scientists and governments are seeding into the atmosphere. Why? Pick your reason. It might be biological warfare or population control or geoengineering or an attempt to manipulate the weather.
Researchers who study things like clouds' impact on global temperatures are often harassed by Chemtrails believers, who think they're part of a large-scale conspiracy to secretly spray unknown chemicals into the atmosphere, according to Harvard University's David Keith (opens in new tab). A 2016 study (opens in new tab) even debunked chemtrails scientifically, finding no evidence of unusual contrails or unexplained contamination in the environment. But true believers aren't swayed, as The Guardian reported (opens in new tab) in 2017.
Some conspiracies, like chemtrails, percolate in the background of certain communities, never really penetrating the larger public. Others have big impacts. The Barack Obama birtherism conspiracy is one of the latter. 2ff7e9595c
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