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The Satanic Panic of the '80s

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Adam Dravian:

--- Quote from: Michigander1911 on August 21, 2014, 05:51:48 PM ---This comes from a time when it wasn't so easy to research things for yourself.  You could do it obviously, go to the library check out a dozen books, spend evenings reading about stuff that only vaguely interest you, finally come to a conclusion that it's all BS.  My point being that people trusted public media way to much.  (maybe why people still do)  This is kind of all on the line as people poisoning Halloween candy, it may have started with an bit of truth and then became a tool to push an agenda.

--- End quote ---

Exactly. One of the best things about our current information age is that it's a lot harder for the general masses to fall into a big panic about nothing. It's certainly not impossible, but it's harder.

On a related note, this era is pretty much the death knell for urban legends. Now when someone tells you that Phil Collins wrote "In the Air Tonight" about a guy he saw who refused to save a drowning victim, it's a simple matter to look it up online and discover that it's complete bullshit.

Rijst:

--- Quote from: Adam Dravian on August 21, 2014, 09:20:13 PM ---Exactly. One of the best things about our current information age is that it's a lot harder for the general masses to fall into a big panic about nothing. It's certainly not impossible, but it's harder.

--- End quote ---

I'm not sure about that, bullshitters can write convincing webpages too. Take the anti-vaccination movement, some people still believe vaccines cause autism even though that original claim has been debunked countless times and the researcher who pushed this message shown a fraud with mixed commercial interests. Despite this, there have been recent outbreaks of measles in the western world, simply because people haven't been vaccinated. The same could happen with polio, which is making a comeback in Syria and Pakistan.

Adam Dravian:
You make a depressingly good point.

Rijst:
I'll try to be more cheery from now on  :-[


--- Quote from: Adam Dravian on August 21, 2014, 09:20:13 PM ---Now when someone tells you that Phil Collins wrote "In the Air Tonight" about a guy he saw who refused to save a drowning victim, it's a simple matter to look it up online and discover that it's complete bullshit.

--- End quote ---

Was that ever a thing? I know Eminem mentioned it in Stan..

Adam Dravian:

--- Quote from: Rijst on August 22, 2014, 01:02:12 PM ---Was that ever a thing? I know Eminem mentioned it in Stan..

--- End quote ---

Oh yeah. It was totally a thing. I heard it mentioned several times when I was growing up. It seemed to mostly be an urban legend in the states. Phil Collins has said that he'd get asked about it all the time whenever he'd tour over here.

The truth about the song is still a little creepy. Apparently he did most of the vocals in a single take, singing whatever words came to him in the moment. So he honestly has no idea what the song is about.

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