How does Hollywood Hurt the Paranormal

First off let me say that I know many of you enjoy the so called reality shows about the paranormal.  Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State seem to be the most popular.  However, amongst real serious minded investigators these shows are despised and reviled for the damage they do the field.  How is that damage done some may ask.  Well lets go through it point by point.

1. Demons are not common.  Now I'm not trying to say that demons do or don't exist, I am saying that not every haunting is caused by a demon as some paracelebrities would have you believe.
2. They exploit bad investigation techniques. I will cover this more indepth in a later hub.  For now I will just say that any photo taken with a flash towards a reflective surface will produce an anomaly.  That anomaly is the reflection of the flash and nothing more to say otherwise is a blatant lie.
3. There is no historical context for 3:00am being a "dead time".  Besides if you watch older episodes of Paranormal State you will see clocks in the background during supposed "dead times" and plainly see that it is not 3:00am. 
   

These are just three points but lets stop there.  If you really pay attention to these shows you can find many more examples of these paracelebrities being nothing more than overpaid bad actors.  Now some people will say that this is simply entertainment and it's just for fun.  The problem is that there are people that take it seriously.

I can't tell you how many times I have had clients ask about these shows and wonder why our processes and methods aren't the same.  Then I have to take the time to explain how investigation should be done, and point out what is wrong with what is on television.  Usually that's where the problem ends and the investigation continues with no ill effects.  On occassion however people end up disenchanted and then paint us all with the "Fraud Brush".

My fondest wish is for a television show to come out that shows the honest face of true investigations.  Unfortunately as I have learned from spending the last six years working with various producers Hollywood is resistant towards this method because they fear it will not attract viewers.  They want drama not honesty.  So really by claiming these shows are reality based they are basically calling their viewers idiots.  Nice isn't it?

These are the worst offenders of damage done because they reach a much larger audience than television shows.  The best two examples of this are the popular movies "Amityville Horror" and "A Haunting in Connecticut"  Let me deal with these individually.

First "The Amityville Horror" this one is one of my pet peeves.  I will admit it's a good movie and a goodish book.  However, it's not true.  There is a wonderful book on the market called "The Amityville Horror Conspiracy" by Dr. Steven Kaplan.  In it, this book details Dr. Steven Kaplan's investigation into this supposed haunting.  He was called in prior to Ed and Lorraine Warren (two of the biggest frauds in the field) but was mysteriously called off by George Lutz.  Why?  Well as it transpires Dr. Kaplan had the same view I hold.  If it's not a haunting I won't say it was.  That's how we all should be.  However, the almighty dollar is a mighty motivator and the Warrens had no trouble claiming the haunting was real.

Now historically there was no instance of a haunting in that house before or after the Lutz's claim.  On top of that the story has changed numerous times over each retelling.  Facts do not change.  I'm not going to go into detail, for that I suggest you check out Dr. Kaplan's book.  I will however urge you to research the case, if you do you will find an interesting fact.  The Supreme Court itself ruled this case as a hoax.

Now "A Haunting in Connecticut".  I have not seen this movie so I can say nothing for the quality.  Again however, the main fact is that there is no history of the house being haunted before or after the supposed victims and again the Warrens were involved.  It is interesting however that two of their cases have become major movies, made a lot of mone and both supposedly involved demons.  Refer to above when I point out demons are not that common.  In fact most investigators will go their entire career without ever encountering a demonic haunting.  These two however have it happen all the time.

So how does this affect the field?  Well these are just two cases where a supposed true story's only element of truth is the name of the people involved.  However, in the case of Amityville they didn't even get that right with everyone.  Just like with reality t.v. though the general public use these as a basis of judgement on the entire field.  It's not right but it's the truth, and it's something that needs to be stopped.  True fiction will always sell better than fact, however when fact is as interesting as it is in the realm of the paranormal the fiction should not be necessary.

Now I invite you to discuss these cases and points.  I will be happy to address all questions in another hub.  If you agree with me please spread the word so that we can clean up the field and get the frauds out of it, or at least limit the damage they are able to do.

Thank you.