The Truth is Out There...Really, Really Out there.

Over the weekend I attended the U.S. Premier of a documentary called THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, perhaps not surprisingly starring and co-produced by Dean Haglund of X-Files and The Lone Gunmen fame (and directed by Phil Leirness). The film explores conspiracy theorists and theories, and although this subject does not exactly fit with that of my blog, I figure I can stretch it to the dimensions of my interests.

The film mostly consists of a cleverly cut together series of interviews between Dean Haglund and various conspiracy theorists from around the world (mostly North America and the U.K.), in which for the most part Dean Haglund simply lets the theorists talk to him about their theories. These theories cover UFOs and aliens (including alien-human hybrids), crop circles, food production, government, banking systems, angels, the military, 9/11, consciousness itself, and probably several other topics I've already forgotten about. Rather than passing judgment on any of the theories, the film (and Dean Haglund) lets the theorists speak for themselves and the audience make its own judgments; of course the audience laughed at various figures on the screen, but I imagine that a different audience would laugh at completely different interviews. The ultimate effect, then, was not one of ridicule as I had expected, but of contemplation and even acceptance to some extent. In a way, I realized that I, too, was a conspiracy theorist.

But of course I am always thinking about truth and lying, so while watching the film I often considered the sincerity of the characters on the screen. From my perspective, every person interviewed in the film was completely sincere, whether he talked about consorting with angels, seeing UFOs, or destroying cancer cells with apple seeds. Although most of the country would agree that most of the theories probably aren't verifiable, no one in the film really thought she was making something up. Phil Leirness mentioned that one woman, who believed she was an alien-human hybrid, was one of the nicest people he had ever met and someone he would trust to look after his pets. Are these conspiracy theorists harmless wackos who can be left to their own devices? Should people try to convince them that what they believe is not the truth? Or must we all just realize that truth actually is subjective and there's no hope for anyone believing anyone else's truth, so we should all just live and let live?

I'm not sure I've really given a review of this film, just as I'm not sure I've come to any conclusions about it or conspiracy theories or truth. A second film with the subtitle "Ancient Knowledge" is forthcoming, and I look forward to watching that as well. I welcome any comments and questions.