The
conspiracy thriller (or
paranoid thriller) is a subgenre of thriller fiction.
A common theme in such works is that characters discovering a secretive conspiracy may be unable to tell what is true about the conspiracy, or even what is real: rumors, lies,
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
, and counter-propaganda build upon one another until what is conspiracy and what is coincidence becomes an undecidable question. The protagonists of conspiracy thrillers are often journalists or amateur investigators who find themselves (often inadvertently) pulling on a small thread which unravels a vast conspiracy that ultimately goes "all the way to the top".
Conspiracy theory in the US (and echoed in other parts of the world) reached its zenith in the 1960s and 1970s in the wake of a number of high-profile scandals and controversies, most notably the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, the
assassination of President KennedyThe assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade...
, the Chappaquiddick incident, and
WatergateThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s. Named for the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, President of the United States, on August 9, 1974...
. These works exposed what many people regarded as the clandestine machinations and conspiracies beneath the orderly fabric of political life.
Because of their dramatic potential, conspiracies are a popular theme in thrillers and
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
. The subtle shades and complexities of historical fact are recast as a
morality playThe Morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes," a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
in which bad people cause bad events, and good people identify and defeat them. Conspiracies are often played out as "man-in-peril" (or "woman-in-peril") stories, or yield
questIn mythology and literature a quest — a journey towards a goal — serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures...
narratives similar to those found in whodunnits and
detective storiesDetective fiction is a branch of crime fiction in which a detective , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder...
. It is perhaps no coincidence, then, that the English word "plot" applies to both a story, and the
activitiesIn the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
of conspirators.
Literature
One of the early pioneers of the genre was
Graham GreeneHenry Graham Greene OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, whose 1943 novel
Ministry of FearMinistry of Fear is a 1944 film noir directed by Fritz Lang based on the novel The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene. The film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds himself caught up in an international spy ring in London during the Blitz. After guessing the weight...
(brought to the big screen by
Fritz LangFriedrich "Fritz" Christian Anton Lang was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
in 1944) combines all the ingredients of paranoia and conspiracy familiar to aficionados of the 1970s thrillers, with additional urgency and depth added by its wartime backdrop. Greene himself credited Michael Innes as the inspiration for his "entertainment".
Prior to Greene however was John Buchan, whose 1915 novel
The Thirty-Nine StepsThe Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the British author John Buchan, first published in 1915 by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
weaves elements of conspiracy and man-on-the-run archetypes that pre-date Greene's work.
The
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n novelist
Richard CondonFor the impresario see Richard Condon Richard Thomas Condon , was a satirical and thriller novelist best known for conspiratorial books such as The Manchurian Candidate.Born in New York City, Condon attended DeWitt Clinton High School.After service in the United States Merchant Marine,...
wrote a number of conspiracy thrillers, including the seminal
The Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who has been brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party...
(1959), and
Winter KillsWinter Kills, is a black comic novel exploring the assassination of a U.S. President. The novel parallels the real life assassination of John F. Kennedy and the various conspiracy theories that surround the event.-Plot summary:...
, which was made into a film by
William RichertWilliam Richert is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for his performance as Bob in the 1991 Gus van Sant film My Own Private Idaho.At age 17, he hopped a bus to Hollywood...
in 1979.
Argentine writer
Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , best known as Jorge Luis Borges, was an Argentine writer and poet born in Buenos Aires. In 1914, his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school and traveled to Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and...
also wrote some stories featuring conspiracies. In
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis TertiusTlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is a short story by the 20th century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in the Argentine journal Sur, May 1940. The "postscript" dated 1947 is intended to be anachronistic, set seven years in the future...
(1961), a group of intellectuals invent a fictional planet (Tlön), which is then revealed to society at large as if it were a real place, with the result that humanity becomes enamored with it and the structure of reality is replaced by the fiction of Tlön.
Thomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist based in New York City and noted for his dense and complex works of fiction. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University...
's
The Crying of Lot 49The Crying of Lot 49 is a novel by Thomas Pynchon. The shortest of Pynchon's novels and often considered his most accessible, the book is about a woman, Oedipa Maas, possibly unearthing the centuries-old conflict between two mail distribution companies, Thurn und Taxis and the Trystero...
(1966) includes a secretive conflict between cartels dating back to the Middle Ages.
Gravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow is a postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28 1973.The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest...
also draws heavily on conspiracy theory in describing the motives and operations of the
Phoebus cartelThe Phoebus cartel was a cartel of, among others, Osram, Philips and General Electric from December 23 1924 until 1939 that existed to control the manufacture and sale of light bulbs....
as well as the development of ballistic missiles during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Illuminatus! (1969–1971), a trilogy by
Robert SheaRobert Joseph Shea was a novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In 1986 it won...
and
Robert Anton WilsonRobert Anton Wilson became, at various times, an American novelist, essayist, philosopher, polymath, psychonaut, futurist, libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
, is regarded by many as the definitive work of 20th-century conspiracy fiction. Set in the late '60s, it is a psychedelic tale which fuses mystery, science fiction, horror, and comedy in its exhibition (and mourning, and mocking) of one of the more paranoid periods of recent history.
Ishmael ReedIshmael Scott Reed is an American poet, essayist, and novelist. Reed is, along with Toni Morrison and Amiri Baraka, among the very best known African-American writers of their generation...
's
Mumbo Jumbo (1972), set in 1920s
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, takes its plot from the battle between The "Wallflower Order," an international conspiracy dedicated to
monotheismIn theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite...
and control, and the "Jes Grew" virus, the embodiment of
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
,
polytheismPolytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, called gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals...
, and freedom.
Umberto EcoUmberto Eco is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher, literary critic and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
's
Foucault's Pendulum (1988) features a story in which the staff of a publishing firm, intending to create a series of popular occult books, invent their own occult conspiracy, over which they lose control as it begins to supplant the truth.
Iain BanksIain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under his birth name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M...
' novel
The BusinessThe Business is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1999.-Plot introduction:Kate Telman is a 'level 3' executive in the Business, a vast business empire. During her sabbatical year, she comes to suspect that some of her colleagues are stealing from the organisation, and...
is set within a fictional and highly secretive corporate body, evolved from a cartel of merchants in
ancient RomeAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, who secretly run many of the worlds multinational corporations as fronts. The novel is set against the backdrop of 'The Company's' attempt to buy leadership of a fictional Himalayan principality in order to gain a seat on the
UNThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
.
The popular 2003
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective fiction novel written by American author Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discovers a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of...
by
Dan BrownDan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
draws on conspiracy theories involving the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
,
Opus DeiOpus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, is an organization of the Roman Catholic Church that teaches the Catholic belief that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular...
and the
Priory of SionThe Prieuré de Sion, translated from French as Priory of Sion, is a name given to multiple groups, both real and fictitious. The most notorious is a fringe fraternal organization, founded and dissolved in France in 1956 by Pierre Plantard...
.
In
Grant MorrisonGrant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.-Early years:...
's comic series
The InvisiblesThe Invisibles is a mature readers comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....
, both the protagonists and their adversaries are members of competing conspiratorial groups. The series references a number of conspiracy theories, including those concerning the
IlluminatiIlluminati is a name that refers to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
and the
Knights TemplarThe secrecy around the powerful medieval Order of the Knights Templar, and the speed with which they suddenly disappeared over the space of a few years, has led to many different Knights Templar legends. These range from rumors about their association with the Holy Grail and the Ark of the...
, as well as
UFO conspiracy theoriesA UFO conspiracy theory is any one of many often overlapping conspiracy theories which argue that evidence of the reality of unidentified flying objects is being suppressed. They commonly argue that Earth governments, especially the Government of the United States are in fact in communication or...
which became popular during the 1990s.
Australian author
Matthew ReillyMatthew John "Matty" Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :After graduating from Sydney's St...
's novel
Scarecrow deals with the
Majestic 12Majestic 12 is the purported code name of a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, supposedly formed in 1947 by an executive order of U.S. President Harry S Truman...
as the conspirators of an international war. His other novels deal with such conspiracy theories as the competition between different areas of the
Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
and the secret breakdown of
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
.
Contemporary authors who have used elements of conspiracy theory in their work include
Margaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, CC, O.Ont, FRSC is a Canadian science fiction author, poet, critic, feminist and social campaigner. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
,
William S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life...
,
Don DeLilloDon DeLillo is an American author whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...
,
Philip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose published work during his lifetime was almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian...
,
James EllroyJames Ellroy is an American crime writer and essayist.Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style of his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences. For instance: They sent him to Dallas to kill a nigger pimp named...
,
Joseph HellerJoseph Heller was an American satirical novelist, short story writer and playwright. He wrote the influential novel Catch-22 about American servicemen during World War II...
,
Robert LudlumRobert Ludlum was an American author of 25 thriller novels. There are more than 290 million copies of his books in print, and they have been translated into 32 languages...
and
James Clancy PhelanJames Clancy Phelan is an Australian author, published as James Phelan. His first fiction novel, Fox Hunt, went into reprint in its first month.-Biography:Phelan was born in Victoria, Australia...
.
Conspiracy theory in science fiction
One of the first science fiction novels to deal with a full-blown conspiracy theory was
Eric Frank RussellEric Frank Russell was a British author best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction and other pulp magazines. Russell also wrote horror fiction for Weird Tales, and...
's
Dreadful SanctuaryDreadful Sanctuary is a science fiction novel by author Eric Frank Russell. It was first published in book form in 1951 by Fantasy Press in an edition of 2,975 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding beginning in 1948...
(1948). This deals with a number of sabotaged space missions and the apparent discovery that Earth is being quarantined by aliens from other planets of the
Solar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by gravity, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago...
. However, as the novel progresses it emerges that this view is a
paranoidParanoia is a thought process heavily influenced by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. In the original Greek, παράνοια simply means madness...
delusion perpetuated by a small but powerful
secret societySecret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations. Although the exact meaning of the term is disputed, several of the definitions advanced indicate a degree of secrecy and secret knowledge, which might include denying membership or knowledge of the group, negative consequences...
.
Among modern
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
writers,
Philip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose published work during his lifetime was almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian...
was one of the most prolific in this regard. Dick wrote a large number of short stories where vast conspiracies were employed (usually by an oppressive government or other hostile powers) to keep common people under control or enforce a given agenda. In one story, aliens invade Earth and destroy its civilization almost completely, but the remaining humans are made to believe that Earth won the war and has to be reconstructed (the aliens apparently want a pacific coexistence with humans). In another story, an undefined organization periodically "freezes" parts of a city, changes and reorders it, makes the appropriate changes in the minds of humans found there at the time, and then lets things go on as usual (similar to the film
Dark City).
In his novel; 2012: A Conspiracy Tale, English author Bryan Collier combines contemporary conspiracy theories with Mayan legend.
Other popular science fiction writers whose work features conspiracy theories include William Gibson,
John Twelve HawksJohn Twelve Hawks is the author of the 2005 dystopian novel The Traveler and its successors, The Dark River and The Golden City, collectively comprising the Fourth Realm Trilogy...
, and
Neal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. He has also written under the pseudonym of Stephen Bury.Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics,...
.
Film and television
One of the earliest exercises in cinematic
paranoiaParanoia is a thought process heavily influenced by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. In the original Greek, παράνοια simply means madness...
was
John FrankenheimerJohn Michael Frankenheimer was an American filmmaker. He is known for making The Manchurian Candidate , Birdman of Alcatraz , The Train, and Seven Days in May ....
's
The Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian Candidate is a Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
. Its story of brainwashing and political
assassinationAn Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....
holds the distinction of not merely reflecting contemporary fears and anxieties, but anticipating future conspiracies and scandals by some years.
The
screenplayA screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A play for television is known as a teleplay.- Format and style :...
s for two of the best-known conspiracy thrillers were written by the same writer, Lorenzo Semple, Jr.:
The Parallax ViewThe Parallax View is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty, who was also a producer. The film was adapted by David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr and an uncredited Robert Towne from the 1970 novel by Loren Singer...
, directed by
Alan J. PakulaAlan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
, was released in 1974, while
Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
's
Three Days Of The CondorThree Days of the Condor is a 1975 American thriller film produced by Stanley Schneider and directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay, by Lorenzo Semple Jr...
entered release the following year. Pakula's movie is considered to be the second installment of a "paranoia trilogy," beginning with
KluteKlute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a mystery. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Dorothy Tristan, Vivian Nathan, and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J...
in
1971The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
and ending with
All The President's MenAll the President's Men is a 1976 film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post...
in
1976The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
. Pakula returned to the theme with
The Pelican BriefThe Pelican Brief is a legal-suspense thriller written by John Grisham in 1992. The hardcover edition was published by Doubleday in that same year. Two paperback editions were published, both by Dell Publishing in 1993.-Plot summary:...
. Actor-producer
Robert RedfordCharles Robert Redford Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American film director, actor, producer, businessman, model, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival...
played a part in Three Days of the Condor
and All The President's Men
. Director Costa-Gavras attributed two entries to the subgenre: ZZ is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
and MissingMissing is a 1982 film directed by Costa Gavras, starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea and Charles Cioffi. It is based on the true story of American journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the bloody aftermath of the US-backed Chilean coup of 1973 that deposed...
.
Oliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural...
's Academy AwardThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
-winning 1991 filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York*Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for sci-fi action films.-Top grossing films :...
JFKJFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison...
— based on books by New Orleans District Attorney
Jim GarrisonEarling Carothers "Jim" Garrison — who changed his first name to Jim in the early 1960s — was the Democratic District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana from 1962 to 1973. He is best known for his investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy .Garrison remains a...
and conspiracy author
Jim MarrsJim Marrs is an American former newspaper journalist and author of books and articles on a wide range of alleged cover ups and conspiracy theories. Marrs is a prominent figure in the JFK conspiracy press and his book Crossfire was a source for Oliver Stone's film JFK...
— suggests that President John F. Kennedy was not killed by
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three United States government investigations, the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas....
acting alone, but rather by a group opposed to Kennedy's policies, especially his supposed reluctance to invade
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
to overthrow
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then the President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008...
, and Kennedy's purported eagerness to withdraw American armed forces from the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. Members of the
CIAThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
, the
Military-Industrial ComplexMilitary-industrial complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy relationships between governments, national armed forces, and industrial support they obtain from the commercial sector in political approval for research, development, production, use, and support for military training,...
, and President Lyndon Baines Johnson are implicated as responsible for Kennedy's assassination.
The
1997The year 1997 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Star Wars original trilogy's 20th Anniversary Special Editions are released.*Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace....
movie
Wag the DogWag the Dog is a 1997 film starring Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman about a Washington spin doctor who, mere days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer to construct a fake war with Albania...
involves a pre-election attempt in the US by a spin doctorIn public relations, spin is form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...
and a Hollywood producer who join forces to fabricate a war in a Balkan state in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal. Interestingly, it was made before the Clinton / Lewinsky scandalThe Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 22-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
and the US led Kosovo interventionThe term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo:#Early 1998–1999: War between Yugoslav police forces, Yugoslav paramilitaries, and the Kosovo Albanian insurgents....
. Like All the President's Men
and Marathon Man
, it stars Dustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor who has had an active career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He first drew critical praise for the 1966 Off-Broadway play Eh? for which he won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award. This was soon followed by his breakout movie role as Ben...
.
Other films in the "paranoiac" or "conspiracy" vein include Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
's The ConversationThe Conversation is a mystery thriller about audio surveillance, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest, and featuring Harrison Ford, Teri Garr and an uncredited appearance from Robert Duvall.The...
, Capricorn OneCapricorn One is a 1978 thriller movie about a Mars landing hoax. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company for Warner Bros....
, directed by Peter HyamsPeter Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, probably best known for directing the 1984 sci-fi adventure 2010 , Capricorn One, the comic book adaptation Timecop and the Arnold Schwarzenegger horror/action blockbuster End of Days.-Family:Hyams was born in New York...
, and Brian De PalmaBrian De Palma is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible.Throughout the 1970s...
's Blow OutBlow Out is a 1981 thriller film, written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget horror film, serendipitously captures audio evidence of a possible assassination...
. More recent analogues include Conspiracy TheoryConspiracy Theory is a 1997 American action/paranoid thriller film directed by Richard Donner. The original screenplay by Brian Helgeland centers on an eccentric taxi driver who believes many world events are triggered by government conspiracies...
, directed by Richard DonnerRichard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer. The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
, Tony ScottAnthony "Tony" D. L. Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire and Spy Game...
's Enemy of the State
, and Mark PellingtonMark Pellington is an American film director.Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He directed The Mothman Prophecies, a 2002 film starring Richard Gere dealing with mysterious deaths foretold by a strange red-eyed flying creature, Mothman, as well as Arlington Road in 1999 starring Tim...
's 1999The year 1999 in film involved some significant events and was arguably the most successful year for films released in the 1990s. Several new feature films, including Star Wars Episode I, The Sixth Sense, The Green Mile, new sequel Toy Story 2, first of The Matrix, Disney's animated Tarzan,...
thriller Arlington RoadArlington Road is a 1999 film which tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors are involved in terrorism and becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis and is...
.
One of the most celebrated contributions to the genre in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
was the BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
award-winning television drama Edge of DarknessEdge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985...
, written by Troy Kennedy MartinTroy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter best known for creating the long running BBC TV police series Z Cars, and for the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness....
. David Drury's Defence of the RealmDefence of the Realm is a 1985 political thriller directed by David Drury. Starring Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, Denholm Elliott and Robbie Coltrane....
and Alan PlaterAlan Frederick Plater, CBE is an English playwright and screenwriter, who has worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s....
's A Very British CoupA Very British Coup is a 1982 novel by Chris Mullin, and a 1988 British television adaptation of the novel, adapted by Alan Plater and starring Ray McAnally...
offered other British perspectives on the conspiracy toposTopos , in Latin locus, referred in the context of classical Greek rhetoric to a standardised method of constructing or treating an argument...
.
On television, The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
was rich in conspiracy theory lore, often drawing influence from the aforementioned 1970s conspiracy thrillers.
2424 is an American serial action/drama television series. Broadcast by Fox in the United States and syndicated worldwide, the show first aired on November 6, 2001, with an initial 13 episodes...
and Prison BreakPrison Break is a drama television series created by Paul Scheuring, which premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company on August 29, 2005. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an elaborate plan to help his...
, currently still in production, make heavy use of conspiracies. 24
bases each season around some series of threats against the United States, some of which stem from a conspiracy. These conspiracies sometimes extend to within the White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
or the fictional government agency CTU. Prison Break
revolves around a conspiracy to frame an innocent man for murder and simultaneously elevate an American politician to the United States Presidency.
The first season of Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
revolved around
Project CadmusProject Cadmus is a fictional government genetic engineering project in the DC Comics Universe. It was created by Jack Kirby as the DNA Project in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 , and was run by the former Newsboy Legion...
, a shadowy government run organization, and their attempts to gather information on the various members of the
Justice LeagueThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
while creating weapons to stop the Justice League in the event they turn on the American government (including
KryptoniteKryptonite is a fictional element from the Superman mythos, originating in the Superman radio show series.The material is usually shown as having been created from the remains of Superman's native planet of Krypton, and generally has detrimental effects on Superman and other Kryptonians...
tipped warheads, a
SupergirlSupergirl is a fictional comic book Superhero that is depicted as a female counterpart to the DC Comics iconic superhero Superman. Created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in 1959 and appearing in Action Comics...
clone, and their own group of heroes). The arc drew from episodes of
Batman: The Animated SeriesBatman: The Animated Series is an American animated series adaptation of the comic book series starring the DC Comics superhero, Batman. The series is noted for being the first to take place in the DC Animated Universe. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.The visual style of the series is...
,
Superman: The Animated SeriesSuperman: The Animated Series was an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
, and
Batman BeyondBatman Beyond, also known as Batman of the Future, is an American animated television series created by The WB Television Network in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation as a continuation of the Batman legacy. It began airing on January 10, 1999, and ended its run on December18,...
, that involved similar conspiracy elements.
An episode of
South ParkSouth Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become infamous for its crude, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
parodied 9/11 conspiracy theories9/11 conspiracy theories allege that the September 11 attacks in 2001 were either intentionally allowed to happen or were a false flag operation orchestrated by elements within the United States government...
in Mystery of the Urinal Deuce"Mystery of the Urinal Deuce" is episode 148 of Comedy Central's South Park which first aired on October 11 2006.-Plot summary:When someone at South Park Elementary defecates in a urinal, Mr. Mackey searches for the boy responsible. Cartman begins to rant that it was a conspiracy, "just like...
.
A luminary of the genre could be considered to be Gene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and currently a novelist.Hackman has made 80 films. He came to fame in 1967 when his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde earned him his first Oscar nomination...
, who starred in a variety of conspiracy-themed films: The ConversationThe Conversation is a mystery thriller about audio surveillance, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest, and featuring Harrison Ford, Teri Garr and an uncredited appearance from Robert Duvall.The...
, The Domino PrincipleThe Domino Principle is a 1977 thriller starred by Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Mickey Rooney and Richard Widmark. It was directed and produced by Stanley Kramer.Tagline: Trust no one. No one....
, The PackageThe Package was a 1989 Orion Pictures film directed by Andrew Davis. Set during the Cold War, this political thriller portrays an assassination conspiracy within both the U.S. and Soviet militaries...
, No Way OutNo Way Out is a 1987 thriller film about a U.S. Naval Officer wrongfully accused of murder. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, and is noted for being Brad Pitt's first movie role, in which he played an officer at a party...
, Absolute PowerAbsolute Power typically refers to concepts of tyranny, corruption, authoritarianism, absolutism, and totalitarianism, and is associated largely with monarchy and non-democratic forms of government....
and Enemy of the StateEnemy of the State is a spy-thriller film directed by Tony Scott about a group of rogue NSA agents who kill a Congressman in a political-related murder, and then try to cover up the murder by destroying evidence and intimidating witnesses. It was written by David Marconi and produced by Jerry...
.
Gaming
Deus ExDeus Ex is a cyberpunk-themed action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in the year 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role playing games...
is filled with various references to conspiratorial organisations such as the IlluminatiIlluminati is a name that refers to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
, Majestic 12Majestic 12 is the purported code name of a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, supposedly formed in 1947 by an executive order of U.S. President Harry S Truman...
and the Knights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple , were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and also includes several conspiracy theories such as the New World OrderIn conspiracy theory, the term “New World Order” or “NWO” refers to the emergence of a bureaucratic collectivist one-world government....
, Area 51Area 51 is a nickname for a military base that is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States . Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large secretive military airfield...
and RoswellThe Roswell UFO Incident was the alleged recovery of extra-terrestrial debris, including corpses, from an object which crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, USA, on or about July 8, 1947. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and the subject of conspiracy...
. The game's sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible WarDeus Ex: Invisible War is a first-person computer and video game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive. Released simultaneously for Windows and the Xbox video game console on December 2, 2003, the game is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex...
also makes references to the Illuminati and Knights Templar, as well as inventing fictional secret societies such as ApostleCorp and The Omar.
The Metal Gear Solidis a critically acclaimed series of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. In the series, the player takes control of a Special Forces Operative repeatedly facing off against the latest incarnation of the eponymous superweapon "Metal Gear"; a bipedal walking...
series contains a shadowy group known as "The Patriots" who manipulate politics in America. There are also references to numerous conspiracies in the games. Many of the characters betray the main protagonist, as well as one another, creating a very paranoid atmosphere.
Army of TwoArmy of Two is a third person shooter video game developed by Electronic Arts, released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, focusing on two mercenaries fighting through war, political turmoil, and a conspiracy from 1993 to 2009....
has a conspiracy-like plotline in which a
private military contractorA private military company provides specialized expertise or services of a military nature, sometimes called or classified as mercenary...
(
mercenaryA mercenary is a professional soldier hired by a foreign army, as opposed to a soldier enlisted in the armed forces of a sovereign state. He or she takes part in armed conflict on many different scales, and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain...
) attempts to turn the US military into one private military corporation so he can command it, and launch meaningless operations to earn money.
Act of War: Direct ActionAct of War: Direct Action is a real-time strategy game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Atari, Inc . The game was released in March 2005, and features a detailed story written by Dale Brown, a retired captain of the US Air Force and a bestselling author...
features an industrial plot to take control of oilAn oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and is hydrophobic but soluble in organic solvents. Oils have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are nonpolar substances. The general definition above includes compound classes with otherwise unrelated chemical structures,...
reserves and the infrastructure of the US.
The Broken Sword Broken Sword is an adventure game series created by game designer Charles Cecil of Revolution Software. The game series revolves around the adventures of George Stobbart and Nico Collard in several fictitious stories based on history and mythology. The first two games in the series are controlled...
series, loosely inspired by Umberto Eco's book, also features the
Knights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple , were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, among other conspiracy theories.
The
Max PayneMax Payne is a BAFTA award winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish Remedy Entertainment, produced by 3D Realms and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Windows. Ports later in the year for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
series contains a conspiracy plotline, with backstabbing from almost every character that the title character meets in the game. The series is also well known for having
Norse MythologyNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
incorporated into the plot, as well as having secret societies including 'The Inner Circle', an Esoteric cult group who work behind the scenes, pulling the strings. Their leader, Alfred Woden employs Max Payne to take down Nicole Horne, the antagonist of the first game. As Max learns in the sequel, many of the people he knows are also members of the group.
The
Syndicate seriesThe Syndicate series is a series of isometric science fiction computer games created by Bullfrog Productions. There are two main titles in the series: Syndicate and Syndicate Wars , with an expansion pack for the former, Syndicate: American Revolt.-Overview:Both games put the player in charge of a...
revolves around an alliance of
megacorp"Megacorporation" is a term popularized by William Gibson derived from the combination of the prefix mega- with the word corporation. It has become a term popularly used in cyberpunk literature...
orations gaining
world dominationWorld domination, world conquest, global conquest, or global domination may refer to:- Politics :* Hegemony, predominant influence exercised by one nation over others...
through
mind controlMind control refers to a broad range of psychological tactics thought to subvert an individual's control of his or her own thinking, behavior, emotions, or decision making...
.
XIIIXIII may refer to:* 13 or XIII in Roman numerals* XIII , a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme** XIII , a video game based on the comic book series...
focuses on a plot to kill the President of the United States.
Area 51Area 51 is a 2005 first-person shooter survival horror video game developed by Midway Studios Austin and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows, and is a loose remake of the 1995 light gun video game of the same name...
has a plot based on a deep, vast conspiracy between extraterrestrials and the
IlluminatiIlluminati is a name that refers to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
as well as many other American organizations. It's interesting to note that the plot is derived from the combination of several conspiracy theories modified to fit in together. Throughout the game, files revealing and talking about popular conspiracy theories can be found.
The
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines...
and
card gameA card game is any game using playing cards as the primary things with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
GURPSThe Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. It was created by Steve Jackson Games in 1986. GURPS won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1988, and in 2000 it was inducted into the Origins Hall...
Illuminati
by Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
features a humorous look at conspiracy theories. The illuminated pyramid is the company's logo.
Assassin's CreedAssassin's Creed is a third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide in November 2007 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and April 2008 for Windows and a ported version in Q2 2009 for the iPhone/iPod...
features the Knights of the Templar and towards the end of the game it also makes numerous references to the
IlluminatiIlluminati is a name that refers to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
and the
Maya calendar'sThe Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Maya Long Count calendar...
2012 doomsday predictionThe 2012 phenomenon is a present-day cultural meme proposing that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur in the year 2012. The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years and as...
.
See also
- Secret societies in popular culture
Secret societies appear in many works of fiction. Further information is available in Conspiracy theories .-References to secret societies:* Freemasonry, as depicted in National Treasure and loosely referred in Hellgate: London....
- Illuminati in popular culture
References to the Illuminati in popular culture include the satirical, humorous, and fictional:- Books and comics :*Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace contains an incident in which protagonist Pierre Bezukhov attempts to convert his Masonic lodge in St. Petersburg into an Illuminati chapter...
- Vril
Vril is a substance described in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 novel The Coming Race, which was later reprinted as Vril: The Power of the Coming Race. The novel is an early example of science fiction...
- Thriller fiction
- Spy fiction
The genre of spy fiction—sometimes called spy thriller or sometimes shortened simply to spy-fi—arose before World War I at about the same time that the first modern intelligence agencies were formed. The genre is closely related to political thrillers and military fiction.The Dreyfus Affair...
- Thriller
- Secret history
A secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or not a subject dealt with by respectable scholars....
- Assassinations in fiction
Assassinations have formed a major plot element in various works of fiction and have also attracted scholarly attention. In Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture, Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi analyze modern Italian assassinations in their historical...
- Dale Gribble
Dale Alvin Gribble is a fictional character in the animated series King of the Hill. He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories...
External links