The Science of Monsters

Another aspect of The Ring is subliminal messages. When Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) watches the deadly video, she is exposed to sudden, nearly imperceptible imagery. Could hidden messages cause us to act in a certain way? Subliminal influence can be traced back to the fifth century BCE. In ancient Greece, persuasive techniques were used in speeches to try to influence others.³ The methods of logos, pathos, and ethos are still taught today in public speaking courses around the world. Aristotle believed that using these three “artistic proofs” could convince listeners to change their behavior, their thinking, or their actions. Logos is the appeal to logic. Speakers or advertisers use logos to state facts and give statistics. Pathos is the appeal to emotions. Imagery or stories that make us feel something use pathos. Ethos is the appeal to our ethics. Speakers will show their credibility and believability through ethos.

In 1943, the US government began embedding subliminal messages into mainstream advertising. “Buy Bonds” was one such message that the public was unknowingly inundated with to try to get them to help with the war effort. In 1957, a marketing expert faked a study that said popcorn and soda sales increased after he flashed the words “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coca-Cola” on the screen during movies. Although he admitted to doctoring the data, there do seem to be some studies that show that subliminal messages can make an impact on people’s brains.⁴ When subjects are viewing subliminal messages, there is a change in activity levels in various parts of the brain including the amygdala; where emotions are processed, the insula; the part of the brain that controls conscious awareness, the hippocampus; where memories are processed, and the visual cortex. Studies in the 1990s and 2000s showed that subliminal messages can have an effect on people’s perception and can even affect academic performance. Several movies and TV shows explore the effects of subliminal messages and their possible negative effects. A Clockwork Orange (1971) shows a future in which aversion therapy is used to rehabilitate criminals. The famous, uncomfortable scene shows a man with his eyes held open being forced to watch violent imagery. In the 1988 movie They Live, subliminal messages are used to keep the general public subdued. People are being controlled by skull-faced aliens who only want humanity to “obey.” Our favorite TV show, The X-Files, focuses on subliminal messages in the episode entitled “Blood.” Townspeople are influenced by messages appearing on electronic devices that drive them to murder.

Subliminal messages have been prevalent in marketing for generations.

How are subliminal messages related to propaganda or brainwashing? Propaganda came more into the mainstream during World War II in the United States but has also been used for religious, political, and advertising purposes. The main goal of propagandists is to convince their audience to seek out information or begin to question certain beliefs. They use arguments that, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid. Brainwashing takes this a step further and reduces the subject’s ability to think critically for themselves. These techniques have been shown in classic books such as George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) and J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954). If we watch a mysterious videotape or video clip embedded with creepy, subliminal images will Samara crawl out of our screens and kill us? Hopefully not. But, becoming aware of subliminal messages and persuasive techniques can help us spot those who may want to do us harm.

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SECTION EIGHT

FROM THE DEPTHS

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

Year of Release: 1954

Director: Jack Arnold

Writer: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross

Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams

Budget: Unknown

Box Office: $1.3 million

At a party one night during the filming of Citizen Kane (1941) Hollywood producer William Alland heard the tale of a half-human, half-fish creature. The story goes that an amphibious man would emerge from the Amazon River once a year to steal a woman from a local village. The woman would be taken back into the river and was never seen again. This story sparked Alland’s imagination and in 1954 Creature from the Black Lagoon was released.