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But here’s the problem with that fantasy. Sagan reborn would quickly go on CNN or a late show, say “Look, there are no mermaids, and the show itself said it was fake”, and then the public would sagely nod, having avoided the clutches of woo. Be that as it may, the aim would be to have a celebrity scientist who can quickly assess and refute wonky claims – One Scientist to Rule Them All. Or perhaps billions and billions of Sagan cyborgs.
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Over the past few days, a great deal of virtual ink has been spilled over the idea that we need another Carl Sagan. Instead, we’ve got a network whose reputation was built on reflecting natural reality intentionally trying to mislead and confuse. Even if the program was clearer about the whole thing being a fantasy, I’d be mollified. The approach is.Ī program looking at the natural history of mermaid myths and old, gnarled taxidermy creatures molded into mermaid shape could have been fun, or even a show that asked “How would we need to change our bodies to live entirely at sea?” There certainly are ways to bring mythology and science together in an entertaining cocktail. The actual subject matter isn’t what sending me into a snit. I don’t really care that Animal Planet made a show about mermaids.
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Maybe.” Makes you want to dash someone across the face with a fish.ĭon’t get me wrong. So, essentially, Animal Planet is like that annoying friend who piles contradictions on contradictions. Who knows how many people are now going to be confusing mermaids with loose seals?) The channel’s page about Monster Week – of which the mermaids sludge was a part – likewise touts “physical evidence linked to the existence of mermaids” without saying the show is a fantasy. (Duh, I know, but given how many people believe in mermaids because they saw some bad CGI critters on television, this needed to be spelled out in big flashing red letters. Animal Planet certainly played up how authentic the illusory evidence was, including faked vlogs that didn’t bother to say that they were scripted. Granted, the fact that the mermaid shows are fiction was easy enough to miss. ANY SIMILARITIES TO ACTUAL PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD ARE ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL. NONE OF THE INDIVIDUALS OR ENTITIES DEPICTED IN THE FILM ARE AFFILIATED OR ASSOCIATED WITH IT IN ANY WAY, NOR HAVE APPROVED ITS CONTENTS. And while I too know the scientist’s mantra of “Anecdotes are not data!”, Twitter chatter and frustrated emails from friends suggest that many viewers thought what they were seeing was real, authentic evidence of Ichthyo sapiens. (If you want the backstory, read my equally-ornery commentary from last year.) That makes the show the most-watched bit of flotsam that Animal Planet has ever aired. The fictional interview, paired with a re-airing of last year’s noxious Mermaids: The Body Found, tugged over 3.6 million viewers into the inky depths of fauxumentary. I wouldn't know whether to believe in mermaids after the earthshaking lie or my firm understanding of anthropology and evolution, so I remain skeptical of their existence until real evidence is presented honestly.Please be respectful of copyright. I couldn't handle the fact that the channel I've always loved and looked up to for truth had created the biggest falsehood of the decade. But after I learned that it was all a dupe, I crumbled in anger. To me, the show really enlightened my belief. If you watched the show, did you believe in mermaids? After they told it was faked, do you still believe in them? My standpoint: I originally believed in mermaids, and just about everything, before watching it. Their ratings dropped dramatically from there.
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The “scientists” are just actors, the mermaid corpse is rubbish, and the evidential amateur video is completely acted out. However, it is later revealed that the show and its sequel are entirely faked. The show has received over 10.2 million viewers, making it a huge success. In support of their research, they have evidence of the creatures in a home video shot by two boys who provoke a mermaid on a beach, and an underwater encounter in a deep-sea research vessel. It is about a team of scientists who confiscate a corpse washed up on a beach along with several whales, and confirm the body is that of a mermaid. Its sequel, Mermaids: The New Evidence, aired one year later (). Mermaids: The Body Found, aired on on Animal Planet, is a “documentary” which investigates the theoretical existence of mermaids, the mythological creatures that are half-man and half-sea creature.