Paranormal Paradise
Jessica Macfarlane (November 1, 2018)
As a metaphor for anxieties, stories of the paranormal provide a great release. For those of us up at night worrying about bills to pay, health issues, children or even climate change, shows about good guys surviving an onslaught of zombies, demons and so on, can provide a welcome catharsis.
In most of those shows you can count on the humans being hostile to the undead or infected, but not so in Wellington Paranormal, which mashes up the Police 10/7 style documentary with the unexplained and a good dose of buffoonery, rational thinking and kindness. If you have not seen the show yet, SPOILERS are on the way.
Showing the skeptical choice is the moral choice, the team keeps calm and have the public's well-being at heart. When police officer O'Leary passes comment on a demon-possessed teen spewing sulphurous green bile in central Wellington, she comments (and I'm paraphrasing) that the young lady is obviously unwell after a big night out.
Contrast that with the very sad true case a few years ago of Janet Moses, who was killed by “accidental drowning”* by her family in Wainuiomata because they believed she was possessed. How ordinary people can get swept up in mass hysteria is beyond my ability to parse here but just acknowledging it's possible for the strength of belief to push people that far is sobering. It strengthens my resolve that critical thinking must be a key part of education, and seen as a positive part of our culture.
So how many people really believe in demons, ghosts, werewolves, aliens in New Zealand today?
More will be revealed about high-school students beliefs in common conspiracy theories later in this issue, but as far as belief in ghosts and demons go, the Catholic Church for one is doing a good job at keeping them alive.
As part of being trained as a Catholic priest, all trainees are taught how to perform an exorcism before they can be ordained. Thinking about who might be able to offer exorcism services (“the power of Christ compels you!”), searching for ‘Catholic' in the white pages brought 667 results -Phew that was close!
A little investigation, and I came across Cathnews.co.nz, a source of news on exorcism where priests can keep up to date with the latest developments in the practice. They discuss the reality of ghosts, the increasing time it takes to perform an exorcism, and tips on how to differentiate mental illness from demonic possession.
So if you were a New Zealand child who believed ghosts were real (because the church told you so or for whatever reason), and you thought you saw one at the bottom of the bed, what would you do? You may turn to a parent for reassurance, but what if that parent said, don't worry, we'll have the exorcist take care of it? That may be said out of love, but I have to wonder if that belief in ghosts, now confirmed by authority figures, friends, parents and a church community, is going to lead to more anxious nights in the future.
Back to Wellington Paranormal, where in a nod to the movie ‘The Exorcist', they had turned to the Catholic exorcism ritual to expel demons, but when it came to expelling rowdy ghosts, they turned to ‘science'. Officer Minogue used a little observation to come up with a theory about how light interacts with the living versus ghosts. Demonstrating with his torch, he convinced the deceased party goers that they were in fact dead and it was time to leave and go to the afterlife. “Often when you're alive the light won't pass directly through you like that.” He said, as he moved his torch light through the crowd. And off they went, no holy water required.
Another episode of Wellington Paranormal, another paranormal focus, this time werewolves and the lesson that women can be werewolves too. Confronting gender bias with the help of therianthropic example, officer Minogue says “Don't just assume because it's a werewolf it's a man. It's like with a doctor, sometimes it‘s a man, sometimes not.”
Back to reality and when werewolves are in the news, it turns out children are being put in harm's way. This is the story of a four-year-old Canadian boy who was given a homeopathic remedy to treat a behavioural issue. The remedy was based on a dilution of rabid dog saliva. Rabies and werewolves are connected by the Naturopath concerned who explains the mythology may have originated from observation of people with rabies.*
It's probably safe to say there wasn't any rabies infected saliva in the treatment, due to fact that homeopathic products are so diluted you won't find as much as an atom's worth of the “ingredient” in it. Even so, the Naturopath concerned is facing a reckoning because it turns out she bought the product from an unlicensed UK company, and a court case is underway to determine what will become of her and the company concerned.
For the final episode the show covers zombies, but the infected, while obviously dangerous, are treated with caution and kindness. In the real world the weapons to fight infectious outbreaks come from science and logic and include the use of vaccines, antibiotics, isolation and management, not guns, stakes and baseball bats. A disease such as leprosy, which can be avoided through good hygiene practices, can result in horrible disfigurement if left untreated. It can now be treated with antibiotics and people can go on to lead unrestricted normal lives.*
In the show, with a focus on rehabilitation, and in a world where the cure to the zombie virus remains unknown, the infected zombified police officers are assigned desk jobs where they can continue to provide a useful service to the community, with the precautionary addition of Bain-esque (Bain is a supervillain in the Batman movies) muzzles to help them avoid any eating of brains at work.
What's the harm in believing in the paranormal? Watching a scary movie is great, but I think the examples above make it clear, that when people take this stuff seriously, innocent people, and often children, can end up in harms way. Let's keep the paranormal in “Wellington Paranormal” and out of our reality. Stay skeptical.
References:
Exorcism/ghosts:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4018457/Janet-Moses-died-from-accidental-drowning
https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/belief-possession-janet-moses
https://cathnews.co.nz/tag/exorcism/
Werewolves/homeopathy:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12035706
Leprosy:
https://www.cdc.gov/features/world-leprosy-day/index.html
Drawing of a werewolf in woodland at night. Main illustration for the story "The Werewolf Howls". Internal illustration from the pulp magazine Weird Tales (November 1941, vol. 36, no. 2, page 38).