Nothing Is As It Seems

Conspiracy theories have grown in popularity as people begin to question the world around them. Due to social media and heightened awareness of current events, paranoia has risen in mass society leading people to believe the government has something to hide. In conspiracy theory, everything happens for a reason, nothing is as it seems, and all events are connected. In recent years, YouTubers have made videos about these theories that have become extremely popular. YouTube superstar Shane Dawson has released a movie-length documentary titled 'Conspiracy Theories with Shane Dawson." In the video, Dawson discusses how our iPhones listen to everything we say, the possibility that Chuck-E-Cheese's recycles uneaten pizza, subliminal messages in cartoons, and more. These theories are getting people to talk about what could be going on behind our backs. Dawson theorizes that Chuck-E Cheese's restaurants take old slices of pizza from previous customers that they didn’t eat and melts them together with other old slices to form a new pizza, then serve it to the next customer. This theory seems far-fetched and silly, until you look at the evidence. Photos show how uneven the pizza crusts can be, how the pepperoni doesn’t line up, and how each slice is drastically different in size compared to the slices next to it. This theory became so well known that the company had to release a statement proving it false. Another conspiracy theory that Dawson touches on is the theory that Walt Disney’s body is frozen somewhere. With the idea that one day, humans could be brought back to life, they froze the body of Disney and have it under wraps somewhere top secret. Scientists have already been able to do this with frogs—and technology to do this with humans isn’t far-fetched. This documentary series is widely popular on Youtube right now, and is leading many people to question everything. It’s theories like these that open up the minds of viewers to think about the possibility that nothing is as it seems. While some people argue that conspiracy theories are nonsense, some of them are actually quite believable. With every event, someone, somewhere has come up with a conspiracy theory for it. While the vast majority are unconfirmed, many people choose to believe in the theories because in our heads, they are more fun and interesting to imagine. -- Image by Jooyoung Park