As he did in Urban Legends and Hollywood Urban Legends, and as he has done in dozens of columns for the Chicago Sun-Times over the last decade and a half, Richard Roeper lays out the basics of the conspiracy theory, quotes some of the true believers—and then tears the theory apart with his bare hands. 9/11 was an inside job. Lady Di and JFK Jr. were murdered. Heathens are winning the war on Christmas. American Idol is rigged. Barack Obama is a radical Muslim. The Secret will make you thin. The Virgin Mary is in the grilled cheese. That’s what it’s like to live inside the mind of the 21st-century conspiracy theorist, who believes that all you have to do is look at the signs and you’ll see what’s really going on. This book will appeal to the vast majority of readers who possess the common sense gene, as well as the vocal minority who believe they’re living in a world in which secret tribunals pull the strings and influence the outcome of everything from terrorist attacks to professional sporting events.
More Conspiracies Please! ! ! Roeper had me hooked from his FOXNEWS interview about his book - though in the book he makes his distaste for FOXNEWS apparent.
However I really was hoping for more - more on the JFK assassination hype, more on Roswell "cover-up," and other moronic conspiracy theories.
His film reviews should also cover the "Parallax View" which is another far-fetched "evil government cover-up conspiracy" flick which is even worse than "Capricorn I" if that were possible.
His point about the "9/11 truth"-squaders is well-taken - if there had been any conspiracy the same ruthless government would have had all of these morons buried in a mass grave under a toxic nuclear waste dump! ! !
Enjoyable Read Richard Roeper again writes a book that is very enjoyable to read.I recommend every one to get yourself a copy to read.
Fun read This was a fun informative read. It makes you shake your head to think that so many people buy into the strangest theories about how something happened rather than going to the most practical and common place. I guess people don't want simple and common place. My only complaint about the book was that some of the theories got a lot of explanation...almost too much. I was surprised to find several urban legends and conspiracy theories that I had never heard of. I guess those believers would say I had my head in the sand. Recommended.
Who's looking out for you! It's Roeper's turn to.... I completely agree with Demon Ted's review, especially regarding the 9/11 issue. Roeper's book adds no weight to the subjects he talks about. If he were a full-time lawyer, academic or a serious journalist and scoured more facts, I would've have given a better review. Of course the book would have been too technical, academic, and dense, but serious subjects like 9/11, JFK, Lady Di's death, deserve that level of scrutiny. The fact that Roeper dabbles on these matters and then tackles the subject of the Virgin Mary image on the cheese sandwich is....comical. 9/11 alone deserves volumes of research, what was Roeper thinking? The book in my opinion would have been better if he decided to stick to either the lighter or heavier issues, not mixing up the big-scale national events with the trivial ones like... miracle cheese sandwiches. Let the 20/20 professional John Stossel walk that "thin" line. To be fair, Roeper has always been a commentator on various news feeds so this is book form of that, so I suppose He needs to be givven some slack for now writing more "deeply". All Americans, especially journalists, should see the various 9/11 videos on YourTube that DT describes. Many of the videos are from professors and engineers from top universities. I am a firm believer now that all three modern all-steel buildings could not have fallen the way they did. They WERE "taken down", using professional demolition terminology. There is even footage from the owner of "Building #7", the third buiilding that "collapsed" where he states that he agreed that the building be taken down, even before 9/11 happened. There is more to the 9/11 story than what we were so conveniently "told". Mr. Roeper should stick to movie reviews but even then, I will no longer read them nor rely on them. Anyone remember Michael Medved, who was also once a well-known movie critic? He's now a right-wing nutcase weirdo my- morals-are-better-than-your-morals know-it-all, with his own web and radio show. Is there something about being a movie critic that makes one all of a sudden think they're an expert on just about everything in REAL life? At least Roeper has not yet become a full-blown right-wing-neocon whore like the Medved-O'Reilly-Rush-Hannity-Coulter crew. Ultimately though, I'm very glad though that Medved and Roeper have both come out with their own polical or social views. We see their true colors, so to speak, and that's good! They're entitled to them, like all individuals, public or private. But their particular slant or judgement on matters OTHER THAN MOVIES makes one question the viability, quality or reliability of their other judgements, INCLUDING movies. It's kinda like a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or gulp, a family member you thought you knew. You think they're a nice, fair, honest, compassionate person. And they are on the outset on most things. They have and feed their kids, pets, mow their lawn every week, volunteer at their church, etc., but then one day they talk about how they don't like the blacks they see now in the mall, or on another day they confide on how gays are "ruining marriage", or they believe that evolution is just a theory unlike intelligent design. Or that a woman or a black person would not be a good president at this time. You think twice about that person now, how his/her outlook on life is skewed a certain (scary?) way. That's kinda how I now view Mr. Roeper, though not as nearly as bad as the fictional examples above (in my real life though these people exist, sadly). I've never really liked Medved's movie reviews and was lukewarm toward's Roepers. Now I won't even bother. And I'm not always in-line with Roger Eberts reviews either. Geez, looks like I'm on my own regarding movie reviews. But wait, there is always a chance the O'Reilly-Rush-Hannity-Coulter camp will start doing movie reviews. Yay! I hope so cause I need a good laugh, because Roeper's book made me cry now that I have one less movie reviewer I can somewhat trust. Thumbs down on the book. To be honest though, I'd rather have a 100 Richard Roepers doing a gazillion movie reviews than a single Michael Medved doing one movie review. Unfair and unbalanced I know, but you need that to counter the fair and balanced news reporting so prevalent and reliable out there these days ;-)
Assumptive Opinions Don't Hold up to Documented Facts Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper attempts to avoid the facts with his personal opinions & assumptions as if real life were just another movie for him to rate on a thumb scale. The first 6 chapters (which is as far as most people will read) is a total whitewash of the facts. The rest of the book attempts to blend this whitewash with tabloid trash. Two thumbs way down, Mr. Roeper. Any educated person can find immediate problems in the first few paragraphs of the book with his casual unsourcable rant about the "Debunked" physics of the WTC collapse on 9/11 in the 1st chapter entitled 'The Steel Didn't Have to Melt'. True Mr. Roeper, the steel wouldn't have to melt for parts of the building to collapse; but ALL THREE of them symmetrically into their own footprints at the speed of gravity? Impossible! And, yes the steel did have to melt, since molten metal was found in the ruins of ALL 3 BUILDINGS for more than 7 weeks after the collapse. One would only need to watch a speech by Architect Richard Gage or Professor Steven Jones on Google Video for a true professional analysis of the WTC collapses.
I could spend all day rebuting the first 6 chapters of this disorganized regergitation, but his unsourced opinions aren't worth much time. If you would like to know about the Clinton's criminal background watch 'The Clinton Chronicles' or 'The Mena Connection' for free on Google Video. If you would like to know more about the JFK Jr. assassination watch 'The Assassination of JFK Jr.' for free on Google Video. For more on the media blackout watch 'Spin' by Brian Springer for free on Google Video. For more on the levees being purposely blown during Hurricane Katrina watch 'Katrina Levee Blown Up' on YouTube.
His blending of the facts with the other tabloid trash stories in this book is a poor attempt at discrediting & dismissing expert investigators & field professionals as tinfoil wearing kooks. Now that's what I call black propaganda & it's not going to work on anyone who's already been exposed to the dreadful truth. Mr. Roeper needs to stick with his movie critiques & leave the physics & criminal investigations to those with an appropriate job title.
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