Conspiracy culture inHomeland(2011–2015)

Abstract

Homeland is built on the conspiracy plots that provide entertaining suspense in the television series, which also reflects the fear culture that has developed in the wake of 9/11. CIA agent Carrie Mathison embodies the paranoid framework that undergirds the narrative, leading her to question the visible and to posit conspiracy theories behind coincidental events. Appropriating the narrative tropes of the gaslight films, Homeland enhances the unstable narrative structure produced by the combination of conspiratorial thinking with the serial. This article explores five seasons of Homeland and analyses the conspiratorial narrative it unfolds, highlighting how the serial format allows the creators to envision several scenarios illustrating individual and mass manipulation on the international stage, promoting a signifying system that blurs the final political message of the series.

Understanding Conspiracy Theories

“…Mainstream news media expose people to conspiracy theories on a regular basis (Stempel et al, ; Stieger et al, ). Other media include film, in which there is a recognized genre known as “conspiracy cinema” (Dorfman, ; Jameson, ), and television (Arnold, ; Letort, ). Exposure to conspiracy theories in these mediums increases receptivity to conspiracy theories (e.g., Butler et al, ; Mulligan & Habel, ; Robertson, ) and is entertaining for those who already believe in conspiracy theories (Nera, Pantazi, & Klein, ).…”

Conspiracy Theories: A Cultural Evolution Theory approach

“…In the absence of belief, conspiracy theories may be shared as storytelling (Bangerter et al, 2020) or due to their entertainment value (van . Conspiracy theories have had considerable cultural success in popular fiction, with examples in film, comics, tv and other media (Arnold, 2008;Butter, 2020;Dorfman, 1980;Jameson, 1992;Letort, 2017;Melley, 2020). Both explicitly fictional and believed (or shared as true) conspiracy theories share similarities (Butter & Knight, 2020b) and the boundary between the two may also be unclear.…”

Covid-Spiracy: Old Wine in New Barrels?

“…Conspiracy theories can come in many guises, and, to their fundamental core, they are a set of beliefs that behind the societal curtains evil, malevolent groups are indoctrinating individuals and/or governing societies (Aupers 2012). In the last decade, scholarly attention for conspiracy theories (Aupers 2012;Douglas et al 2019;Letort 2017;Locke 2009), and public support for such theories (Oliver and Wood 2014;Stempel et al 2007) has risen.…”