Agents of SHIELD and Cognitive Dissonance (Yar, thar' be spoilers ahead!)
So, I'm gonna assume there's some people in here who've been keeping up with Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. The show just keeps getting better, and it's an excellent addition (in my eyes) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and if you gave it a shot early on and dropped it, seriously consider pushing through to S1E6, "F.Z.Z.T." - that was the episode where they started getting consistently good).
If you're not keeping up with Agents of SHIELD, be warned, there be spoilers from here on out, and the spoilers are essential to the conversation.
So, after the events of Season 1, the remnants of SHIELD have had to go underground while HYDRA has sprung forth in full-force. In S2E3, "Making Friends and Influencing People", we're shown one of HYDRA's tried and true recruiting tactics from throughout the ages - brainwashing. It consists of your standard tactics - the swirling screen of flashing colors, the binaural rhythms, and various key phrases for ingraining/activating the programming ("Surrender and you will find meaning", "Compliance will be rewarded", etc.).
Here's where the whole "cognitive dissonance" thing comes into play. Obviously, this is a tactic within the show being used with malicious intent by our clear-cut antagonists. Meanwhile, I look at that description of the brainwashing sequence and, well, darn it if it don't get me a little hot 'n bothered. And it's not just Agents of SHIELD - I guess as far back as I can remember this being a fetish of mine, I've always had this sort of mindset of "Oh man, this is as weird as weird can be. This has got to be, like, the weirdest possible thing." Like there's never been a full acceptance in my heart about it, because as much as I like it, I can't shake that "weird" vibe off.
And I know there are empirically-weirder things out there. I've seen 'em. But I've known about this at least since high school, and here, at the ripe old age of 22, I've still never fully...come to terms with it? I guess? Like I've almost got an aversion to hypnosis-related things in every-day life (stage hypnotists, Scooby Doo reruns, basically most anything relating to hypnosis/mind control in a public setting). Hell, I'm even a bit nervous now just typing this up.
I don't know, man. This could also partially be me rambling while sleep-deprived, but this is definitely something I think about. How 'bout the rest of y'all? Anyone else got any thoughts or stories on this sort of mental conflict?
(Or if you just want to join me in yelling about how great Agents of SHIELD is, I'm totally down for that, too)
If you're not keeping up with Agents of SHIELD, be warned, there be spoilers from here on out, and the spoilers are essential to the conversation.
So, after the events of Season 1, the remnants of SHIELD have had to go underground while HYDRA has sprung forth in full-force. In S2E3, "Making Friends and Influencing People", we're shown one of HYDRA's tried and true recruiting tactics from throughout the ages - brainwashing. It consists of your standard tactics - the swirling screen of flashing colors, the binaural rhythms, and various key phrases for ingraining/activating the programming ("Surrender and you will find meaning", "Compliance will be rewarded", etc.).
Here's where the whole "cognitive dissonance" thing comes into play. Obviously, this is a tactic within the show being used with malicious intent by our clear-cut antagonists. Meanwhile, I look at that description of the brainwashing sequence and, well, darn it if it don't get me a little hot 'n bothered. And it's not just Agents of SHIELD - I guess as far back as I can remember this being a fetish of mine, I've always had this sort of mindset of "Oh man, this is as weird as weird can be. This has got to be, like, the weirdest possible thing." Like there's never been a full acceptance in my heart about it, because as much as I like it, I can't shake that "weird" vibe off.
And I know there are empirically-weirder things out there. I've seen 'em. But I've known about this at least since high school, and here, at the ripe old age of 22, I've still never fully...come to terms with it? I guess? Like I've almost got an aversion to hypnosis-related things in every-day life (stage hypnotists, Scooby Doo reruns, basically most anything relating to hypnosis/mind control in a public setting). Hell, I'm even a bit nervous now just typing this up.
I don't know, man. This could also partially be me rambling while sleep-deprived, but this is definitely something I think about. How 'bout the rest of y'all? Anyone else got any thoughts or stories on this sort of mental conflict?
(Or if you just want to join me in yelling about how great Agents of SHIELD is, I'm totally down for that, too)