Don't Get Sick of the World not Knowning about ...

[Captain Smith]

In Stargate SG-1 despite buildings being transported, battles over the Antartic, tremendous expenses to make space ships, aircraft carriers being vaporized from space - the public doesn't know.

In Transformers, the Movie - aliens are denied on the tube. Imagine how many cell phone pictures there were of the fight downtown.

In Harry Potter - muggles are completely unaware (except a few).

Angel, Buffy and various other TV shows about the supernatural, the public is unaware.

Gets rather boring and hard to suspend disbelief. With today's info tech, those secrets would last about the time it takes to download.

Get a new plot device.

[TheLazy]

I get pissed of at bond movies, building blows up and theres no reporters asking why?

[Sanagi]

In Doctor Who they've made this a bit of a running gag.

[Captain Smith]

That's true. Did you see the giant spaceship over London? NO, my telly was broken.

[Tazirai]

That's true. Did you see the giant spaceship over London? NO, my telly was broken.

Well to put this into perspective, In phoenix arizona a UFO, bonafide UFO was sitting OVER the city. THOUSANDS of people saw and videod it. Yet it got hushed asap.

It amazes what our government can do, disinformation is MUCH more prevalent today, BECAUSE of all the information available.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=phoenix+lights&search=

[BoosterBronze]

I get pissed of at bond movies, building blows up and theres no reporters asking why?

I bet in Bond world there are 1000s of YouTube videos of people explaining their "James Bond causes explosions" theories that the government denies.

[Black Atom]

Yeah, this was an especially trying point in Transformers. The final battle takes place in downtown LA (I'm not sure if it was SUPPOSED to be LA, but it certainly was) and, really no one was able to document anything? This is a city where a 1 second shot of Lindsey Lohan's pubic bone is in 15 newspapers.

[Cyke]

That's true. Did you see the giant spaceship over London? NO, my telly was broken.

The Doctor: They were behind the Battle of Canary Wharf.
(Donna looks completely blank)
The Doctor: Cyberman invasion.
(Donna still looks completely blank)
The Doctor: Skys over London, full of Daleks?
Donna: I was in Spain.
The Doctor: They had Cybermen in Spain...
Donna: Scuba diving...
The Doctor: That big picture, Donna, you keep on missing it.

[Black Atom]

Well to put this into perspective, In phoenix arizona a UFO, bonafide UFO was sitting OVER the city. THOUSANDS of people saw and videod it. Yet it got hushed asap.

It amazes what our government can do, disinformation is MUCH more prevalent today, BECAUSE of all the information available.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=phoenix+lights&search=

I remember that, I was living there at the time. When something like that happens, you expect the government or someone smart to make a statement about it and since one never came, people eventually forgot about it or assumed it wasn't a big deal. Odd how that works.

[Jmacq1]

It's a little easier with Harry Potter, where the wizards have a pretty strict set of rules surrounding secrecy and plenty of magical protections in place to hide their "world" from the muggles.

SG-1? Yeah, that's a little harder.

[ChrisIII]

In CASINO ROYALE, Bond's fight in Africa does make the news.


Regarding WHO, alien invasions happened all the time in the classic series, but the new series is the only time it's really been dealt with.

[Jared]

Yeah, this was an especially trying point in Transformers. The final battle takes place in downtown LA (I'm not sure if it was SUPPOSED to be LA, but it certainly was) and, really no one was able to document anything? This is a city where a 1 second shot of Lindsey Lohan's pubic bone is in 15 newspapers.

Well, Frenzy's computer virus knocked out global communications for an indeterminate amount of time...maybe it also hit the camera features on every cell phone. (or a wizard did it)

I don't quite remember what Spike's parents and the news crew were saying at the end, but I know the whole coverup idea was being played for laughs. Though I would imagine the only possible alternative explanation for all that death and destruction: a major domestic terrorist attack, would cause a panic in its own right.

With Buffy and Angel, I just have to assume for the entire world, the supernatural affects the populace kind of like what happens in the town of Derry from Stephen King's 'It.' Most people are subconciously rationalizing what they see into something more logical, or even outright forgetting about it. Demons running amok in the streets of L.A. gets explained away as rioting, after all.

[sehthan]

With Buffy and Angel, I just have to assume for the entire world, the supernatural affects the populace kind of like what happens in the town of Derry from Stephen King's 'It.' Most people are subconciously rationalizing what they see into something more logical, or even outright forgetting about it. Demons running amok in the streets iof L.A. gets explained away as rioting, after all.

Buffyverse definitely has a lot of people who've had supernatural experiences and are either in denial or just trying to stay out of the way/mind their own business. In places like Sunnydale or L.A., where there's a lot of supernatural activity, the existence of the supernatural is pretty much an open secret, and a lot more people seem to know something's going on than it would seem at first.

[IamtheRock3]

have you guys watch the DR who spinoff torchwood

There a secret group. But they drive in a van with TORCHWOOD labels on it. Have fights in crowed clubs while discussing loudly classifed info

Also interfearing in the middle of investigation.

Let these guys still a SECRET GROUP

[Dr. Banner]

In Stargate SG-1 despite buildings being transported, battles over the Antartic, tremendous expenses to make space ships, aircraft carriers being vaporized from space - the public doesn't know.

If there was a battle over the Antarctic right now, how exactly would you receive this information? It's not like we have news coverage down there every day. The only way we would know is if the governments of the world allowed us to. And they wouldn't.

And goverment spending money on spaceships? Do you know where every penny of your tax dollars go?

The Stargate show is easily forgivable for this.

Besides, how many people are gonna believe that huge battles between earth and aliens are occuring anyways? Even if someone's cell phone "caught" it? I would cry "hoax" and not give it a second thought. Or a first.

[IamtheRock3]

Buffyverse definitely has a lot of people who've had supernatural experiences and are either in denial or just trying to stay out of the way/mind their own business. In places like Sunnydale or L.A., where there's a lot of supernatural activity, the existence of the supernatural is pretty much an open secret, and a lot more people seem to know something's going on than it would seem at first.

Well they knew enough to

MOVE out of town when stuff got out of control

Give Buffy an Award in high school for saving them

So they know just deny

The JASMINE thing where she turn the place into a utopia and gave everyone a hive mind, then it lead to a city wide DEPRESSION when they were away from her

Well that a whole differnt kettle of fish

[StoneGold]

Please stare at the red light...

http://world.std.com/~mica/mib.jpg

[Jared]

If there was a battle over the Antarctic right now, how exactly would you receive this information? It's not like we have news coverage down there every day. The only way we would know is if the governments of the world allowed us to. And they wouldn't.

And goverment spending money on spaceships? Do you know where every penny of your tax dollars go?

The Stargate show is easily forgivable for this.

Besides, how many people are gonna believe that huge battles between earth and aliens are occuring anyways? Even if someone's cell phone "caught" it? I would cry "hoax" and not give it a second thought. Or a first.


The anarctic battle was preceded by a fleet of orbiting starships blasting power stations, communication grids, and an American naval carrier group. And they're not tiny little UFOs either, telescopes all over the world should have seen them. Somehow, this was all covered up by saying it was meteors.
Not to mention that there are seemingly hundreds, if not thousand of people in the U.S. government alone who know about the Stargate, to say nothing of other countries like Russia and China. I don't know why the writers are so afraid to change the status quo, considering the show rarely dealt with the world outside the Stargate program itself.

[Dr. Banner]

^^^
Because that story, of people finding out everything and the ramifications on earth, becomes bigger than the one they want to tell: A fun, not too deep, action-adventure show about goin' out into space and seeing what the universe has to offer.

[Antonio B.]

In Stargate SG-1 despite buildings being transported, battles over the Antarctic, tremendous expenses to make space ships, aircraft carriers being vaporized from space - the public doesn't know.

In Transformers, the Movie - aliens are denied on the tube. Imagine how many cell phone pictures there were of the fight downtown.

In Harry Potter - muggles are completely unaware (except a few).

Angel, Buffy and various other TV shows about the supernatural, the public is unaware.

Gets rather boring and hard to suspend disbelief. With today's info tech, those secrets would last about the time it takes to download.

Get a new plot device.

I agree with this totally. If that stuff was in the real world I think we would just adjust.

[LordEd1976]

Regarding WHO, alien invasions happened all the time in the classic series, but the new series is the only time it's really been dealt with.

IIRC, in the original series it was mentioned onec or twice that UNIT has kept a few of these instances top secret.

[Gorthaur]

In Transformers, the Movie - aliens are denied on the tube. Imagine how many cell phone pictures there were of the fight downtown.
Which was particularly funny since the original G1 cartoon, which generally wasn't known for its brilliant writing, actually managed to completely avoid the trope by having the Transformers be recognized by Earth's governments and the general public in the very first story arc.