Actually it's not just "some guy from Western Illinois University". There's quite a body of work on the myth of the WotW hysteria. As for the veracity of contemporary newspaper accounts (because newspapers are always truthful, right?) - almost none of those accounts were first hand. They used the familiar motif of "just over there, just beyond what you personally know about, there's some astounding things going on". Just like cannibals are always in the next village, and the choking doberman / vanishing hitch-hiker / stolen kidney stories always happened to a friend of a friend (of a friend...), the stories of hysteria were safely placed in the next state, the deep south, somewhere else.
Did the broadcast wierd some people out? Sure. Did it lead to widespread panic and hysteria? No. Fortean Times carried an article on the hysteria myth last year. Check out their website for it.
I've had similar experiences. In the gym the music is so loud that I ended up turning my iPod all the way up just to hear it.
Then someone suggested that I get a set of noise-blocking headphones (like the Shure Ec2 or the Seinheisers) that plug deep into the ear canal and block out all external noise, thus allowing a better sound quality and a lower volume. I've never looked back.
With the headphones in, you can hear next to nothing. I used them as earplugs while camping at an outdoor music festival (blocking out the amateur drummers, sound systems, fighting couples and drunks). I've used them on an aircraft with the inflight entertainment - while my girlfriend had to have her volume to maximum to hear over the drone of the aircraft, I had mine on minimum . And while listening to my iPod, the volume never goes above 50%.
Upset about the Lord of the Rings? Angry about Hitchhikers? Sassy about about Sahara or exercised by X-men? To save time in future, please fill out this form first:
GFC/97X - GENERIC FAN COMPLAINT
I've just come back from seeing the long-awaited adaptation of the classic _____. It was terrible! It was full of glaring errors and unnecessary changes like
o _____ has the wrong [accent / hair colour / facial expression]
o _____ says _____, but in the original he actually says _____
o I always imagined the city of ____ would look like _____ and not _____
o the relationship between _____ and _____ just wasn't right
o leaving out all the [poems / songs / bestiality]
I'm also mad that they omitted the vital character of
o _____'s [brother / sister / father / mentor / sidekick/ turtle]
o the [barkeep / general / wizard] at the [inn / base / mystic Elven village of Elrohéremélossëhelin na Telperiën]
o second trooper to the left
and the entire backstory concerning
o _____'s rivalry with _____
o ____'s fear of [spiders / snakes/ heights/ death]
o the childhood of ______
o the entire lineage of ______, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, illegitimacies, pets, and house renovations
This is a betrayal of _____'s vision. Why, the author must
o be spinning in their grave
o laughing all the way to the bank
Did the producers even bother to
o read the book?
o read the manga?
o watch the original?
o consult the fans?
o kill a goat and read its entrails?
I remember when I first encountered _____ at school. I
o laughed non-stop for days
o collapsed and wept
o immediately bought the rest of the series
o went through puberty
And it looked so cheap too! You could totally tell it was filmed in
o New Zealand
o Sydney
o Vancouver
o Toronto
o an Eastern European country with low wages and minimal labour laws
_____ was completely wrong as the character of _____. They should have cast
o Orlando Bloom
o Arnold Schwarzenegger
o Samuel L Jackson
o Jessica Alba
o Keanu Reeves
o Brad Pitt
o Kofi Annan
Sure it might be alright if you're
o not a fan
o didn't read the special small press issue with a limited run of 12 that came out in the early 80s and is OMGWTFBBQ totally brilliant
o an oxygen-breather
o have a life
but Hollywood totally failed to do justice to it! Why didn't they
o make a 17 hour version, so they could fit everything in
o make a trilogy, so they could fit everything in
o make a television series, so they could fit everything in
o film absolutely all of it and release it on the DVD as extras, so they could fit everything in
I'm sure thousands if not millions of fans would pay for that! In fact, we should
o write a petition
o start a campaign to raise money
I'm so angry that I'm going to
o post my opnion on a dozen forums, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o see the film another 10 times, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o queue up for the sequel, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o buy the DVDs when they come out, first release and special edition, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o announce loudly that I'm going to transfer my allegiance to a fandom that deserves me, like
o Battlestar Galactica
o The A-Team
o Bubblestar Robot Whore Battalion Miyozuki
Slashdot Mirror
Actually it's not just "some guy from Western Illinois University". There's quite a body of work on the myth of the WotW hysteria. As for the veracity of contemporary newspaper accounts (because newspapers are always truthful, right?) - almost none of those accounts were first hand. They used the familiar motif of "just over there, just beyond what you personally know about, there's some astounding things going on". Just like cannibals are always in the next village, and the choking doberman / vanishing hitch-hiker / stolen kidney stories always happened to a friend of a friend (of a friend ...), the stories of hysteria were safely placed in the next state, the deep south, somewhere else.
Did the broadcast wierd some people out? Sure. Did it lead to widespread panic and hysteria? No. Fortean Times carried an article on the hysteria myth last year. Check out their website for it.
I've had similar experiences. In the gym the music is so loud that I ended up turning my iPod all the way up just to hear it.
Then someone suggested that I get a set of noise-blocking headphones (like the Shure Ec2 or the Seinheisers) that plug deep into the ear canal and block out all external noise, thus allowing a better sound quality and a lower volume. I've never looked back.
With the headphones in, you can hear next to nothing. I used them as earplugs while camping at an outdoor music festival (blocking out the amateur drummers, sound systems, fighting couples and drunks). I've used them on an aircraft with the inflight entertainment - while my girlfriend had to have her volume to maximum to hear over the drone of the aircraft, I had mine on minimum . And while listening to my iPod, the volume never goes above 50%.
Get a set - it's cheaper than a hearing aid.
Upset about the Lord of the Rings? Angry about Hitchhikers? Sassy about about Sahara or exercised by X-men? To save time in future, please fill out this form first:
GFC/97X - GENERIC FAN COMPLAINT
I've just come back from seeing the long-awaited adaptation of the classic _____. It was terrible! It was full of glaring errors and unnecessary changes like
o _____ has the wrong [accent / hair colour / facial expression]
o _____ says _____, but in the original he actually says _____
o I always imagined the city of ____ would look like _____ and not _____
o the relationship between _____ and _____ just wasn't right
o leaving out all the [poems / songs / bestiality]
I'm also mad that they omitted the vital character of
o _____'s [brother / sister / father / mentor / sidekick/ turtle]
o the [barkeep / general / wizard] at the [inn / base / mystic Elven village of Elrohéremélossëhelin na Telperiën]
o second trooper to the left
and the entire backstory concerning
o _____'s rivalry with _____
o ____'s fear of [spiders / snakes/ heights/ death]
o the childhood of ______
o the entire lineage of ______, including births, deaths, marriages, divorces, illegitimacies, pets, and house renovations
This is a betrayal of _____'s vision. Why, the author must
o be spinning in their grave
o laughing all the way to the bank
Did the producers even bother to
o read the book?
o read the manga?
o watch the original?
o consult the fans?
o kill a goat and read its entrails?
I remember when I first encountered _____ at school. I
o laughed non-stop for days
o collapsed and wept
o immediately bought the rest of the series
o went through puberty
And it looked so cheap too! You could totally tell it was filmed in
o New Zealand
o Sydney
o Vancouver
o Toronto
o an Eastern European country with low wages and minimal labour laws
_____ was completely wrong as the character of _____. They should have cast
o Orlando Bloom
o Arnold Schwarzenegger
o Samuel L Jackson
o Jessica Alba
o Keanu Reeves
o Brad Pitt
o Kofi Annan
Sure it might be alright if you're
o not a fan
o didn't read the special small press issue with a limited run of 12 that came out in the early 80s and is OMGWTFBBQ totally brilliant
o an oxygen-breather
o have a life
but Hollywood totally failed to do justice to it! Why didn't they
o make a 17 hour version, so they could fit everything in
o make a trilogy, so they could fit everything in
o make a television series, so they could fit everything in
o film absolutely all of it and release it on the DVD as extras, so they could fit everything in
I'm sure thousands if not millions of fans would pay for that! In fact, we should
o write a petition
o start a campaign to raise money
I'm so angry that I'm going to
o post my opnion on a dozen forums, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o see the film another 10 times, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o queue up for the sequel, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o buy the DVDs when they come out, first release and special edition, complaining bitterly to anyone who will listen
o announce loudly that I'm going to transfer my allegiance to a fandom that deserves me, like
o Battlestar Galactica
o The A-Team
o Bubblestar Robot Whore Battalion Miyozuki