WEBVTT - S05 Episode 1 Extra: A Useful Fiction?

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<v Speaker 1>Introducing The Fountain Road Files, a new horror fiction podcast

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<v Speaker 1>from Unexplained creator Richard McClean smith. In March twenty twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty seven year old cafe worker Ben Williams began recording

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<v Speaker 1>an audio diary of the coronavirus pandemic. Two months later,

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<v Speaker 1>he was found dead in the South London flat where

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<v Speaker 1>he was spending lockdown alone, or so he thought. Search

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<v Speaker 1>the Fountain Road Files wherever you get your podcasts, and

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<v Speaker 1>for more information go to the Fountain Road Files dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In the last episode you

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<v Speaker 1>in there, we got a little eerie in Indiana with

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<v Speaker 1>the story of LaToya Ammons and her beleagued young family.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in twenty twelve, LaToya became convinced that she and

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<v Speaker 1>her children were being tormented by demonic entities at their

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<v Speaker 1>home in Gary, Indiana. After an assessment by the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Child Services, it was decided that it wasn't demons

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<v Speaker 1>at all that were plaguing the family. But Latoya's overactive imagination.

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<v Speaker 1>As a result, the young mother of three was separated

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<v Speaker 1>from her children until she could essentially demonstrate that she

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<v Speaker 1>no longer considered demons to be real, or rather that

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<v Speaker 1>demons may be real, but they couldn't have any tangible

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<v Speaker 1>effect on her reality, because to accept demons and evil

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<v Speaker 1>entities weren't real would effectively mean LaToya having to accept

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<v Speaker 1>her faith and the God she believed in was not

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<v Speaker 1>real either, because all these things are in many ways

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<v Speaker 1>contingent on each other's existence. This, of course, was not

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<v Speaker 1>how her case was written up, but in practical terms,

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<v Speaker 1>this is what the assessment amounted to. Yet this is

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<v Speaker 1>something that would most likely never be asked or expected

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<v Speaker 1>of her by the State department of virtually any nation,

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how secular its society. And here is a

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<v Speaker 1>strange conflict that often pervades this kind of story that

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<v Speaker 1>even in the most secular societies, where medical institutions will

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<v Speaker 1>have no problem in referring to a belief in demonic

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<v Speaker 1>entities or the thought that you might be possessed, or

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<v Speaker 1>that your hearing voices as being reflective of a delusion, rarely,

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<v Speaker 1>if ever, will an individual's belief in a god or

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<v Speaker 1>higher power in the traditional sense be undermined in the

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<v Speaker 1>same way. Which isn't to say that I think people

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<v Speaker 1>should therefore be encouraged to believe in demonic entities, but

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<v Speaker 1>rather just to draw attention to how thin the line

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<v Speaker 1>is between those potential fictions we are more willing to

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<v Speaker 1>indulge and those which we are not. Stories about things

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<v Speaker 1>that may or may not be true. Aren't, of course

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<v Speaker 1>restricted to the supernatural. So much of our world and

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<v Speaker 1>how we comprehend it is based on fictions that can

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<v Speaker 1>become so ingrained we can often take for granted just

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<v Speaker 1>how mutable and arbitrary they really are, such as the

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<v Speaker 1>rules of our favorite sport or the borders of a country,

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<v Speaker 1>for example. Such seemingly solid and fixed things have always

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<v Speaker 1>changed and shifted over time and will continue to do so,

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<v Speaker 1>which doesn't mean fictions are bad things necessarily, or that

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<v Speaker 1>we must always be looking to deconstruct them. Though there

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<v Speaker 1>are undoubtedly fictions that don't serve as well, many are

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<v Speaker 1>useful to us. One stark way in which we can

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<v Speaker 1>see this in operation is validation therapy, a controversial technique

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<v Speaker 1>first developed by US academic Naomi Fell in the nineteen sixties.

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<v Speaker 1>The therapy encourage relatives and careers of people suffering from

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<v Speaker 1>cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer's disease to engage with the

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<v Speaker 1>suffer's experience rather than deny it or try to coax

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<v Speaker 1>them out of it, no matter how unreal we might

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<v Speaker 1>consider it to be. If an individual with Alzheimer's wants

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<v Speaker 1>to tell you about the lavish wedding they went to

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<v Speaker 1>that morning, for example, rather than try to remind them

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<v Speaker 1>that they haven't left the house or day, you might

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<v Speaker 1>instead ask them to tell you more about the dress

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<v Speaker 1>they wore or how good the food was. Though many

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<v Speaker 1>have questioned the merits of this technique, others have found

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<v Speaker 1>it invaluable in reducing the stress of the condition for

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<v Speaker 1>both sufferers and those closest to them, all of which

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<v Speaker 1>put me in mind of the time Vanity Fair magazine

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<v Speaker 1>sent William Friedkin to Rome to spend some time with

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<v Speaker 1>the Vatican's chief exorcist, Father Gabriel Amorth, and posed the question,

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<v Speaker 1>might exorcism, too have a useful function even if there

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<v Speaker 1>are no such thing as demons? On December twenty sixth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy three, Warner Brothers released the film The Exorcist,

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<v Speaker 1>widely regarded as a cinematic masterpiece and one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most iconic films of all time. Viewers might not think

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<v Speaker 1>it today, but it's hard to underestimate the impact of

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<v Speaker 1>the film when it first screamed. Many cinemas reported audience

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<v Speaker 1>members fainting, crying, and vomiting in the aisles, with ambulances

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<v Speaker 1>and paramedics regularly dispatched to attend to the hapless viewers.

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<v Speaker 1>It was even effectively banned on video in the UK

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<v Speaker 1>until nineteen ninety nine, after Warner Brothers decided against submitting

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<v Speaker 1>the film for classification due to the likelihood that it

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't have been accepted anyway. Incredibly, such a band was

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<v Speaker 1>not anticipated because of any misrepresentation of possession or exorcism,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather because Friedkin's rendering of the process was considered

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<v Speaker 1>so realistic there were fears that it would lead to

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<v Speaker 1>an outbreak of mass hysteria. It may be surprising, therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>to learn that Freakin had never actually witnessed an exorcism

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<v Speaker 1>before making the film. All that changed, however, when in

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<v Speaker 1>May twenty sixteen, he was invited to attend the Exorcism

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<v Speaker 1>of a young woman given the name Rosa, conducted by

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<v Speaker 1>exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth. Friedkin's account of the event, later

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<v Speaker 1>published in Vanity Fair, is every inch as terrifying and

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<v Speaker 1>dramatic as that depicted in his film. Rosa, a woman

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<v Speaker 1>in her late thirties, had been visiting Father Amorth for

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<v Speaker 1>nine months and was having her ninth exorcism when Friedkin

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<v Speaker 1>joined to watch. Over the next hour or so, as

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<v Speaker 1>Amorth conducted the ritual, Rosa appeared to fall in and

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<v Speaker 1>out of consciousness, sometimes into trances, and would scream and

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<v Speaker 1>thrash her body wildly. In the moments between Father Amorth

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<v Speaker 1>compelled the apparent legion of demons that possessed her to

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<v Speaker 1>leave her body, she would scream no in reply, or

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<v Speaker 1>implore the priest in a deep and unfamiliar voice to

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<v Speaker 1>leave her alone. At other times, the voice would proclaim

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<v Speaker 1>violently that it was satan. Throughout the session, Friedkin claimed

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<v Speaker 1>that while the room was cold, everyone inside was sweating,

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<v Speaker 1>with the exception of Rosa. Finally, with the exorcism over,

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<v Speaker 1>Rosa appeared to return to her normal self, but claimed

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<v Speaker 1>to have no recollection of what had taken place. Friedkin

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<v Speaker 1>an avowed agnostic, was unnerved by what he had seen

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<v Speaker 1>and showed the footage to a number of leading psychiatrists,

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<v Speaker 1>including doctor Roberto Lewis Fernandez, President Elect of the World

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<v Speaker 1>Association of Cultural Psychiatry, and doctor Jeffrey Lieberman, director of

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<v Speaker 1>New York State Psychiatric Institute. Lewis Fernandez had worked to

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<v Speaker 1>add the word possession to the description of dissociative identity

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<v Speaker 1>disorder found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,

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<v Speaker 1>the industry standard classification manual. Although neither would claim Rosa's

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<v Speaker 1>condition to be the result of supernatural forces. Liebermann did, however,

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<v Speaker 1>note that treating her symptoms as demonic possession may not

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<v Speaker 1>be the worst thing, implying that if she believed in

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<v Speaker 1>it so strongly, practicing an exorcism on her might be

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<v Speaker 1>sufficient to convince her that she'd been cured. In this sense,

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<v Speaker 1>the question of the existence of Satan and demons could

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<v Speaker 1>be considered irrelevant in relation to the well being of

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<v Speaker 1>the patient. If the patient has come to believe in

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<v Speaker 1>a world where Satan is real, an exorcist operating with

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<v Speaker 1>sincerity in that world, too, may bring a comfort to

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<v Speaker 1>the inflicted individual. Much in the way that validation therapy

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<v Speaker 1>might help the sufferer of Altzheimon's. It is an example,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps of where what somebody feels may be more important

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<v Speaker 1>what is rational or logical, where something feeling true can

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<v Speaker 1>be more powerful than the truth itself. Unexplained, the book

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<v Speaker 1>and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been

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<v Speaker 1>covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones,

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<v Speaker 1>among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music,

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<v Speaker 1>are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and

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<v Speaker 1>rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel

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<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

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<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot

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<v Speaker 1>com forward Slash Unexplained Podcast