Released in early 2020 just before the pandemic lockdown, the controversial, very well-executed comedy thriller The Hunt used humor to hold up the errors and assumptions of liberalism and conservativism. A group of what turns out to be mostly conservatives espousing fallacious beliefs about the "deep state," immigration, or other popular, contemporary political topics is abducted to be hunted for the pleasure of cruel, wealthy liberals, satirizing many things that conservatives and liberals believe about themselves and each other. Characters holding to both political philosophies are introduced and often killed, but not before they can make some stupid or satirical comment.
The opening of the film shows a group chat that makes an inside joke about hunting an assortment of "deplorables," people revealed to have, among other things, supported conservative conspiracy theories about the hunting of conservatives by a mysterious "manor." One of these participants in the hunt specifically references the deep state as being tied to the people in control of the slaughter. One could not, of course, have access to the evidence for a deep state if one was not a political insider, since it would by nature have to be hidden away from all but select members or targets in order to remain a deep state. That does not stop people in The Hunt or in real life from at least paying lip service to this epistemological stupidity when it appeals to them. What it does do for the movie is add layers to the criticism of why many conspiracy theorists believe in particular conspiracies: after all, there really is a hunt of human prey afoot.
The Hunt emphasizes how stupid some of the conspiracy theories of the conservative abductees are, only to reveal at the end that a malevolent conspiracy actually was true, though no one could know from hearsay, emotional persuasion, or any other such thing involving assumptions whether such a conspiracy exists. In this way, The Hunt brilliantly touches upon how there is nothing logically impossible about some conspiracy theories being or becoming true while still focusing on how they would be unverifiable by outsiders. To what extent these truths were meant to be acknowledged beyond the convenience they pose to the story is uncertain, but they are still acknowledged.
The leader of the kidnappers and murderers, who goes by Athena, insists that the schemes alluded to in the text messages were only a joke taken out of context by idiots, as if that has anything to do with making their later deeds morally permissible or just. Athena says that the charges were false at the time they were made, but that the victims "made" them true, a victim blaming idea implying she believes the just response to stupidity is kidnapping and murder. Her "Manorgate" conspiracy was initiated in order to feel justified in degrading people because they were stupid enough to assume the plan was already in motion. At the same time, The Hunt does not fail to exemplify the irrationalism of people from both political parties when it comes to conspiracy theories and much more.
As long as a conspiracy theory does not involve a contradiction of logical axioms, itself, or some other truth, it is indeed logically possible. Of course there could be or (if there is not one) could have been a deep state, since this is consistent with logical axioms, but not if the same "liberal elites" conservatives credit with running the deep state are simultaneously too incompetent to carry out political plans, as those very conservatives might also believe; it is not uncommon to hear both the concepts of the extreme incompetence of government, especially liberal-led government, and the malicious, masterfully orchestrated takeover of the nation and world supported by the same conservatives. Certain other conspiracy theories might possibly be true, whether they involve aliens or government malice, and this could not be known by an outsider with human limitations.
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