THE CONSPIRASPHERE
As a B-list actor joins the martyrs of the Conspirasphere, NOEL ROONEY notes that celebrity deaths have also become an element of some strange new theme park attractions...
THE DEATH OF ISAAC KAPPY
“I have told people in the Trump administration that I am willing to admit to my many crimes in a public setting, and committed to execution, in a public setting. A nation cannot suffer its traitors, and I am no exception.” The last public utterance of Isaac Kappy, actor, musician, and latterly altright hero, was as bizarre as it was poignant. The following day, Kappy threw himself off a bridge above a busy highway (apparently fighting off a couple of passers-by who tried to stop him), was hit by a car when he landed, and declared dead at the scene. His ‘execution’ was very public indeed.
The untimely death of a B-list celebrity earned only passing interest in the mainstream media; brief stories appeared recounting his suicide, his so-so career (minor parts in Thor, Breaking Bad, and Terminator: Salvation) and a recent – allegedly violent – incident involving Paris Jackson (daughter of the late pop icon); one or two sources alluded to allegations made by the late actor about pædophilia in Hollywood. But in the Conspirasphere, the story was huge. Isaac Kappy has gone from small-time celeb to alt-right martyr; and his suicide has been widely declared a murder. The QAnon community in particular has blogged, vlogged, tweeted and posted a tsunami of performative grief, stoic patriotism and grim determination of the ‘come and get me, punks’ variety.
For some years, Kappy had been claiming that Hollywood was rife with pædophilia. He had ‘outed’ a number of big names, including Steven Spielberg and, most recently, Tom Hanks. His death is seen by many in the Conspirasphere as Deep State wet work on behalf of the vested Illuminati interests in the movie industry, to warn other truthers off the subject of satanic, homicidal child abuse among the elite. Now he takes his place in the conspiracists’ book of martyrs, a hotchpotch tribute to the victims of more or less suspicious deaths since the 1970s; and further confirmation for the altright that they are engaged in a war, a jihad for the original soul of America.
And yet: those last posts speak of a disturbed individual, a man wracked by guilt and ashamed of his actions, and perhaps on the point of recanting his accusations. The real tragedy of Isaac Kappy’s life and death may never be known, subsumed as it is into the mythical hagiography that casts its very slanted light on fatal events from Ruby Ridge to the Oklahoma bombings.
Celebrity death can, of course, be memorialised in a number of ways. Take the new attraction that allows you to experience a 3D reconstruction of the death of Princess Diana and then vote on whether you think it was a terrible accident, a paparazziinduced catastrophe, or murder by reptilian royals. The theme park, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, celebrates the sterling work of the National Enquirer (who doesn’t?), and the attraction’s creator, Robin Turner, affirms that “it’s definitely not in poor taste”. That, Robin, is very much a matter of opinion.
And that’s not the only attraction based on alternative worldviews to make the press recently. Blackpool’s visitors will, it seems, soon enjoy a series of interactive exhibitions based on what the PR refers to as “Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods, a series of novels written in the 1960s and 1970s” (I’d love to know what Mr von D makes of that interpretation of his life’s work). In any case, once the veracity of von Däniken’s ‘novels’ has been established, the UK will have its very own version of the Mystery Park (von Däniken’s own ancient alien playground in Switzerland; see FT169:3035), and all will be done, no doubt, “in the best possible taste”. www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/ isaac-kappy-death-cause-age-thor-terminatorsalvation-paris-jackson-a8914356.html; www.devonlive.com/news/uk-world-news/ theme-park-ride-based-princess-2903052; www.blackpool.gov.uk.