The secondary source that I have chosen is The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi, from The New York Times Magazine. Initially I was looking at JSTORE and trying to connect my research question to The Amazing Randi, however this source addresses more themes and questions that will tie to my research paper. This source is about James Randi, a brief synopsis of his life before and after fame and a look into his rise to fame and how he made a name for himself as a debunker. The article also shows his ‘rivalry’ with Geller and hence gives a little bit of an insight into how small the entertainment industry is.
This source has made me think of a variety of ways to approach my paper and has provided some important aspects to look at while regarding entertainment and deception. The article speaks of James Randi first becoming a magician and how he tried to tell people that he was fooling them, yet they insisted on him being a psychic, he later states in an interview “…They need it because they’re weak…” This addresses one of my questions of people willing and wanting to be duped. It is interesting as it comes from the perspective of a magician, the person deliberately deceiving people, stating that he believes that people need authority in their lives. Another interesting aspect to this source is when it addresses the money and funds involved in the entertainment industry. The movie I will be reviewing deals with bank robberies, however this article shows the large amount of legitimate funds involved in a life of entertainment, in this case the money offered just to debunk a fellow magician deceiving the audience.
Higginbotham, Adam. “The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
Nice work tying this source into your own project! The discussion of fraud and magic more broadly, and the entertainment industry more specifically, should help you link your film into some larger contexts.
Citation looks good too. Nice work!