Oil spill, celebrity, deaths, hurricanes are often the stuff of urban legends

by Carol Forsloff - In times of dangers and painful events, the death of a beloved figure, a weather catastrophe or a man-made disaster like an oil spill, myths and legends result. Why does this happen and what should we know that might help us in our world?



John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a single person, a commission of inquiry said; but still many Americans believe there was a conspiracy instead.  Experts say we deal with disasters by using myths and stories, so we can deal with grief and events we cannot understand.  In the case of the Kennedy assassination, there were unanswered questions from the Warren Commission, that investigative group.  There were also those who needed to put a face on something to help them deal with the pain.

After Kennedy was killed, people were stunned and saddened.  Folks in some places forgot their anger, the bitterness over segregation, and simply mourned.  People in the South, for example, adopted Kennedy as a sympathetic figure, despite the fact some of these same people scorned the President when he was alive.  The need for myths and stories come from those issues as well, mental health experts tell us as a way of dealing with our personal regrets and guilts.

When Marilyn Monroe died just the year before Kennedy, there were speculations about her suicide, that one of the Kennedy's had her killed to silence her because of her love affairs with them; and stories simply grew.

There are also those who cling to the belief that Elvis Presley didn't die after all in 1977 and that he walks among us somewhere and may reappear some day.

The death of Princess Diane brought reaction from Mohammed Al-Fayed, the father of Princess Diana's boyfriend Dodi who was killed alongside her, that there had been a conspiracy to kill both of them because they were planning to get married against the royal family's wishes.

Michael Jackson died of an overdose of drugs, the coroner said last year.  But Jackson's family now maintains Michael's death was intentional and conspired.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 showed officials in the police department, including the chief, talking about public rapes, people left to die in cruel ways, gunfire and rampant violence reported everywhere and random killings for no reason.

Even Oprah Winfrey was seen on television responding to these tales and stories about babies being raped and killed and other terrible things that were said to be happening during a dark and difficult period in New Orleans.  

Over time some stories faded, some grew, and some grew shady and filled with mystery as well.  It was if there were those who know secrets and will never ever tell, as if there was intention in government action or reaction and an abundance of blame to shift, so truth from fiction was hard to sort during and after Katrina.  People were made to be heroes or villains, depending upon our myths and stories and how we deal with loss.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in that sense is like Hurricane Katrina.  It isn't over yet.  The stories are likely to change, to grow with time because of our human condition, our culture and our history, experts say.

There will be those who will believe there was a deliberate attempt to ruin livelihoods on the Gulf of Mexico to control the power of a major area of the South following the oil spill.  There will be voices shrill about which politicians took how much money from whom and when; and all the while the oil companies will sit as the historical target for many because of the damage to the environment and the livelihoods of many, perhaps for years to come.  It becomes easy for stories to surround those we do not know, cannot see, or who have positions of power and influence that separates them from us.

But what about the origin and outcome of these stories though, and what do experts say?

Psychologists like Elliott Aranson say we need our stories, our myths, our legends, our tales, our groups we cling to that encourage these beliefs, our terrible anger that comes and goes to help us deal with disturbances in our world we do not understand.

 Kathleen Tierney, Christine Bevc and Erica in Kulagowski looked at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the myths and stories that came and went and those that still remain.  What they say in their treatise, "Metaphors Matter: Disaster Mythis, Media Frames and Their Consequences in Hurricane Katrina," is this:

"It has long been understood by disaster researchers that the general publc and organization actors tend to believe in various disaster myths. Notions that disasters are accompanied by looting, social disorganization, and deviant behavior are examples of such myths.

Research shows that the mass media play a significant role in promulgating erroneous beliefs about disaster behavior.  Following Hurricane Katrina, the response of disaster victims was framed by the media in ways that greatly exaggerated the incidence and severity of looting and lawlessness. Media reports initially employed a “civil unrest” frame and later characterized victim behaviors equivalent to urban warfare. The media emphasis on lawlessness and the need for strict social control both reflects and reinforces political discourse calling for a greater role for the military in disasters.

The truth is not as exciting at times, nor does it gives us what we need to cope from day to day.  Disaster experts tell us though we must learn from that truth, seek it clearly away from myths and stories so that truth will still be known.

But ethicists tell us something, that deep down can do us good, that urban legends might help us vent and deal with pain, but when we want to move ahead, as mankind always does, we need our brothers standing with us as we ready for what's next.