One of the issues we’ll have to wrestle with this semester is where is the line between funny and not funny, between an excellent joke and an unethical or immoral act, between something that won’t get us into trouble and something that will. By way of cautionary tales, here are two examples of hoaxes that could get you in trouble:
The most recent Bigfoot Hoax.
Congressional Candidate Fakes Wildnerness Survival
In the Bigfoot example, the problem is that one of the hoaxer was a sheriff’s deputy and so, as an officer of the court, needed to be above suspicions of being a lier. We’ll see if his bosses can take a joke or not. In the case of Gary Dodds, the problem was that the search and rescue effort mounted to find him after he disappeared in a snow squall cost close to $20,000, so he effectively defrauded the state of New Hampshire (and so went to jail). Oops.
And for those of you who are die hard Bigfoot fans (you know you are), a neighbor of mine in Manassas recently made an incredibly campy movie starring a Bigfoot with a bad attitude who disrupts some college students’ plans for a weekend of beer and other things in a mountain cabin. If you want to watch a movie that is an example of what can be done with a $30,000 budget (he actually sold it to a distributor for a profit…no kidding), then check out Holler Creek Canyon. It’s bad, but if you’re a Bigfoot fan, how can you pass it up? Just don’t buy a copy. You’d be sorry. [Trailer]
