Whatever you do, don´t mention the reptiles

“David Icke: Was He Right?” is something as weird as a pro-Icke documentary shown on mainstream television. I watched it on a Swedish TV channel years ago. (Or perhaps it was another version than the one released on YouTube – I have a faint memory that the original documentary was longer! Or is that just the Mandela Effect?) At the time, many people still talked about Icke and his bizarre conspiracy theories. I´m not sure if he is still as popular as he used to be during the 90´s and 00´s.

David Icke was a British media personality and political activist who turned New Age prophet around 1990, was mocked for his efforts at the BBC´s Wogan show (and pretty much everywhere else) and then went on to become one of the most controversial conspiracy theorists of the decade. Icke´s early books quoted the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, one of them was translated to Swedish by an anti-Semitic sect, and Nazis occasionally showed up at his meetings. So did radical leftists…in order to bust them up. Personally, I don´t think Icke was ever a fascist or anti-Semite sensu stricto, but his ideas could be given such a spin by others. During the 00s, this became virtually impossible, as David suddenly declared that the enemies are “Aryan reptilian bloodlines” from the star constellation of Draco or perhaps from another dimension of reality altogether. Yes, Icke claimed that the Bush clan, Henry Kissinger and Queen Elizabeth II are evil alien shape-shifters whose true forms are reptoid. Of course, some leftists still insisted that “Aryan reptilian” was simply clever code for “Jew”. Those who realized that Icke probably meant it decided to stay away from the kerfuffle forever after…

“David Icke: Was He Right?” does mention the reptilian problematique, but only three times. Most of the production tries to show the conspiracist author at his most rational, discussing the Iraqi War (which he opposed), false flag operations, media censorship and the like. We get to see Icke in a confrontation with London police officers, but also “David the family man” playing soccer with his son, traveling to Isle of Wight on holiday, and so on. Both David Icke´s current wife Pamela and his ex-wife Linda turn out to be strong supporters of his activities, Linda apparently being director of the actual publishing and speaking enterprise built around him. No critics are featured, only fans and supporters, many of whom turn up at a monster mass meeting in London to hear the man lecture. Icke himself looks old and tired, but there is no doubt that he really believes in the message, both the standard anti-establishment part and the, shall we say, non-standard dimensions. The most interesting part briefly mentions Icke´s original epiphany, which took place at a sacred site in Peru and reminds me of “kundalini awakening”. Icke also states that his conspiracy theories and dire predictions are *not* based on revelations of this kind, but on normal research.

Despite the pro-Icke slant, I nevertheless recommend this documentary to those interested in the David Icke phenomenon. Further reading: “A Culture of Conspiracy” by Michael Barkun and “Them! Adventures with Extremists” by John Ronson. The most classical of Icke´s own books is "The Biggest Secret", reviewed by me elsewhere on this blog.