October 7, 1999

Contact: Matt Cherry, 1310 306 2847 For immediate release

E-mail:  Jim@CFIWest.org 

X-FILES STAR TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST PARANOIA AND THE PARANORMAL

The X-Files actor William B. Davis, who plays the sinister "Cigarette-Smoking Man" in the hit TV series, is to criticize public gullibility and paranoia in a special meeting at the University of Southern California, on Thursday, October 21, at 7.30 p.m. Davis' talk, titled "A Look at Skepticism through X-Files Eyes," will be delivered to a joint meeting of the Center for Inquiry and the Atheist, Agnostic and Humanist Group of the University of Southern California. The meeting, in room 123 of the Seeley G. Mudd Building, is open to the public and will cost $6, or $3 with valid student I.D.

The X-Files has been criticized for its role in promoting belief in government conspiracies and cover-ups of alien invasions and paranormal phenomena. At the center of all The X-Files' conspiracies is "The Cigarette-Smoking Man." Despite his role as the most famous "conspirator" in America, Davis will speak about the dangers of uncritical belief in conspiracies, pseudo-science and the paranormal. He will examine whether television, and The X-Files in particular, should be blamed for the public's increasing hostility to critical thinking and orthodox science.

Matt Cherry, executive director of the Center for Inquiry, commented, "The X-Files has generated a tidal wave of belief in the paranormal, at the same time as creating a paranoid fear about our own government. Davis will explain how critical thinking and the scientific method can help us find a happy medium between gullibility and paranoia."

William B. Davis is a distinguished actor and director. In addition to numerous TV and film appearances, Davis is the former Artistic Director of the National Theatre School (in Canada) and of the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School. He is currently the director of The William Davis Centre for Actor's Study.

The Center for Inquiry-West is the West Coast headquarters of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP -- publisher of Skeptical Inquirer magazine) and the Council for Secular Humanism (publisher of Free Inquiry magazine.) The Atheist, Agnostic and Humanist Group of the University of Southern California is an affiliate of the Campus Freethought Alliance.