Crockumentary

A Crockumentary is a piece of media that emulates a Documentary format, but is little more than veiled propaganda that is devoid of much truth or scientific legitimacy. For example, Ben Stein's movie Expelled is a classic Crockumentary. It claims to be scientifically based, but in reality, the movie employs a plethora of logical fallacies to get across the notion that not believing in creation is tantamount to supporting genocide.

Crockumentaries are notorious for employing pseudo-science, suggesting that non-scientific theories or ideas are actually scientifically-founded (i.e. astrology, paranormal claims, ghosts, spirits, UFOs, etc.) and also perverting the concepts of new fields of science such as quantum physics, abiogenesis or astronomy. In many cutting-edge fields of science there are a variety of open-ended ideas and theories. Many crockumentary filmmakers suggest that the unknowns in new scientific theories can be filled with their hair-brained claims. For example, The Secret suggests that certain notions of quantum mechanics can jibe with the film's claim that one can create their own physical reality merely by the power of their mind. In this case, the filmmakers interviewed respected scientists under false pretenses, then edited the interviews and interspersed their own non-scientific claims to make the film's ideas appear to be supported by respected scientists.

See also

• The Secret
• What the bleep do we know
• Expelled