Best Moments of Skepticism in "The Mentalist"

Fake Psychic: “There’s a thing inside you, it’s eating at you, that’s lingered in your mind for many years.”

Patrick Jane: “It’s called the human condition.”

That priceless example of a cold reading from the finale shows why skeptics, atheists and humanists will miss our most appealing representative currently on TV: Patrick Jane. After seven seasons, the CBS drama-plus-lightness police show has ended.

Jane is a former celebrity TV psychic whose scam destroyed his family and his life. Broken, he seeks redemption using his people-reading brilliance for good to solve homicides as a consultant, initially with the California Bureau of Investigations (CBI), later the FBI.

The show’s creator Bruno Heller told the New York Times, who asked about its “unabashed message that television psychics in the vein of John Edward are shams: “You name the TV psychic — they’re con men. I can say that with complete confidence because John Edward is not going to sue anyone for libel on that score. The reason I know that is because the techniques he uses are those carnival psychics and soothsayers have been using for hundreds of years.”

A major recurring character was Bret Stiles, guru of the New Age religion Visualize Self-Realization Church, played by the fantastic Malcolm McDowell. The show has a lot of fun with Visualize’s teachings of self-realization, six dimensions and electromagnetic aura sensing, which come off as a cross between The Secret’s Law of Attraction and Scientology.

There were some issues for skeptics, such as a totally unrealistic use of hypnotism. But skeptics and atheists still had many reasons to be heartened.

BEST TV ATHEIST?

Jane’s no angel, but as TV atheists go, he’s the one you’d actually want to have a beer with. TV atheists are required, of course, to suffer BBB Syndrome: Brilliant But Broken. Dr. Gregory House is described as a “misanthrope, cynic, narcissist, and curmudgeon.” Ouch. Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Big Bang Theory's Dr. Sheldon Cooper, and Sherlock (take your pick) lack empathy and social skills, with something akin to Asperger’s syndrome. Tara Thornton of True Blood is the smartest person in town, but brusque and troubled... oh, and a vampire. And Dexter is brilliant in his chosen occupation of serial killer.

Jane, however, is warmer and more compassionate. Though murderous in bringing justice to monsters, he is fair and deeply moral. There is never doubt in our minds that he’s the good guy. His love for family and friends defines him; he can’t remove his wedding ring, even while in a committed relationship to Teresa. He loves giving presents and is a sucker for kids, animals, and the defenseless. He must regularly escape the darkness of his work to a childlike place of innocence, playfulness, pranks, and only occasionally, booze. Most of all he takes solace in nature, where he finds all the comfort lacking for him him in the supernatural.

So it’s no surprise Patrick Jane was unofficially named the best atheist on TV by the American Humanist Association (AHA) in 2010. That year the Independent Investigations Group awarded the Mentalist with an Iggy to recognize its promotion of scientific and critical thinking in mainstream entertainment. the AHA followed in 2011 with The Mentalist on its shortlist of shows humanists should watch.

Check out my skepticism blog, Under the Greenwood Tree, bogardiner.wordpress.com

Видео Best Moments of Skepticism in "The Mentalist" канала Bo Gardiner