Camacan
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Since: Jan, 2001
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There is a diametrical opposite to this trope, which may or may not be named. Basically, the notion is that e.g. Close Encounters was made as a way of preparing the masses, getting the great unwashed used to some idea. I guess this falls under propaganda or indoctrination, but the idea is a bit more subtle and specific. There is a cover-up, there is a growing realisation that the cover up is not going to hold forever "Panic Must Be Avoided" and thus the coming of the martians (or the second coming of Christ, or the climate catastrophe that has been unavoidable for the last 20 years) is slipped into popular fiction so that even the dumbest Jo Schmo will know what it is about when the **** hits the fan.