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In November 1966 the rumor went that Paul McCartney was killed in an automobile accident in England. The remaining Beatles, so the story goes, fearing that public reaction to the news would adversely affect the fortunes of the group, agreed among themselves to keep the matter a secret. They hired a double to play his part in public. As an example of the social construction of a mystery, the rumors relating to the nature and circumstances of the alleged death of Beatle Paul McCartney, are examined in this article. Active rumor participants fell, basically, into three groups or publics: (a) believers, who accepted the story at its face value; (b) skeptics, who suspected it was a publicity plant to stimulate record sales; and (c) unbelievers, who were convinced that the phenomenon was a manifestation of psychosociological pathology. Age was the most obvious variable separating the believers from the other two groups. Reactions to the Beatles and to the rumor are described, particularly those of the older generation and those of conservative inclinations. The most striking characteristic of the McCartney rumor is seen in its preoccupation with the covert — the "hidden meaning" motif. Some notions on the reasons for a public fascination with the idea of the concealed are offered. "It may be that the McCartney rumor reflects a search for meaning that runs much deeper than a seemingly frivolous preoccupation with pop song lyrics and album cover art would seem to suggest. In periods of social unrest and upheaval, when traditional sources of authority are being challenged and overthrown, there is always the danger that human instititutions will dissolve into primal meaninglessness." Factors supporting the conjecture that a myth — or legend-creating process — was at work are defined. |
