Amusement park horror nights are one of the best things about the holiday season. If you live in Los Angeles, you have no shortage of options to get your freak-out fix. Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Knott’s Berry Farm all offer some variation on Halloween Horror Nights, on top of your run-of-the-mill haunted hay rides in Griffith Park and suburban haunted houses. Seriously — Los Angeles is kind of a mecca if you like to be scared. And while some haunted houses face blowback for simply being too terrifying, Knott’s Berry Farm recently came under fire for a really unfortunate and justified reason.
Knott’s Berry Farm was forced to close a Halloween attraction that painted mentally ill people as the monster in the haunted house. We can’t even begin to put into words how offensive this is.
In a country where mentally ill people already have to deal with outrageous accusations of culpability on top of the stigma against seeking help for mental illness, Knott’s Berry Farm’s choice to portray mentally ill people as the thing you’re running from in their “FearVR: 5150” ride, isn’t just in poor taste, it’s actively dangerous.
Ron Thomas, the father of schizophrenic and homeless man Kelly Thomas, who tragically died in a violent confrontation with Fullerton police in 2011, had some really on point things to say to ABC7 about the attraction.
"You get in there and get the virtual reality set on, you know you're in an insane asylum, and that this Katie, this patient, is loose and is going to do bad things to you. It's wrong," he said. "The mentally ill are people. They're human beings. They're suffering. They have illnesses, and we have to do something to help them - not demonize them. Not to continue the stigma of mental illness."
As the backlash against the ride grew, Knott’s Berry Farm shut it down, and released the following statement.
"California's Great America is proud of its popular annual Halloween Haunt event. For nine years we have delivered unique and immersive haunted experiences to our fans and loyal guests. Our evening attractions are designed to be edgy, and are aimed at an adult-only audience. Over the past week we have heard from a number of people expressing their concern that one of our temporary, Halloween attractions - FearVR - is hurtful to those who suffer from mental illnesses. Contrary to some traditional and social media accounts, the attraction's story and presentation were never intended to portray mental illness. As it is impossible to address both concerns and misconceptions in the Halloween timeframe, at this time we have decided to close the attraction."
While we could’ve done with a little more accountability from Knott’s Berry Farm in the apology, we’re glad they reacted by shutting down the ride, and ceasing to demonize the suffering of mentally ill people.
