Knott's Berry Farm thought it would be a great idea to feature a Halloween-themed attraction this year called "FearVR: 5150," which would showcase a demonic patient from a mental institution who is out to terrorise visitors.
But Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church, thought the attraction was below the belt. "Knots Berry Farm has a psychiatric ward with a demonic patient in their Halloween set. This is NOT entertainment. I'm infuriated that they use the pain [and] suffering of millions of people for laughs or thrills. Take it down!" she posted on her Facebook page.
Fortunately for her, Knott's Berry Farm officials listened and took down the attraction. They explained in a statement released to the Orange County Register that they never intended to poke fun of those suffering from mental illnesses and that all they wanted was to feature Halloween attractions that are "designed to be edgy, and are aimed at an adult-only audience."
But "over the past week, we have heard from a number of people expressing concern that one of our temporary, Halloween attractions — Fear VR — 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."
Kay, who received some negative reactions because of her earlier comment, later posted an explanation on her thoughts about mental illness. Some people assumed that she equated mental illness patients to "demonic patients," but Kay says that wasn't what she meant at all.
Mentall illness is actually a sensitive topic for the Warren family because their son Matthew took his own life several years ago after battling a lifetime of mental illness.
"As a passionate advocate FOR people living with mental illness, I want to end stigma by making sure folks know mental illness is an ILLNESS," Kay said. "For anyone who felt I was equating mental illness and demonization, please forgive me — that was not my intent AT ALL. It is a passion of my heart to do what I can to reduce stigma around mental illness, not perpetuate or participate in it."
"My desire is that anyone living with a mental illness feels acceptance and compassion from others and therefore feels comfortable asking for help, not feeling like others will recoil in horror or fear based on unkind, untrue and unhelpful stigmatization," she said.
