I’m gonna say it! The thing that made me grumpiest about wtnv fandom back in the day was the belief that Cecil buys into the propaganda! He does NOT! This man is looking you dead in the eyes and saying “do not look at the mountains. The government denies ALL EXISTENCE of such mountains. The mountains are not real.” You think he gets sent to re-education every six weeks for FUN?! He is a journalist frantically trying to get around censorship! The government would like to strangle him for talking about this! COME ON!
Honestly, it depends what the belief is and what year you’re listening to.
Cecil is very stubborn about what he believes in, and some of it naturally aligns with the ridiculous stuff he’s been raised with. He’s not immune to propaganda. It’s stated very clearly that Steve is weird because he’s the only one who hasn’t taken in a lot of NV beliefs due to how he sees the truth in the sky.
That being said, Cecil is also a blabbermouth (affectionate) and sometimes says things he shouldn’t because he doesn’t immediately realise he shouldn’t or because his stubbornness makes him want to risk it for one reason or another.
And as time goes on, he starts to undo some of those internalised beliefs and express how certain things aren’t right. To believe he never internalised the propaganda is to dismiss the progress he later makes.
