Books
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.
— Joseph Heller · Catch-22
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The joke separates being described as paranoid from the question of whether a threat exists. Its twist is that the first description does not, by itself, settle the second. The blunt wording turns a familiar dismissal of suspicion into an unsettling logical reversal.
Context reviewed