Bonus Gullibility
I’m occasionally taken in by a good story, I’ll admit. I didn’t see the ending of Sixth Sense coming. It’s probably better for my enjoyment that way but it does occasionally make me feel foolish.
So here’s a little tale, completely true, about a visit to Sea World I was on with some cousins of mine. They won’t mind me telling the story since even if you knew my real name you couldn’t guess which cousins it was–I have a lot of them.
So I’m sitting next to my cousin, we’ll call him Stu, at the dolphin show, with his wife, we’ll call her Jane, on his other side. Gorgeous dolphins with incredible hang time, yay Sea World. They bring a family out–man, woman, daughter–to let the little girl give the dolphin a treat for its tricks. Aaww. The trainer suggests that Mom go up on a little bridge between the audience and the trainer area to take a picture of Daughter interacting with Dolphin. Aaaww. The next thing we know, Mom is in the water, she’s fallen off the bridge. And she’s freaked. She’s flailing and screaming as if there are barracudas in the pool instead of cuties who like to nudge you with their noses. A dolphin comes over to her and she goes even more berserk, screaming and splashing at the dolphin in a panic. Clue #1: No trainer had dived into the pool at this point. The sum total of their action consisted of encouraging the woman, via the microphone, to swim to the front of the pool where there was a ladder. I turn to Daddyman demanding to know how anybody can be such a total panicked loser twit that they would scream and splash instead of making nice with the dolphin and enjoying the accident of a lifetime. Probably his silence on this point was to spare my feelings. The bozo mom is making her way, with much trembling and drama, to the front of the pool, and still no trainer has taken charge of the situation. About this time, both woman and dolphin go under and suddenly the show finishes with some finale human-dolphin trick that I can’t remember right now. Oh.
I turn to Stu, deflated but giggling, “I feel so stupid. They really had me going.” Cousin Stu turns to me with a matching grin. “This’ll make you feel better. They took me in too … until Jane said, ‘You idiot, they got you with this one the last time we were here.’”
Eah. He works in the industry which is one of my primary areas of consumer input–Hollywood. I suppose a reasonable–reasonable, I said!–dose of credulity is an advantage for people who work on or just love good stories.
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I have an incredibly random ability to get totally snookered. 6th sense was a funny one because I saw the trailer and said “Oh I get it, he’s dead.”
But “Devil’s Advocate” I actually had no idea what was going on until the delicious Pacino monologue at the end. I’m no retard, but I just was far too busy enjoying the movie to care to think about it.
Same thing with “Fight Club”. Not until the hotel room scene “let’s explain it for all the botards who haven’t figured it out yet” scene did I have any idea what was really going on.
Comment by Mad William Flint — October 25, 2007 @ 7:38 am
Fight Club got me too. I’ve never yet watched Devil’s Advocate.
Comment by Anwyn — October 25, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
“The Usual Suspects” got me. I lent the movie to a friend who hadn’t seen it. Up walks a co-worker who had and he said, “I knew all along it was [the surprise ending.]” My friend watched it anyway.
I enjoy being surprised. Down with spoilers.
Comment by Allen — October 25, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
It’s been long enough since I’ve seen Devil’s Advocate that I’m not sure what you mean, I’ll have to netflix it! I, too, was completely blown away by the ending of sixth sense. Did. not. see. it. coming. I’ve always remarked to friends that while I’m not completely stupid in real life, I have an overly healthy suspension of disbelief when it comes to movies. I basically subconsciously turn off my precognition and enjoy the ride. Fun! And don’t forget one of the best twist endings ever-Verbal Kint losing his limp and turning into Keyser Soze. The cut edits between Soze and the detective who’s beginning to put it together are just too awesome for words!
Comment by T.Paine — October 25, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
Okay, that’s pretty damn creepy right there. I hereby swear and affirm that I am not Allen, I do not know Allen, and have never before communicated with Allen in anyway. I guess I’m just psychic or something. Goosebumps…I mean come on, 6 hours since the last comment and then the same movie mentioned in two different comments with the same time stamp.
…Heading for bunker…
Comment by T.Paine — October 25, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
Heh… That was strange. But I managed to keep from spoiling the ending. ;-)
Comment by Allen — October 25, 2007 @ 9:59 pm