Why do you keep trying to trap me? Post your evidence and I promise I will look at it. I’ve looked at all the evidence so far, have I not? I really am open to the possibility that all the people who remember this are wrong. Stranger things have happened. Have I unfairly dismissed any evidence out of hand, without considering it? Please tell me specifically which piece of evidence you consider absolutely valid, that I unfairly criticized.
Despite what you guys are saying, the recollections of the scene are pretty consistent. Josh is in class - a female teacher announces a new student will be joining the class - new student is Susan as a child - new student takes a seat and makes eye contact with Josh. Hair color? Bah - who cares? I don’t generally remember ANYONE’S hair color in a movie. Trivial details tend to get lost, but the substance tends to get remembered.
Fair enough. And since I haven’t seen an answer to my question earlier, let me ask you: Don’t you think it’s at least possible that there was a different ending, and it was poorly received by viewers for precisely those reasons, and that it got dropped from subsequent releases of the film?
Fine, KT. Let’s say, for giggles and shits, that absolutely no alternative version of the ending exists, ever existed or was ever planned to exist. None. Nada. Barring minor changes such as where Susan kisses Josh or a line here or there, the ending of the movie as now seen on DVD and streaming is the only one that ever existed.
Describe, in your own words, what would prove that lack of existence for you.
Yes, because someone dug up a clip from the late 1970s, which you can now find on Youtube.
However people claim that these VHS and DVD tapes exists right now (in NZ, Germany and UK) and no one has videotaped the scene while playing the DVD/VHS on their TV, held up a case and videotaped themselves saying “This is it!”, posted a still shot, provided a transcript… from one of these so called available tapes.
Is it possible? Yes. But, truthfully, I really doubt the ending was even written. I think it would be a poor enough ending to an otherwise well-written (and pretty tightly-built) film that I struggle to imagine a scene that cloyingly wink-and-nod hitting the page.
But, seriously, prove me wrong. It would be fascinating.
So the DVD commentary does seem to talk of an alternate ending, but it doesn’t sound to be the one we’re talking about here. But, hey, just throwing it out there to keep things interesting. (My own opinion is that it is by far most likely to be misremembering/conflated memories.)
Nice nitpick. Yes, the wife actually was the one who said it. The husband had a beard and olive-colored skin. Neither one was black, which was the point - a point that went completely over your head. People remembered the INCIDENT even if they didn’t remember all the trivial details exactly.
Here’s an interview with Penny Marshall that talks about the ending of Big How Tom Hanks got ‘Big’ 25 years ago - apparently there was a version of the script in which Susan kisses Josh on the lips just before dropping him off at home, but she insisted on a kiss on the forehead, because of her sensitivity about the idea of any intimate affection between an adult woman and a child (earlier in the interview she makes it clear that she felt the same way about Susan and Josh-as-adult, resulting in the way their sleepover scene was filmed). I’ll let you know if I find any other relevant reminisces.
No, you’re still missing the point. You are claiming that mixing up small details proves that the incident never happened. This incident DID happen. Therefore, mixing up small details does not prove an incident didn’t happen. It’s pretty clear, I don’t know why you’re having so much trouble understanding.
Also, when you mentioned it was the wife, it jogged my memory, and I clearly remembered, “Oh yeah, it was the wife saying it”. The Disney clip of the end of that movie doesn’t jog my memory at all. It just looks like a completely different movie that I have never seen before.
There’s not a single person. If you want more info, do your own research.
However, the theory that people are conflating memories is supported by the conflicting details, since everyone’s conflated memories would be slightly different.
The point, which has been reiterated to the point of tears, is that many people claim they saw this alternate ending on a video copy or TV, maybe in some other country… which means that there are somewhere between many thousands and perhaps millions who should have also seen it… and not one has produced a VCR tape or even a still shot of the screen (commonly done in those old days) to substantiate that claim.
If you don’t find the disparity odd - that many people claim something that many, many more must have seen but no one has ever produced a record of it, in any form - then I guess I have to applaud your intellectual equanimity.
It’s been forever since I saw the movie. How much of young Josh was there at the beginning? Is there possibly a classroom scene at the start of the film that people are conflating as being the end?