# Common Held Beliefs or Ignorance about a Film That Drives You Crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 13, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524 "2023-08-13T19:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/61 "2023-08-14T14:05:02Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The ‘elders’ knew the secret-- why don’t one of them get off their lazy ass and get the antibiotics? IIRC, the elders had all sworn a Never Go Back oath. (And, of course, any _sighted_ next-gen would’ve learned the secret; a blind one could stay clueless.) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/62 "2023-08-14T14:10:11Z")
Thanks for the explanation, TOWP, I guess that makes a little bit of sense. Still, I think Rube Goldberg would shake his head in dismay at the overly complicated and unrealistic, unlikely aspect of that plot device. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/63 "2023-08-14T14:17:57Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Still, I think Rube Goldberg would shake his head - He would have built a machine to shake his head for him. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/64 "2023-08-14T14:20:58Z")
All that said, I adorrreee _Unbreakable._ As for _The Sixth Sense_…a friend of mine and I figured out the twist without even seeing the film. Just from knowing there was “This great twist”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/65 "2023-08-14T14:25:39Z")
I feel kind of stupid for not figuring out what was happening. I was getting the idea of something supernatural occurring because of the use of the color red in scenes and the kids habit of hiding as things got dicey, but even worse, I had totally forgotten being told about a twist, and exactly what it was. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/66 "2023-08-14T14:54:38Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > As for _The Sixth Sense_…a friend of mine and I figured out the twist without even seeing the film. Just from knowing there was “This great twist”. I did not guess the plot twist. I saw the movie early on, in the theater, and I don’t remember how clued-in I was that there was a plot twist-- it’s not like TSS invented the plot twist, but it wasn’t quite as common in popular movies then. I think it was part of the promotion early on, as in “you won’t believe the ending!” but I just watched without trying to get ahead of things, and I was rewarded. Also, I don’t necessarily judge a good plot twist by how easy or difficult it is to figure out. I’ve guessed plot twists in movies and shows where I wasn’t even expecting a plot twist. I judge a good plot twist more by how organic and natural it is to the overall plot. And sure, you could probably pick apart the twist in TSS if you wanted to (spoiler alert for 24 year old movie that probably everybody on the planet knows the twist to already)-- “did Bruce Willis’ character _ **really** _ think his wife was giving him the most epic, committed silent treatment of all time?” But that’s neatly explained by the Osment character before the twist is even revealed: “I see dead people. They don’t know they’re dead. [Something about how they only see what they want to see].” So the ghosts are in a confused fog of self-denial. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/67 "2023-08-14T15:07:06Z")
I keep flashing back to when I saw Rain Man in a theater. At one point, when Ray is going off on one of his jags, a young woman sitting in front of me with her boyfriend giggles and says “Oh, heeheehee, he’s so _stupid_!” 🙄 I honestly had to restrain myself from reaching up and smacking her up side the head. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/68 "2023-08-14T15:18:41Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Just the Ark in German hands can lead to all sorts of very bad scenarios, let alone if WW2 ends like it normally does and now the Soviets have access to it. So the Ark will kill Nazis (and presumably Soviets) who open it, but if they just carry it around they’re all right? And as far as A League Of Their Own and dropping the ball? Yes. That’s what she did to give her sister the hit. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Baggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Mr.Baggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Baggins)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/69 "2023-08-14T15:19:47Z")
> KInda like what happens at the end of Douglas Adams’ Hitchiker’s Guide series where one entire ship of superfluous colonists ends up away from the others and they realize they’ve been jettisoned. Nitpick: the reader realizes they’ve been jettisoned. They remain convinced of their own importance. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/70 "2023-08-14T15:34:53Z")
There are people who think [Oliver Stone’s “JFK”](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/apr/28/jfk-oliver-stone-john-f-kennedy) is a documentary, or at least [“emotionally accurate”](https://cinephiliabeyond.org/jfk/). ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/71 "2023-08-14T15:38:00Z")
It’s their version of “Naked Ann Afraid.” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/72 "2023-08-14T15:40:41Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > And as far as A League Of Their Own and dropping the ball? Yes. That’s what she did to give her sister the hit. But she already had the hit which tied the game, so she was already a hero. There’s no way Dottie would betray the entire rest of her team just so Kit got the win as well. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/73 "2023-08-14T15:42:15Z")
I thought that series was supposed to be humorous. That just sounds horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/74 "2023-08-14T15:42:22Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But: _why are they here?_ Did they arrive to conquer us with their superior technology, or is this their equivalent of going bowhunting? Or of running with the bulls? Or — ? > [@Wolf333](#): > > It’s their version of “Naked Ann Afraid.” Ah, so the ‘Signs aliens’ are kinda like the aliens in the Predator movies-- they could easily wipe out the human race if they wanted to, but they’re giving us a sporting chance? That’s cool, but I think they’re giving us a little _ **too much** _ advantage if they let themselves be taken out with Super Soakers 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/75 "2023-08-14T15:56:11Z")
I will say, I find the following interesting: Lori Petty says “Fuck no.”, "Penny Marshall would never say one way or the other and Geena Davis said she knows but will never tell. I say interesting because at the time, I never heard a peep about there even being a debate until SEVERAL years after I saw the film. There’s not so much as a shred of sympathy shown by Dot to Kit during the game. Kit can barely stand in the batters box, she’s been sobbing so hard. Dottie doesn’t look at her to say ‘its ok.’. She doesn’t whisper “Just do your best Kit”…she literally looks at her like “You’re a fucking embaressment” and goes out to the mound to tell the pitcher her weakness. She does the OPPOSITE of what she told her grandson earlier. If there was an analogy she would have told her grandson “Do a stepover to your left. He falls for it everytime.” ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/76 "2023-08-14T16:06:11Z")
> [@Mr.Baggins](#): > > > KInda like what happens at the end of Douglas Adams’ Hitchiker’s Guide series where one entire ship of superfluous colonists ends up away from the others and they realize they’ve been jettisoned. > > Nitpick: the reader realizes they’ve been jettisoned. They remain convinced of their own importance. Nitpick of the nitpick: Some of them were important. The population of the planet that sent them off was destroyed by an infection spread via unsanitized telephones after they sent all the telephone sanitizers off in the ship. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/77 "2023-08-14T16:47:04Z")
All this discussion of Signs has triggered one of my pet peeves- let me ask a question: what exactly makes you think that the monsters are aliens? ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/78 "2023-08-14T16:50:00Z")
That was part of the article I read, that they were demons. But, to me, whether they were literally aliens or demons wasn’t particularly important. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to some of what J A Q said in post 8. I think it holds a lot of weight. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/79 "2023-08-14T16:53:31Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’m in the Weygand camp but to me the more important point is, _what the hell are letters of transit?_ I mean, regardless of who signed them, the _Nazis_ are going to be all, “Well, we got this guy who’s been a thorn in our side for years _and_ his wife in our clutches but we gotta let him fly to Lisbon because of a couple papers he has?” I don’t think so. The issue isn’t how the _Nazis_ will react to the letters of transit; it’s how the Vichy authorities will react. Vichy police and border officials will naturally be very deferential to anything signed by General Weygand, because he is/was _their boss_. The Nazis can’t be everywhere in Unoccupied France because it’s, well, _unoccupied._ If a Vichy official impressed or intimidated by the letters of transit lets Laszlo leave, he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524/80 "2023-08-14T16:58:45Z")
More to my O.P.: I can’t give solid examples, but there is a huge part of society who just can’t grasp Esprit de corps directly related to war. And its related subjects of ‘never going home again’ That don’t seem able to grasp **We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;** **For he to-day that sheds his blood with me** **Shall be my brother;** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-held-beliefs-or-ignorance-about-a-film-that-drives-you-crazy/988524.md?page=5)