# How do you ruin King Kong for a cognitive psychologist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967 "2013-02-11T13:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/21 "2013-02-13T04:29:15Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Assuming the studies are over, will these films be recycled so they can get the silver back out of them? > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > You are awesome. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/22 "2013-02-13T14:23:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How would those radiologists have responded if the researchers had put a zebra into the pictures? Would they have spotted those? Hey, I’m right here! ---
**Author:** ![Thuringwethil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Thuringwethil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thuringwethil)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/23 "2013-02-13T16:48:32Z")
I am sorely tempted to mention a certain English delicacy and wonder if they would have spotted it. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/24 "2013-02-13T16:50:50Z")
Nzinga, Seated: > [@](#): > > Damn! I’m beginning to think humans just have a hard time seeing gorillas? What if there are gorillas in this room right now?!! That’s why you need a [gorilla detector](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgdV4SGkD9E). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/25 "2013-02-13T17:24:33Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Nzinga, Seated: > > That’s why you need a [gorilla detector](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgdV4SGkD9E). Or possibly a Don Martin Gorilla Suiit Detector: > **[thrift store finds: don martin bounces back](https://chrispearce.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/thrift-store-finds-don-martin-bounces-back/)** > > (Thrift Store Finds is a mostly-weekly “column” of sorts where I discuss some of the cool books I’ve happened upon in my neighborhood St. Vincent DePaul store. Please don’t mistake me for an expert… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/N2n5gAN3IlI/hqdefault.jpg "National Gorilla Suit Day") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2n5gAN3IlI) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/26 "2013-02-13T17:36:49Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Nzinga, Seated: > > That’s why you need a [gorilla detector](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgdV4SGkD9E). Dear Og! That gorilla head looks suspiciously like the one from Robo-Kong in **King Kong Escapes!** : [Yahoo Image Search](http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoS_wzhtRdAgAIN2JzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D46&w=1079&h=1079&imgurl=dododo.heavy.jp%2FTOYS%2FS-MechaniKong%28Used%29-Bandai1991-120810%2F%280%29.JPG&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FMECHANI-KONG-Bandai-Vinyl-Figure-Tokusatsu-Robot-Kaiju-Sofubi-King-Kong-Escapes-%2F130769567732&size=132.8+KB&name=)…+Vinyl+Figure+Tokusatsu+Robot+Kaiju+Sofubi+%3Cb%3EKing+Kong+Escapes+%3C%2Fb%3E%7C+eBay&p=king+kong+escapes&oid=9fe9b9f79f301a34d89fbb7707362807&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=…%2BVinyl%2BFigure%2BTokusatsu%2BRobot%2BKaiju%2BSofubi%2B%253Cb%253EKing%2BKong%2BEscapes%2B%253C%252Fb%253E%257C%2BeBay&b=31&ni=200&no=46&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=13lachkah&sigb=144k9dhsr&sigi=122ranljq&.crumb=G.kSrW0OssH [http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;\_ylt=A0PDoVw2zxtRuwkABnCJzbkF;\_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26\_adv\_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D88&w=271&h=400&imgurl=www.moviecatcher.net%2Fimages%2Fking-kong-escapes.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviecatcher.net%2Fthe-worst-robots-in-movie-history%2F&size=30.1+KB&name=13+mecha+\kong+\<%2Fb\>from+\king+kong+escapes+\<%2Fb\>1967+director+ishiro+honda+...&p=king+kong+escapes&oid=78fd1342c336e11cf61845d3e7de11e8&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=13%2Bmecha%2B%253Cb%253Ekong%2B%253C%252Fb%253Efrom%2B%253Cb%253Eking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%2B%253C%252Fb%253E1967%2Bdirector%2Bishiro%2Bhonda%2B...&b=61&ni=200&no=88&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11ud1sg85&sigb=144ud72v6&sigi=11hdk1iui&.crumb=G.kSrW0OssH](http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoVw2zxtRuwkABnCJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D88&w=271&h=400&imgurl=www.moviecatcher.net%2Fimages%2Fking-kong-escapes.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviecatcher.net%2Fthe-worst-robots-in-movie-history%2F&size=30.1+KB&name=13+mecha+%3Cb%3Ekong+%3C%2Fb%3Efrom+%3Cb%3Eking+kong+escapes+%3C%2Fb%3E1967+director+ishiro+honda+...&p=king+kong+escapes&oid=78fd1342c336e11cf61845d3e7de11e8&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=13%2Bmecha%2B%253Cb%253Ekong%2B%253C%252Fb%253Efrom%2B%253Cb%253Eking%2Bkong%2Bescapes%2B%253C%252Fb%253E1967%2Bdirector%2Bishiro%2Bhonda%2B...&b=61&ni=200&no=88&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11ud1sg85&sigb=144ud72v6&sigi=11hdk1iui&.crumb=G.kSrW0OssH) ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/27 "2013-02-13T23:00:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How do you ruin King Kong for a cognitive psychologist? Have him count the number of times the basketball is passed. I thought you meant tell King Kong (the creature) to count the number of times the basketball is passed. I imagined King Kong sitting in a room watching a basketball game; I couldn’t figure out what the psychologist was going to do to ruin it while King Kong was counting passes. About a half hour later, it hit me: you meant to say “How do you ruin _King Kong_ when it’s about to be watched by a cognitive psychologist who hasn’t seen the movie before.” I can’t decide whether I should be mad at myself for being slow or mad at the OP for not italicising the movie title. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/28 "2013-02-13T23:04:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Dear Og! That gorilla head looks suspiciously like the one from Robo-Kong in **King Kong Escapes!** : > > \ Dear Og indeed! I had a bunch of those Don Martin books, way back in my larval days! Don Martin Steps Out, Don Martin Bounces Back, The Adventures of Captain Klutz, etc. **CalMeacham** , we’re just showing our age here. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/29 "2013-02-13T23:08:43Z")
So, I just watched _King Kong_. The basketball gets passed zero times. In fact, I never even _saw_ a basketball. What a ridiculous exercise. It wouldn’t have been so bad, if at least I got to watch a decent movie while I was counting nothing. But, the movie was really stupid. Everybody talked about finding some giant ape on an island, but then they got there and all I saw were a bunch of dancing natives, with _no basketballs_. I was watching closely. Truly, what a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/30 "2013-02-14T01:25:46Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > So, I just watched _King Kong_. The basketball gets passed zero times. In fact, I never even _saw_ a basketball. What a ridiculous exercise. See, you just made the whole point. While you were so focused on watching the Big Daddy Gorilla, you completely missed the entire basketball tournament scene. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/31 "2013-02-14T03:52:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “Well, THERE’S your problem – you’ve got a gorilla lodged in your lung.” > > Very “fosse”? Are Doctors choreographrers?To be anthropoid experts they’d have to be Fossey. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/32 "2013-02-14T04:02:31Z")
Gorilla my dreams! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/33 "2013-02-14T12:49:23Z")
I saw the Threadspotting tag, and I thought I knew what this thread was about. Then I saw the thread title (or at least, the first few words that showed up on the tab at top of the screen), and thought “Nah, it’s just something about King Kong”. Then I read the OP, and it turns out I was right after all. Well done, **CalMeacham**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/34 "2013-02-14T13:08:46Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > I thought you meant tell King Kong (the creature) to count the number of times the basketball is passed. I imagined King Kong sitting in a room watching a basketball game; I couldn’t figure out what the psychologist was going to do to ruin it while King Kong was counting passes. > > About a half hour later, it hit me: you meant to say “How do you ruin _King Kong_ when it’s about to be watched by a cognitive psychologist who hasn’t seen the movie before.” > > I can’t decide whether I should be mad at myself for being slow or mad at the OP for not italicising the movie title. I make no apologies. Brevity is indeed the soul of wit. If I used as a title “How do you ruin _King Kong_ when it’s about to be watched by a cognitive psychologist who hasn’t seen the movie before” it wouldn’t work, it’d be too damned long for the space, and I’d be accused of being unfunny. I’ll take the chance of confusing a handful of readers (you’re the only complainer) over ruining the joke. Besides, when I try to put italics in the thread title, it never works. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/35 "2013-02-14T13:09:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Dear Og indeed! I had a bunch of those Don Martin books, way back in my larval days! Don Martin Steps Out, Don Martin Bounces Back, The Adventures of Captain Klutz, etc. > > **CalMeacham** , we’re just showing our age here. You quoted from the wrong thread entry! But it’s the thought thsat counts… ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/36 "2013-02-15T00:16:05Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How would those radiologists have responded if the researchers had put a horse into the pictures? Would they have spotted those? > > How would those radiologists have responded if the researchers had put a zebra into the pictures? Would they have spotted those? Neigh. (Yes, I do like to go for the low-hanging fruit.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/37 "2013-02-15T14:12:03Z")
In the movie _Altered States_, after William Hurt comes out of one of his trips, they take an X-ray of his throat and note something unusual. They take it to the radiologist on duty and the following exchange takes place: Mason Parrish: It looks to me like the architecture is slightly abnormal. Dr. Wissenschaft: Somewhat? This guy’s a f\*\*king gorilla! He noticed! Clearly, yet another thing that Hollywood got wrong. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/38 "2013-02-15T14:27:23Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In the movie _Altered States_, after William Hurt comes out of one of his trips, they take an X-ray of his throat and note something unusual. They take it to the radiologist on duty and the following exchange takes place: > > Mason Parrish: It looks to me like the architecture is slightly abnormal. > Dr. Wissenschaft: Somewhat? This guy’s a f\*\*king gorilla! > > He noticed! Clearly, yet another thing that Hollywood got wrong. Well, in their defense, he wasn’t looking for a gorilla hidden in an x-ray. It was an x-ray of a quasi-gorilla. I mean, if gorillas by themselves were invisible in x-rays there’d be no point in x-raying them, right? Clearly, further researsch is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/39 "2013-02-15T16:57:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I mean, if gorillas by themselves were invisible in x-rays there’d be no point in x-raying them, right? Do gorillas have reflections when they stand in front of mirrors? Could they be vampires? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967/40 "2013-02-15T17:54:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Do gorillas have reflections when they stand in front of mirrors? Could they be vampires? Vampire Gorillas. The mind boggles. It’s kinda like _Queen of the Black Coast_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-ruin-king-kong-for-a-cognitive-psychologist/649967.md?page=3)