# Shyamalan documentary... WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551 "2004-06-15T22:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![murky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@murky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murky)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/1 "2004-06-15T22:17:29Z")
does anyone know what is going on with Shyamalan and him just walking away from this documentary they singed on to do? It sounds like both camps are [about to brawl](http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/3417691/detail.html) over this thing. Is Shyamalan just _that_ private that suddenly asking personal qustions got him all in a huff? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/2 "2004-06-15T23:40:29Z")
It depends on what the understandings were in the first place. It sounds like the documentarians veered well off the “about film” context of the documentary that project was sold to Shyamalan under, and started aggressively poking around into his past and private life, despite his express wishes to the contrary. Hell, they’re almost bragging about it. The documentarian Greene sounds like a complete asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/3 "2004-06-16T00:35:57Z")
If Shyamalan thought the filmmakers were not going to veer off the “suggested” list, he was guilty of being very, very naive. ---
**Author:** ![murky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@murky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murky)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/4 "2004-06-16T18:21:20Z")
maybe a little from column a and a little from column B. Totally speculating here, but I’d imagine that Shyamalan is okay talking about certain aspects of his personal life but maybe Sci Fi started rubbing salt in an old wound? ---
**Author:** ![murky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@murky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murky)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/5 "2004-06-24T14:14:42Z")
big ol’ bump to say that these documentary tapes have been [stolen](http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/23549.htm) and I’m sure conspiracy theorists are peeing themselves. > [@](#): > > Only a handful of SCI FI people even knew of the existence of the clip reel, and management is determined to find out who hijacked the delivery — and will press charges if neces sary (they believe it’s an in side job). duuude. Some poor intern wrote the wrong address and he’s about to have a bad, bad day. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/6 "2004-06-24T14:25:23Z")
I have heard that the documentary, [The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan](http://www.scifi.com/mnight/), is… …a hoax, ala the “Blair Witch Project”, perpetrated with Shyamalan’s approval. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/7 "2004-06-24T14:57:09Z")
I think **astro** hit it on the head. A behind-the-scenes ‘making of’ documentary is generally considered to be a puff piece. They usually show the film and filmmakers in the most flattering light possible. So if these guys started digging around for negative information, I’m sure Shyamalan feels perfectly justified in walking away from the side project. Of course, if **joshmaker** is right… thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/8 "2004-06-24T16:56:06Z")
> [@joshmaker](#): > > I have heard that the documentary, [The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan](http://www.scifi.com/mnight/), is… …a hoax, ala the “Blair Witch Project”, perpetrated with Shyamalan’s approval. That’s what I’ve heard, too. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/9 "2004-06-24T17:09:15Z")
Didn’t they do something like this before “Blair Witch” came out? I’d be real skeptical that this is anything but a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/10 "2004-06-24T19:07:37Z")
I came up with the same theory as soon as I saw the commercial. ---
**Author:** ![murky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@murky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murky)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/11 "2004-07-08T14:11:12Z")
I guess its possible that it could be a prank. But isn’t Nathaniel Kahn a pretty serious filmmaker? I’d be surprised if he would want to be involved in something like that. However, Defamer posted a [leaked memo](http://www.defamer.com/topic/m-night-shyamalans-incredibly-spooky-viral-marketing-campaign-017351.php) from Sci Fi about the documentary. They are pretty skeptical too. The intrigue continues. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/12 "2004-07-08T15:09:02Z")
> [@murky](#): > > But isn’t Nathaniel Kahn a pretty serious filmmaker? I’d be surprised if he would want to be involved in something like that. I’ve seen _My Architect_ and frankly, I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![murky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@murky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/murky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/13 "2004-07-13T16:05:34Z")
so apparently his secret was that he almost drowned? Or some other kid drowned? The language doesn’t really make it very clear to me. From [Indy Star](http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/161743-2886-062.html): > [@](#): > > Shyamalan’s secret to be revealed > > The deep dark secret that “The Sixth Sense” director M. Night Shyamalan is trying to stop the Sci-Fi Channel from airing has to do with a 1981 drowning that occurred when he was 11 years old, reports The New York Post’s Page Six. > > It’s not known who the drowning victim was or how he or she was connected to Shyamalan, now 33. But he’s been trying to keep the cable channel from showing the expose-type documentary that he originally cooperated with but later changed his mind about. > > However, lawyers for the channel have given the go-ahead for the three-hour program, “The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan,” and Sunday’s air date is still in place. Shyamalan has refused to comment on the documentary, which is airing less than two weeks before his new thriller, “The Village,” hits theaters. Interesting. Although if it was a traumatic experience I can see why he wouldn’t want to talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/14 "2004-07-18T03:27:30Z")
It was a [hoax](http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/17/biography.hoax.ap/index.html), but Shyamalan had nothing at all to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/15 "2004-07-18T16:54:57Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > but Shyamalan had nothing at all to do with it. Hang on… I fail to see where you infer that. Your link specifically says > [@](#): > > “We created a fictional special that was part-fact and part-fiction, and Night was part of the creation from the beginning,” the network chief said. So he knew from the beginning that they were making a “mocumentary” with specifically misleading bits of info. There’s nothing in the article that indicates that he wasn’t also made aware of how they were going to market the special. Indeed, if he _hadn’t_ been aware that they were going to market it this way, wouldn’t he have spoken up a month ago when they were trashing his reputation over every major news outlet? Let’s say for a minute he didn’t know. Pretend you’re M. Night. You make a mocumentary. You think everything’s peachy keen. Suddenly you start hearing news reports about how uncooperative you are, that the SciFi people will never work with you again, and that they’re seeking legal counsel to see if it’s okay for them to air the show. Now you’re rightfully concerned about not only your professional reputation, but also how they’re going to edit the special you’ve worked on. Wouldn’t you make a few phone calls to find out WTF is going on? Who in their _right mind_ is going to keep you in the dark at that point?? He’s had to have known for at least a month. I’m glad this came out before the thing aired, otherwise I might have watched and been incredibly pissed off. I **hate** being manipulated like that. ---
**Author:** ![DoperChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@DoperChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoperChic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/16 "2004-07-19T03:34:18Z")
I’d just like to chime in here to say how happy, no downright relieved, I am to find out that this whole thing is a hoax. I’ve been sitting in my livingroom for the past three hours with every light on in the entire apartment wondering how the hell I’m going to sleep tonight. Doperchic \<~~ :wally ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/17 "2004-07-19T03:53:59Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I’m glad this came out before the thing aired, otherwise I might have watched and been incredibly pissed off. I **hate** being manipulated like that. You are aware that manipulation of that sort is Shyamalan’s entire _raison d’etre_ for being a filmmaker, right? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/18 "2004-07-19T03:58:46Z")
> [@](#): > > and Night was part of the creation from the beginning Ah, shoot; I missed that part. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/19 "2004-07-19T06:06:16Z")
Famous Peter Jackson mockumentary _Forgotten Silver_ was played in New Zealand like that, and a ood percentage of the viewing public were really angry. They got mad at Peter Jackson, and at the TV channel, when really it was clear they were embarrassed that they were so easily duped by something that was, if you watched it, blatantly obviously fake. So if there’s a backlash about this thing, then it is not unprecedented. Some people do not like practical jokes like this. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551/20 "2004-07-19T12:33:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You are aware that manipulation of that sort is Shyamalan’s entire _raison d’etre_ for being a filmmaker, right? Mmm… I don’t see it as _quite_ the same thing. His movies, ultimately, are fiction. There’s no way you could pass something like “Unbreakable” as non-fiction. Therefore I don’t see fact that there are twists at the end as necessarily manipulations… more a neat little trick on the moviegoer, who IMHO has become incredibly passive and needs to start really _thinking_ about movies again. The crap the publicists pulled in this case is nowhere near the same thing. Having a semi-serious documentary and pulling a Night-twist at the end would be one thing. Trashing (with his approval) his reputation, making it out to be this Really Big Thing, purporting it to be **TRUE** , is another altogether. I compare it to something like this: I like to watch the History Channel. One day I see an ad for a documentary by two people who have a reputation for semi-serious work, claiming to have brand-new evidence about Jack the Ripper. Uncovering a huge secret one no one has heard of before. Ad plays constantly, has snippets of historians saying “it’s an amazing discovery.” Then it airs, and turns out to be an hour-long advertisement for “From Hell.” I’d be _pissed_. Not like the people who waited hours to see what was in Al Capone’s vault, but still. Keep fiction fiction, non-fiction non-fiction, is all I’m asking. Maybe I’m being a bit petulant and petty, but that’s just how I feel. Incidentally, I didn’t fall for the Blair Witch thing. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shyamalan-documentary-wtf/250551.md?page=2)