# The Crappening...Happening. On DVD. Open spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921 "2008-10-07T23:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/1 "2008-10-07T23:45:03Z")
I figured most of didn’t go out and see this, but now that it’s on DVD, we might as well trash it. Honestly, it’s worth a rental just to see how bad it is. You can bring pals over to MST3K the thing for fun, so at least you can get something for your money. I’m still floored by the fact that M. Night keeps getting money to make more films, even though each one he makes lately is far worse than the last. He writes dialogue that no human being would ever say. Various complaints and open spoilers abound below: The construction worker at the beginning sees someone fall and says, “McKenzie fell!” It’s more likely he would have said, “Oh shit!” or “McKenzie!!” Then he and his pals approach the fallen man and he says “Give him some room.” They’re already a few feet away! Markie W. says things like “duh” and “Bro” to his pal John Leguizamo, making them sound more like preteens than adults. Several characters have the names Joey, Jess, Julian, Jerry, and Josh. Lazy writing. John L. is totally wasted in his tiny role. What’s he doing sitting down on the pavement after the car crashes? And if there were several people in that car and he survived the crash into the tree, why didn’t anyone else exit the car? Zooey D. comes off as a whiny, neurotic dork. But then, so does Markie. The small girl is wasted in her role as well. When the woman was watching the lion attack on video, she wondered aloud what kinds of terrorists these were. This made me laugh. How could I not? Mrs. Jones whacks the small girl on the hand for no good reason and the adults say nothing about this. Why? Why was the family in Florida huddling in the bathtub? Nobody said anything about a hurricane. When the train reaches Filbert, everyone on the train can see the sign on the station. A minute later, Markie asks the conductor where they are. Wasn’t he just looking right at the sign? The scientist at the end was really hyper-goofy. I could go on, but I’ve made the point. So come on in and join the bashing. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/2 "2008-10-07T23:50:19Z")
So what was the big twist at the end, for those of us who can’t be assed to google it? ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/3 "2008-10-07T23:55:46Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > So what was the big twist at the end, for those of us who can’t be assed to google it? M Night Shamalamabingbang makes a cameo, breaks the fourth wall, and calls everyone in the audience suckers. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/4 "2008-10-08T00:18:40Z")
It was a defense mechanism created by the trees, from what I remember off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/5 "2008-10-08T00:21:04Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > So what was the big twist at the end, for those of us who can’t be assed to google it? I pass this along, without pretending to care or understand, from [here](http://www.themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/thehappening.html): > [@](#): > > Elliot and Alma figure that this is the end. They reminisce about their first date, and how Alma was so quiet until Elliot gave her his mood ring. It changed to pink and he said that it meant she was in love, which got her to talk. However, she later found out it meant that she was horny, which didn’t upset Elliot at all. They both forgot what the color for love was, and Elliot says that if they’re both going to die, he wants them to be together. Elliot emotionally opens the door to the house and walks outside while surrounded by the wind. Alma and Jess and walk towards Elliot. The wind surrounds them, but they are not affected by the toxin. They all go back inside the house, and Elliot says that the event must’ve stopped just before they went outside. > > Three months later – Alma gets Jess ready for her first day of school. She puts a photo of Jess’ parents in her backpack and hugs her. Elliot walks Jess to meet the school bus, and promises to pick her up after school. We see on the news that the event only happened in the north-east area, and everywhere else in the world was unaffected. A reporter interviews a professor, who believes that the plants released the toxin because of how much we have polluted the planet, but people have a lot of doubt about it. Due to how short it lasted and where it happened, some believe that it was the government’s fault with maybe a test gone awry. Meanwhile, Alma waits anxiously in the bathroom. After some time passes, she looks at a pregnancy test and it’s positive. As Elliot walks back home, Alma surprises him outside with the news that they will have a child together. Meanwhile, in France, we see two French bicyclists walking through the park when the wind starts to blow. One of the bicyclists looks around and sees that everyone, including his friend, has stopped moving. > > The film ends with the bicyclists’ friend becoming disoriented, showing that the event is happening again in France. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/6 "2008-10-08T00:22:18Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > It was a defense mechanism created by the trees, from what I remember off the top of my head. Yep. The plants were trying to warn us to quit screwing around with pollution and stuff. It was pretty much advertised throughout the film, so it wasn’t really a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/7 "2008-10-08T01:06:40Z")
Christ, can we not get through one of these threads without somebody making fun of Shyamalan’s name, or pretending it’s impossible to spell or pronounce? Make fun of his fucking half-baked scripts that keep getting worse. I didn’t see _The Happening_, but the reviews I read were not kind. One common thread was that in this one, even the basic direction of scenes didn’t work – the timing was wrong, sequences of events were unclear, etc. Just too far into the dreamlike stylized realm that worked well when used more sparingly. Or, just a bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/8 "2008-10-08T01:13:55Z")
Deschanel’s pinpoint pupils bugged the everliving crap out of me. No one else had them, but she was that way in at least half the scenes in the film, and I couldn’t figure out if she was on drugs or what. (I’ve only otherwise seen her in Tin Man on TV, and wasn’t able to see her pupils that closely, so I didn’t notice at the time if she was having that issue.) Maybe Shyamalan had to make her look directly into bright lighting in order to make her eyes tear up, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/9 "2008-10-08T01:59:36Z")
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch run from the wind. That pretty much sums it up. The only reason I kept watching after the lion attack (which looked like a damn iPhone commercial) was because I have a thing for Zooey Deschanel. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/10 "2008-10-08T03:19:05Z")
Guys, you totally missed it. The twist is the scientist guy at the very end saying they don’t really know what caused it. Kind of like Markie’s speech to the kids in his class early in the movie. I guess my expectations for an M Night movie are really low, because this one didn’t suck half as much as I expected it to. Don’t get me wrong, it was bad, but I expected much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/11 "2008-10-08T04:38:00Z")
Just finished watching it an hour ago. Someone on imdb used the word “uninspired” to describe it, and I think that kind of hits the nail on the head. The characters were meh (wow, an average guy, a neurotic girl, a crazy hippie couple - how original). The story was laughable (chemicals from plants - seriously, that’s it?), and some of the moments that were supposed to be dramatic and horrifying were just funny (like the scene where the guy lies down in front of the tractor). It had some potential - the beginning (with everyone just walking off the side of the building for no reason) got me all excited for a great movie - but it just fell flat after about 15 minutes. [slight hijack] Remember when M. Night first came on the scene? _The Sixth Sense_, _Unbreakable_, _Signs_ - a lot of people consider those really _great_ movies, myself included. Ok, \*The Village \*wasn’t good, but it wasn’t _that_ bad. _Lady in the Water_, though - there really isn’t any excuse for that, is there? It was bloated, self-important, and nonsensical. And now - this. He put out a terrible script with a story that goes nowhere, wrapped it in terrible characters, and handed it to the movie-going public - “Here’s a movie I made, I guess. Whatever.” He had a great idea for a thriller/horror - people kill themselves for no reason - yet he couldn’t be bothered to think of any explanation better than “it was plants”. Frigging plants, man? So what’s the deal? Has he lost his touch, or does he just not care anymore? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/12 "2008-10-08T05:03:55Z")
Here’s a slight hijack on my part: That train scene was filmed on the railroad that I work for (Norfolk Southern) even though the train itself was a Septa train. Because it’s our railroad, our employees had to be in control of the train. My brother was the actual conductor (not the one shown in the film) and another guy I work with was running the train. Our maintenance of way foreman has a cameo somewhere in the train scene too. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/13 "2008-10-08T07:39:32Z")
Yeah it wasn’t great. But whoever put the trailer together did a great job! 😃 The premise was dumb. The death scenes were pretty cool. The dialogue was… interesting, as well as some of the behaviors of the characters. It was odd, but it may have intentionally been odd. If so, then I found it enjoyably quirky and amusing and stylized. If it wasn’t intentional then it was kind of dumb. There were one or two moments when it got self-referential, and also it’s much more enjoyable if you see it from that perspective, so I’m leaning towards intentional. So, I don’t know. I liked everything up through The Village. Lady in the Water upset me, but it had a lot of good aspects - some of the acting was very good, the general story was interesting, it was decently scary. The problem was 1) M Night’s ego shat all over the thing, with his name in 1000pt font displayed several times, a messianic acting role in his own movie, and a sacrificial critic character and 2) clearly the financiers didn’t require anyone else to edit him this time. Happening had different problems though. There were some cool moments, but it just seemed weaker. Only poltergeist has done evil trees well. And the dialogue and behaviors were a little funky. It might have been intentional, in which case it was interesting, but it wasn’t what you usually expect from a MNS film so it was a little confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/14 "2008-10-08T11:26:39Z")
I haven’t seen The Happening, nor have I seen any of the trailers. However, based on all his other films I’d be curious to know if the film includes any or all of the following: [ul] [li]The male lead standing still and looking concerned/worried/constipated for quite a long time;[/li][li]A room reflected in a television screen;[/li][li]Water, portrayed in such a way as to make sure that you know it is VERY SIGNIFICANT; and/or[/li][li]M Night himself in a performance that stops just short of him looking at the camera, pointing to his chest and mouthing “IT’S ME!”[/li][/ul] If yes, then I _have_ already seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/15 "2008-10-08T11:39:52Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I haven’t seen The Happening, nor have I seen any of the trailers. However, based on all his other films I’d be curious to know if the film includes any or all of the following: > > [ul] > [li]The male lead standing still and looking concerned/worried/constipated for quite a long time;[/li][li]A room reflected in a television screen;[/li][li]Water, portrayed in such a way as to make sure that you know it is VERY SIGNIFICANT; and/or[/li][li]M Night himself in a performance that stops just short of him looking at the camera, pointing to his chest and mouthing “IT’S ME!”[/li][/ul] > > If yes, then I _have_ already seen it. Definitely 1, as Wahlberg does a lot of that. Actually no on 4, as his “cameo” is a voice on a phone call to Deschanel. I don’t even recall if you can hear him that well or anything. Not sure about 2 or 3. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/16 "2008-10-08T12:35:48Z")
Hitchcock liked to have little cameos in his movies, but he knew he wasn’t an actor, so you’d just see him walking a dog, or missing a bus, or (best of all) as the “before” picture in a newspaper ad for a weight-loss product. He didn’t make his own movie lurch to a halt. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/17 "2008-10-08T13:26:25Z")
Was there whispering? There had to be whispering. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/18 "2008-10-08T13:41:23Z")
I saw ads for the DVD on TV which mention an extra hour of footage too intense for theatres. ooooh, scary. Can anyone report on this “extra”? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/19 "2008-10-09T15:52:10Z")
> [@ArizonaTeach](#): > > Was there whispering? > > There had to be whispering. I know from the ads that there was a very solemn delivery of something very profound: “It appears . . . an Event . . . is Happening.” I was hoping it would continue like this: "It appears . . . an Event . . . is Happening. An Occurrence, Taking Place. Yes, an Incident . . . is Coming About. It is Going Down." “No way!” “Way. The proverbial Shit, if you will, is Hitting the proverbial Fan.” “Jesus!” “Quite.” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921/20 "2008-10-09T16:44:50Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > I saw ads for the DVD on TV which mention an extra hour of footage too intense for theatres. ooooh, scary. Can anyone report on this “extra”? Well, I looked at a few of the deleted scenes, but all I remember seeing is an extended version of the lion attack on the guy. That’s probably what was meant by “intense.” I didn’t bother with all of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crappening-happening-on-dvd-open-spoilers/466921.md?page=2)