# Why hate Shyamalan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900 "2003-04-24T17:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/21 "2003-04-24T22:56:07Z")
_Signs_ was awful. It had plot holes that you could sail the entire Sixth Fleet through with plenty of room to spare. Let’s see, there are aliens, and despite having the ability to somehow fly across 100’s of light years of space, all they do when they reach planet earth is hide in cornfields and peoples closets and jump on peoples roofs??? Right.:rolleyes: And how come no one else seemed to be freaked out or “attacked” except Mel Gibson’s family? All _Signs_ did was give more false ammunition to the AssHats who go around bleating and screeching that plot circles are really signs that aliens are trying to contact and talk with us.:wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: Shmucks. And exactly what about _Signs_ was Hitchcockian? ---
**Author:** ![Erik\_the\_Viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Erik\_the\_Viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erik_the_Viking)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/22 "2003-04-24T22:58:48Z")
**ftg** , I’m curious as to whether you _knew_ there was a surprise ending going in. I enjoyed _The Sixth Sense_ immensely and was completely blind-sided by the ending in large part because I had no idea there was going to be a surprise; in fact I really didn’t know much about the movie at all. I hate when I go into a film knowing there’s a surprise, because when I sit there looking for it, then yes, it’s pretty obvious. I loved the mood and pacing in _Unbreakable_, but I saw the ending coming a mile away. I thought the part when he intervenes in the home invasion was particularly well done. I had mixed feelings about _Signs_, though, and it felt like he had to strain to get the plot points to fit together. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Harrison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5ac83/32.png) [@John\_Harrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Harrison)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/23 "2003-04-24T23:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \* > And exactly what about _Signs_ was Hitchcockian? I would imagine the use of a McGuffin is a big one. [This review](http://www.reallyscary.com/reviewssigns.asp) explains it fairly well. > [@](#): > > The McGuffin is an incidental device that drives the logic of the plot and the suspense of a film. Hitchcock said it could be ignored as soon as it served its purpose. A good example of a Hitchcock McGuffin is the mistaken identity that takes place at the beginning of North By Northwest. It exists only to get the ball rolling, and once it occurs, we can forget about it, because all that remains is all that’s important in the movie — suspense and action. > > In Signs, the alien invasion is the McGuffin. It serves to set into motion a series of events that tightens the noose around our neck as we watch. Some may argue with me about this, but if you doubt for a moment that the invasion is a McGuffin, note the utter lack of explanation and payoff at the end, and you will realize just how incidental it is to the movie. ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/24 "2003-04-24T23:19:06Z")
Well, about signs Signs is wuite easily the worst movie. Ever. the aliens in alien look better than the aliens there, and they were made maybe 10 years ago! and everything else is stupid! the aliens are morons, and if these guys are demons, I expect at least ONE blast of Fire From Heaven. And if the kid is an angel, she’d look like a giant nudist with six wings and a flaming sword or the giant sphinx from hell!. And I swear. if god killed my wife to say “Pic.Up.And.Swing.Away.”, screwed up my first kid’s head so badly so that she’d probably drink once every six vigintillion years, nearly killed my other kid twice in around 24 hours and sent an alien invasion to my house, when I die, I’d give god a Cosmic kick to his Cosmic nads, put some Cosmic sugar in his Cosmic car, Cosmically screw his Cosmic harem and put god’s Cosmic heart patterned underwear on a Cosmic flagpole for the Cosmic population of heaven to Cosmically see! ---
**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:** [April 25, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/25 "2003-04-25T00:01:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payton’s Servant \* > _Signs_ was awful. It had plot holes that you could sail the entire Sixth Fleet through with plenty of room to spare. I admit that _Signs_ had a lot of problems. The “water” thing probably being the worst. I was able to suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy the movie, even if I needed a weight belt and had to lift with my knees to do it, but I can understand why a lot of other people had problems. I have to say, though, that none of your criticisms make any sense: > [@](#): > > Let’s see, there are aliens, and despite having the ability to somehow fly across 100’s of light years of space, all they do when they reach planet earth is hide in cornfields and peoples closets and jump on peoples roofs??? > > Right.:rolleyes: Wrong. They fly hundreds of light-years to come to this planet and kidnap tens of thousands of humans for some nefarious purpose the movie never reveals. This was explicitly stated in the movie on more than one occasion. > [@](#): > > And how come no one else seemed to be freaked out or “attacked” except Mel Gibson’s family? Wrong again. Remember the footage of the alien at the Mexican birthday party? Remember Mel’s brother hiding in the closet watching TV? Remember all the reports, after Mel’s family repel the invaders, of the wide-spread carnage the invasion caused? > [@](#): > > All _Signs_ did was give more false ammunition to the AssHats who go around bleating and screeching that plot circles are really signs that aliens are trying to contact and talk with us.:wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: :wally :rolleyes: You mean “crop” circles, right? Okay, have you (or anybody else) ever heard anyone anywhere using this movie as “evidence” that crop circles are a genuine extraterrestrial phenomenon? This is really reaching for something to complain about. Hell, the movie even makes a point of saying that “earlier” (ie “real”) crop circles have been completely debunked as fakes. Even if there _are_ some flakes out there who think _Signs_ somehow vindicates their bizarre theories, it’s hardly the film’s fault that a bunch of weirdos can’t tell that it’s fiction. > [@](#): > > Shmucks. > > And exactly what about _Signs_ was Hitchcockian? I found it “Hitchcockian” in Shyamalan’s masterful use of sound and camera movement to create a mood of overwhelming dread. Even _Signs_’ harshest critics admit that, before the disappointing denouement, the film was a near-perfect exercise in style and mood. As Roger Ebert (_not_ one of the film’s harshest critics; he gave it four stars) put it in his review, > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Roger Ebert_ > In “Signs,” [Shyamalan] does what Hitchcock said he liked to do, and plays the audience like a piano. There is as little plot as possible, and as much time and depth for the characters as he can create, all surrounded by ominous dread. The possibility of aliens is the catalyst for fear, but this family needs none, because it has already suffered a great blow. I loved _Signs_, plot holes and all, because the plot holes were entirely secondary to the point Shyamalan was trying to make, which was about the character’s relationships and the dynamics of a family after a terrible tragedy. Unfortunetly, the plot holes were so big that most people got hung up on them and never made the leap to realizing that the plot is not what this movie is about. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/26 "2003-04-25T00:46:09Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by ftg_ > 6th sense was only mildly okay. After all, the “big secret” was really clear by 5 minutes in. 10 if you’re slow on the pickup. So that really shot what little ending it was supposed to have. Good acting by the main women characters though. I’m willing to bet that “five minutes” into _The Sixth Sense_, we were still in Bruce Willis’ bedroom and no one had been shot yet. So how it’s supposed to have been “really clear” by then is beyond me. Did you watch the movie with a copy of the script in your lap, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/27 "2003-04-25T01:00:14Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, hebesphenomegacorona. I’d have to say your post is one of the most incomprehensible pieces of gobbledy-gook I’ve ever seen here, but your passion and overuse of the prefix Cosmic- sent me away smiling. 🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/28 "2003-04-25T02:02:46Z")
You won’t hear me bash him. I’ve very much enjoyed every one of his movies so far. Unbreakable is a very underrated movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/29 "2003-04-25T06:51:46Z")
The only reason to hate him, and while it is a good reason to hate him it’s far from enough, is [_Signs_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130068) (spoiler warning). ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/30 "2003-04-25T07:21:56Z")
I’ve liked all three of his films, though I think _Sixth Sense_ is the most consistently overrated one. A well-executed feature-length Twilight Zone episode, which is a good thing, but still a little baffling in the intensity of the praise. (Almost as baffling as the phenomena of people whose tastes don’t align precisely with my own. Life is full of mysteries.) I suppose the reason to hate him would be that all artists, of all calibers and styles, owe you, personally, the obligation to produce things that you, personally, will enjoy. And when they don’t do that, well, they’re just asking for what they get. They should be on their knees, thanking you. Lousy artists. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/31 "2003-04-25T07:29:08Z")
Shyamalan is a very accomplished director. His problem, which is the same as Tarrantino has, is that he doesn’t have any stories to tell. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/32 "2003-04-25T07:39:06Z")
I hated The Sixth Sense. Why am I alone in this? Fine, I’ll let that one slide since I’m outnumbered a jillion to one. But Signs? _Signs_??!?!??! SIGNS?! It was awful! Watching the movie was pure damn torture. I’ve never so badly yearned to have my have melted off with hydrochloric acid. [Gah!](http://maddox.xmission.com/signs.html) _Warning_ Link contains major spoilers but I’ll be damned if it’s not spot on. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/33 "2003-04-25T07:47:39Z")
To have my have? Err, I’ve never so badly longed to have my _face_ melted off. I would have paid good money to have my eyes gouged out too. I wish I were exaggerating. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/34 "2003-04-25T10:26:12Z")
I thought _The Sixth Sense_ was excellent and that _Unbreakable_ was very good. _Signs_ however, stank. I reject the idea of the alien invasion being a McGuffin. The invasion was not ‘incidental’, it was brought up again and again and again and played a major part driving the story along. It was **not** introduced briefly and then dropped like a Hitchcockian McGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/35 "2003-04-25T11:59:36Z")
I fail to see how the mistaken identity in _North by Northwest_ could be seen as something that can be dismissed once the film starts rolling. Just like the invasion in Signs, it’s the basis that triggers _every_ event in the movie, and it keeps on playing a major role. It’s a McGuffin in the sense that it’s the thing around which the events in the film revolve, but you don’t just ‘forget’ that it’s there. That said, I loved the 6th Sense, I loved Unbreakable, I hated Signs. But I think Shyamalan is one of the most accomplished directors of the past years (in the ‘popular’ genre, anyway), who should just have a few really savvy people around to tell him when he’s going overboard as a screenwriter. ---
**Author:** ![MrMyth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19b73/32.png) [@MrMyth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMyth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/36 "2003-04-25T13:33:45Z")
I’m a fan. After _Unbreakable_ and _Signs_, I find _Sixth Sense_ to be his weakest work. I’m glad it came out first though, if it got _Unbreakable_ green-lighted. I hated it when I first saw it, mostly because of the bad ending. While the end still grates on me a bit, I’ve grown to love the guts of the movie. We tend to think of superheroes as X-Men, or Spidey, or the granddaddy Supes. All flash and pretty costumes. _Unbreakable_ is still to me the best superhero movie yet. I loved the thought of the most powerful among us living as one of the most lowly. I felt _Unbreakable_ could happen, maybe has happened, and I find that thought wonderful. As a comic book/cartoon fan the movie gave me what I’ve wanting for years - a live-action film that treated the heroes as people and not just powers. And _Signs_ wasn’t about the aliens. Hell, the aliens weren’t even aliens, in the Macguffin sense. They were demons. Personal demons. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/37 "2003-04-25T13:59:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrMyth \* > \*\*And _Signs_ wasn’t about the aliens. Hell, the aliens weren’t even aliens, in the Macguffin sense. They were demons. Personal demons. \*\* Oh, don’t use that excuse. That’s no reason to have a sloppy plot that’s basically an infinite amount of plot holes strung together. A plot net, you might say. ---
**Author:** ![Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/38 "2003-04-25T14:13:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrMyth \* > \*\*And _Signs_ wasn’t about the aliens. Hell, the aliens weren’t even aliens, in the Macguffin sense. They were demons. Personal demons. \*\* _Exactly!_ The movie wasn’t about aliens, it was about _faith_! ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/39 "2003-04-25T14:15:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wintermute \* > \*\*_Exactly!_ The movie wasn’t about aliens, it was about _faith_! \*\* Yeah, faith in a deity whose divine message is “swing away”. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900/40 "2003-04-25T14:45:19Z")
The Sixth Sense’s ending was very predictable. From the moment Willis was shot, I knew he would be dead the entire movie and reliving scenes of some sort for the rest of the movie. How did I know that one would ask? I saw Jacob’s Ladder. The Sixth Sense ripped off the premise that the protagonist was dead for the entire movie and living out the rest of his life. The movie was still good but I saw it coming. I didn’t read any reviews and went in hoping to be surprised also. Jacob’s Ladder was a superior film and much darker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hate-shyamalan/170900.md?page=3)