SHELEG@SRI-AI.ARPA (10/11/85)
From: SHELEG@SRI-AI.ARPA Wrong, wrong, wrong. Amazing stories was quite good last week. I don't much blame the people who didn't like it though. I too am so jaded by MTV-like crap that when I start seeing something which even resembles it I sometimes pay no attention. THEATER OF THE ABSURD That's exactly what this was. Brad Bender wasn't just a popular kid. He was absurdly popular. How many high school kids could turn on their morning radios and hear their names shouted out wildly? This kid's entire life could be summarized by a "thumbs up". Pointing out minor plausibility flaws in this is like watching Waiting For Godot and complaining "Hey, nobody talks like that! I've never seen scenery like that." Of course not; that's the whole point. I couldn't stop laughing during the locker scene. (By the way, I'm not much on cenamatography, (I can't even spell it) but I liked very much the long shot of the lockers when the Bender kid wasn't even seen!) "ALL RIGHT!! SO I'M MAGNETIC!! SO WHAT!?!" Talk about a nice bit of dialogue. Please, someone help me. What was the name of the short story where everyone must be equal (must conform to the lowest common denominator). Beautiful people must wear ugly masks, smart people wear painful sound devices which break their trains of thought, etc.. The super-human in that (wearing hundreds of pounds of metal and head phones) THAT was Brad Bender. As for Hitchcock Presents......sorry, no. The problem is the entire story was trashed for the sake of a "Gotcha" ending. It's totally ridiculous that no one would notice that the murdered policeman's wife was taking care of the murderer. How did she manage to be so gentle, kind, and giving to that psychopathic maggot when she should have been in terrible grief? Merrill Streep couldn't have pulled it off. Remember here she did it for FOUR DAYS. Why did she have to take him out of the hospital? (remember the "just pull my IV" part?). Why did she have to drug him? Couldn't he just pretend to be asleep? Once she got him out of the hospital, why did she keep carrying on with the charade?? (I'm talking about to the point of having him in her house siting on her bed and STILL saying "Everything's fine, you'll be safe here.") Total nonsense. The writer should have decided whether he was writing a practical joke or a serious piece of fiction. And before people start flaming at me, YES, I can think of a few hacks to make this (mostly) plausible. First, how did she manage to be his nurse? You got me on that one (Suggestions anyone?) Second, how was she so nice to him? Well, you see, she too was more than a little psychopathic. The killing of her husband (ie the taking of one of her possessions) quite properly set off a clang reaction to get back in the best possible way at the culprit. This of course robs her of much needed audience sympathy, but it's the best I can do.(anyone?) As for leaving the hospital? Why take chances? Shoot (or poison or whatever) him there and someone might just save him (You'll only get one try, what with a cop right outside the door.) It's best to have him alone. As for the drugging that could actually be quite interesting. What did she give him? Perhaps along with the sedative something to make him die a slow convulsion ridden horrible death? Why bring him all the way to the house? Several reasons. Perhaps she actually has a plan to get away with all of this (I admit it would have to be one HECK of a good plan). Also, remember, he's going to die slow and hard. (The gun was either an after thought or "plan B".) Why continue to be nice to him? Well, what fun is his dying if she can't watch? As for finally shooting him? It was plain he wasn't about to stick around. However, with that pistol she probably could have changed his mind (shoot him in the foot to convince him). But perhaps after he quite randomly found out she was the victem's wife, she found it (psychopaths being what they are) a proper time to "let him have it". Having said that, I'll also say -- NO, in writing I don't believe (with a few exceptions (poetry being the most notable)) that one should have to work that hard just for the story to make any sense. I do believe good writing should set one thinking, but a different kind of thinking. It's the difference between "It would take a very fine driver to explore all the possibilities of this race car." and "It would take a very fine mechanic to make this piece of junk start." My thanks to the person who said that good comedy offends people. I never thought about that before. My first reaction was "No it doesn't". However, most good comedy I've seen which doesn't offend people actually doesn't offend OTHER people. Can you say self deprecation? I knew that you could. I can't believe how much television I'm watching, (either I'm becoming less of a snob, (not likely from the above) or SOME television is getting a lot better). -Bob Sheleg -------
Piersol.PASA@Xerox.ARPA (10/16/85)
From: Kurt <Piersol.pasa@Xerox.ARPA> I remember the story regarding handicapping the above average, and I know it was by Kurt Vonnegut. The premise was pretty much as you mentioned, and had a truly superb ending. The title, however, escapes me as well. Kurt