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16 Apr 2008
Are you a better liar than that?
16 Apr 2008 10:06 pmIt's been overcast for hours now in that looming, swirly grey, ugly way that halfway puts you to sleep and halfway gives you some kind of freaky psychic-feeling headache. GO AWAY, stupid weather.
Okay, so you know in the movies, when people are suddenly ambushed by a desire to lie or misdirect - ie they haven't had time to anticipate, plan, and prepare what to say (we'll leave those cases out) - and they flub it, like dropping a ball. For example:
You know, they... betray surprise, flounder and don't come up with a prevarication on time, and then utter something unconvincing. Now, it's true that some people do this in reality. I mean, I've seen it happen, with exactly the same train of thought ("Uh-oh, gotta lie - she's going to act as if the idea had never occurred to her - what is she - now it's completely awkward - nobody would believe her NOW. The fool!"), but most frequently with, you know, children. It could just be that people don't lie very often, but I tend to assume that people are telling tiny to medium-sized lies around us all the time and they usually do it at least passably well. The sort of fiasco you see in awkward social situations in the movies seems like an incredibly rare occurrence, to me, whose frequency is overrepresented on film (not, mind you, that I don't see why it might be. Dramatic tension, etc).
[Poll #1172202]
Okay, so you know in the movies, when people are suddenly ambushed by a desire to lie or misdirect - ie they haven't had time to anticipate, plan, and prepare what to say (we'll leave those cases out) - and they flub it, like dropping a ball. For example:
A: The rumour is that you quit because you were having an affair with the boss.
B: [Blank, shocked look for a beat] [Awkward and unconvincing chuckle]
You know, they... betray surprise, flounder and don't come up with a prevarication on time, and then utter something unconvincing. Now, it's true that some people do this in reality. I mean, I've seen it happen, with exactly the same train of thought ("Uh-oh, gotta lie - she's going to act as if the idea had never occurred to her - what is she - now it's completely awkward - nobody would believe her NOW. The fool!"), but most frequently with, you know, children. It could just be that people don't lie very often, but I tend to assume that people are telling tiny to medium-sized lies around us all the time and they usually do it at least passably well. The sort of fiasco you see in awkward social situations in the movies seems like an incredibly rare occurrence, to me, whose frequency is overrepresented on film (not, mind you, that I don't see why it might be. Dramatic tension, etc).
[Poll #1172202]