In class, we talked about how our initial expectations of the podcast ended up making us feel dissapointed. A mystery on the level of Scooby-Doo or the Hardy Boys was set up: but in the end, "The House on Loon Lake" was a story about a family and abandonment.
Thinking about other stories you've encountered (in movies, tv, books, etc.), share an experience where the initial promise of the story (or the initial expectation you had) ended up being different from the end product? How did you get that initial expectation? What rhetoric was used by the maker to create a certain mood or tone? How did you feel, as a reader or a viewer, when that happened?
In the show Greys Annatomy most episodes conclude with many life's being saved. In a specific episode that stood out to me one of the main patients of the episode died. Although it appeared the whole time that the patient was getting better the initial expectation of the end was not the final result. The mood was hopeful for most of the episode and it appeared that the patient's conditions were improving but in the end the mood was somber.As a viewer I was disapointed in the episode and it upset me.
ReplyDeleteThe Star Wars movie, Phantom Menace, ended up being WAY different than what I had thought it was going to be. After being impressed and wowed by the first three original Star Wars, I had expected "Episode 1" to be visually appealing, action packed, deep movie like the previous 3. Instead it was almost like watching a kids movie. The effects were bad, with most of the people and animations looking very cartoonish. That really took away from the experience. The plot was literally what could have been a Disney Channel show, plus Darth Maul. It was about a little kid in a race. I don't even have to mention the introduction of Jar Jar Binks, possibly the most annoying character in any movie. The acting wasn't very good either, with most characters trying to over-do it; most things they say sound very forced or like they tried to hard to sound like their character. It wasn't natural. I feel the director just tried to make this appealing to kids, which took away from the movie experience.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I was so disappointed by the film was because the previous three had been excellent, so the bar was set high for this movie, and it was a let down. There had been a lot of hype to the movie; hype it just couldn't live up to. The writer had a different idea for where he wanted the series to go, and it wasn't what I wanted from that movie.
In most all tv show commericals, they are trying to make the show seem like if you miss this episode you will regret it. They try to make it seem very intense and drama filled. You get all excited to watch, and most of the time all the drama that they brought up lasts for 2 minutes. You get all worked up just to be let down and then they say that the next week will be even more drama. The commericals always contain that most dramatic music and normally show something happening and then cut it off. Grey's Anatomy is the best example. I am always let down and hate the rollercoaster.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Paranormal Activity was a huge disappointment to me. I thought the movie was going to be terrifying, but the only scary part was the last five minutes. I got that initial expectation because of the previews for the movie. Everyone was talking about it and the previews only showed the interesting parts, which is acceptable. Previews are used to attract people to the movie. However, the movie itself was awful. The mood and tone were creepy, but extremely slow throughout the movie. However, in the previews the mood and tone were scary, and showed only the highlights of the movie. I felt like it was pointless to see the movie, since everything that was remotely scary was found in the previews.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Inception had a very surprising ending. When I started watching the movie, I expected each event to lead to another till finally a conclusion was met. I got this expectation through the majority of the movie where each action led to something explainable. By the end of the movie, I was surprised because the ending was open-ended without an explanation. The movie did not have a typical conclusion and left me thinking whether the next event would go one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI just recently watched The Girl with the dragon Tattoo and the ending was very surprising. I was not expecting the girl that went missing 40 yrs ago to still be alive. It lead you on a trail of little in sites on how she might have died. I got the initial expectation of the the movie to be a little strange from watching the beginning of the movie of how the girl with the dragon tattoo dressed and acted but in the end I loved the movie and would be willing to watch it again. The beginning of the movie was like a mystery and added a love story twist. I was not expecting it to have a love story background to revolve around. The maker was persuading you into thinking the missing girl was dead so you would be shocked by the ending. In the end the love story was crushed and the missing girl was still alive i was shocked by both of these situations and i think the marker did this to show that life is full of ups and downs and that you can change your life for your self. This exemplifies that everything doesn't come as you want it to. I feel it was very powerful to know that someone can escape from a horrible life.
ReplyDeleteAn example of a movie that ended with an unexpected and, at that, unpleasant twist was Pay it Forward. Throughout the story this kid goes and helps three people after being inspired by his teacher to give back to the community. He then tells these people to "pay it forward" by helping three other people as repayment, in a sense, for the help he gave. The movie has all the characteristics of a feel good movie and even has a reconciliation of lovers right before the end. The movie ends with the boy getting stabbed and dying. I was stunned. To this day, I think the movie was terrible for its ending.
ReplyDeleteI recently watched a movie called "Set Up" on Netflix. The movie had great reviews and comments by viewers and critics on Netflix, so I thought it would be a great one to watch. At first, the movie was action packed and very interesting as the reviews had said. The actors were good and I had thought I had picked a good one. But as it continued on it began to get boring and hard to watch. The acting and directing just started getting worse and worse as the movie progressed. After a while I could not take it anymore and finally decided to pick a new movie.
ReplyDeleteHow a movie, show or any story makes you feel all comes from the begining set up. The author creates and sets up the way the story is going to make use feel by the way he or she chooses what is shared with the reader/watcher. When the author changes the way we percieve the story it leaves us feeling left out and not understanding the reason for the story.
ReplyDeleteI tv show that I watched that was different from what I expected was Royal Pains on USA Network. The seemed boring to me because it was advertised as a house doctor practicing in the Hamptons which didn't seem that interesting to me. But when I watched the show it turned out to have danger and exciting twists and great plot that made it become one of my favorite television shows. The maker made the show seem as if it would be your typical doctor living a mundane live but it turned out he had to use impractical techniques to save lives. This had me wrapped up in the show as I felt involved with the dramatic scenes going on in the show.
ReplyDeleteHands down, the biggest disappointment of the year was the movie J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The previews made it seem like it was an action packed, FBI, thriller movie. But in reality, it was extremely boring and almost like a history class. I'm sure the movie made tons of money, it had a big name actor and a great trailer. However, it was absolutely awful.
ReplyDeleteThe Green Latern starring Ryan Renolds was a god awful movie. When I saw the previews for the movie, I wanted to see how this movie would compete with other superhero movies such as Superman, the Dark Knight, and Hulk. The previews must have had all the interesting parts incorporated in it because I found the movie very boring and by the end I was bored out of my mind.
ReplyDeleteI recently saw a movie called All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. When I started the movie I thought it was going to be kind of a romantic drama involving the two main characters living out there lives together. I didn't expect the movie to turn out the way it did at all. They used the sense of love and the action of marriage to trick you into thinking it's going to be a upbeat happy movie. At first they make the movie seem all light hearted and then the movie gets darker and darker as it goes on. By the end I was in shock about how it went from such a light hearted romance to a murder involving the main characters.
ReplyDeleteAn example of a movie that ended with an unexpected plot is the Tourist. After the face-lift, a financial fugitive ask his girlfriend to find him and help him take the money. The girl meets a stranger in a train and fell in love with the passenger; however, she did not realize that passenger is her boyfriend until the end of the movie. Many audience include I was surprised at the end of the film too, because the stranger always did some stupid and funny thing in the story. People cannot connect him with a supper smart financial fugitive together. This is a successful part of the movie; audience is surprised and would deeply think about the clue again and again after the film.
ReplyDeleteA moive that didn't end as my expect named Match Point.It talked about a man get into upper class society by change and fortune,and married a rich man's daughter. But he fell in love with his borther-in-low's ex-fiancee and let her become his lover out of marriage.But his lover got pregnant and forced him to get divorced with his wife.After a long time struggle, he thought he can't give up the comfortable life which depends on his wife because he worked in his father-in-low's company.So he murdered his lover. I expect that in the end the police would find the criminal is him. However, he successfully excaped legal sanctions and got his own baby. Although the ending makes me upset to some degree, it shows a part of the real life that justice is not anywhere and anytime.
ReplyDeleteTwo summers ago I went with some of my friends to see 'The Last Airbender' movie in the theaters. I went into the film thinking that it was going to be amazing because it was meant to based off of a television show that I really loved. Within the first two minutes of the film the audience was groaning about how bad the movie was already. The next hour and a half my friends and I sat and laughed at how poorly made the movie was. The character names did not follow those of the show, and the action sequences did not scale in any way to how well the show portrayed them. I had never been so disappointed by a movie in my whole life.
ReplyDeleteThe most recent thing that went against my expectation was the "pumped up kicks" video. I thought it would a really interesting story about teenagers forming a band and travelling around to give shows. I actually cannot hear clearly what they were singing until I had a look to the lyrics. And this reminds me of the arcade fire video, in which a peaceful suburban story because a tragedy. Sometimes things do not come in the way I thought it should; I do not find it so frustrated but I may want to see a story ends in what I have expected.
ReplyDeleteThe first movie that comes to mind when I try to think of something that had an ending much different from my expectations is Shutter Island. The entire movie is filmed to make the audience believe that the main character is a credible detective attempting to investigate an insane asylum. However, by the end of the movie it is made evident that he, in fact, is a patient in the asylum rather than an outsider looking in. When the twist in the plot occurred, I was caught off guard and it made the story much more interesting to me. I was amazed at the way that the filmmakers were able to trick audience members into believing the main character was a detective when, the whole time, there was really no evidence supporting this fact.
ReplyDeleteI did not expect to like this story. When I got towards the end I was enjoying it. I ended up liking the story. I think that this came from my low expectations of this story from the beginning. This is opposite of what I think most people in class felt. I feel disappointed and let down when I listen to our "elected leaders" speak. The most recent disappointment I have felt is with our current president. Before I woke up to what is really the agenda of the haves (opposed to the have nots) I was sucked in by the rhetoric and false ethos conveyed by the eloquent speeches and empty lies of the snake oil salesman that currently holds the position of commander and chief. In his speeches he said things similar to: Okay, we don't agree with each other on a lot of issues but, we can agree that it is time for a change and we all deserve hope in our lives. After eight years of the most despicable of president's in the history of our country that is exactly what everyone wanted to hear. So, I drank the kool-aid, wore my stickers, and put up my yard sign. Bamboozled once again.
ReplyDeleteI recently saw a movie about a couple of astronauts who had a mission on the moon. I had expectations for it to be a terrible movie, but I also expected some pretty insane alien action to be a part of it. When I ended up watching it with friends as a joke, I found out that the monsters that seem to be so well portrayed in the trailer, were actually just tiny little parasites that ended up being more of a disease than a monster. I sort of felt tricked by the trailer because of the fact that they will do anything to make the movie interesting enough to watch with the trailer, even making it seem more interesting than it actually is.
ReplyDeleteRecently I read the book "The House of Leaves" and went into it with extremely high expectations. My best friends said it was a crazy "ghost-like" story that had many similar twists as The Blair Witch Projct. This really triggered my interest and made me excited to finally get to read it. The extremely strange story-telling began right at the start. The story being read is at first the main character's actions and then sparatically jumps between his actions and the events happening in a book that the main character is reading. At first this unique story-telling was fun and compelling. As the story dragged on and on, leading up to a huge ending and leaving the reader hanging, the style of writing became increasingly more boring and stale
ReplyDelete