Our brains are busy little machines, constantly juggling signals from every sense to figure out who we are and what we feel. When the sense of touch goes off the rails, the mind can pull some truly strange, even hazardous, tricks on us. Below are 10 bizarre ways touch rewires the way we think.

10 Bizarre Ways Touch Shapes Perception

10 Touch Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a quirky condition where one sensory channel sparks another. Some people taste words, others see letters painted in color. Research hints that certain forms can be learned; a 2015 study showed kids who played with brightly colored magnetic letters were more likely to develop letter‑color synesthesia.

Take the even stranger variant called mirror‑touch synesthesia. Here, the synesthete literally feels the tactile sensation they observe happening to another person. Scientists think this stems from hyper‑active mirror neurons—cells that help us mirror the experiences and emotions of those around us.

One woman with this condition reported that the side of her body where she felt the touch flipped depending on how she viewed the other person. Facing someone who was touched on the left cheek made her feel it on her right cheek; standing side‑by‑side caused the sensation to land on the same side as the other’s touch.

People with mirror‑touch synesthesia tend to be unusually empathetic. As one described, “I can’t understand how anyone can enjoy watching violent movies or laugh at others’ misfortunes when I not only see the pain, I actually feel it.”

9 The Ghost Illusion

Researchers once stumbled upon a chilling “shadow person” while electrically stimulating a woman’s left temporoparietal junction—a brain area that builds self‑awareness. The woman sensed a phantom double watching her, believing it was trying to interfere. The illusion vanished as soon as the stimulation stopped.

More recently, a team built a robot set‑up that made healthy volunteers feel a ghostly presence. Blindfolded and wearing headphones, participants stood between two robots. Tapping the front robot triggered an identical tap on the back robot, creating the sensation of reaching forward to touch their own back.

In a second phase, the back robot hesitated before touching, producing a mismatch that the brain resolved by inventing a ghostly touch. Some participants found the feeling so intense they asked to stop the trial, according to neuroscientist Giulio Rognini.

Both experiments suggest that even tiny disturbances in the brain’s balance of self‑ versus other‑perception can spawn experiences that echo symptoms of schizophrenia, hallucinations, and other mental‑health conditions.

8 The Hug Brain Test

Instead of relying on behavior or self‑report, scientists are hunting for objective brain‑based diagnostics. Marcel Just of Carnegie Mellon used functional MRI to map how imagined social interactions, like hugging, light up the brain. Participants who visualized hugging were correctly identified as autistic with a 97 % success rate.

Neurotypical volunteers reported feeling personally involved in the imagined hug, whereas autistic participants described the task more like reciting a definition or watching a play—detached and observational.

This work shows that specific thoughts generate distinct neural signatures. Deviations from these patterns—so‑called “thought‑markers”—could become powerful tools for diagnosing not only autism but a range of psychiatric disorders.

7 Deaf People Hear Touch

When a sense disappears, the brain rewires itself to compensate. MRI scans reveal that deaf individuals process tactile information in the auditory cortex—specifically Heschl’s gyrus—normally devoted to hearing. They also recruit this area for visual cues to a lesser extent.

These findings hint that deaf learners might harness touch to improve reading or math skills. In pursuit of affordable assistive tech, researchers built a smart retainer/earpiece that translates spoken words into distinct tactile pulses felt on the tongue, using a modest 9‑volt battery to keep costs down.

The goal is to train the brain to link each vibration pattern with a specific word, essentially letting the tongue “hear” speech. The tongue was chosen for its extreme sensitivity; engineers liken the sensation to “champagne bubbles or Pop Rocks” dancing across the surface.

6 Startle Disease

A seemingly innocuous touch can unleash seizures in babies afflicted with hyperekplexia, also known as “startle disease.” Any sudden movement or loud noise triggers a dramatic freeze of throat and chest muscles, while limbs become rigid. In severe cases, breathing may pause, and attempts to soothe the infant can worsen the reaction.

This neurological disorder is frequently mistaken for epilepsy. It originates from mutations in two genes that disrupt the normal flow of glycine, a neurotransmitter that dampens the brain’s response to stimuli. The faulty glycine signaling leads to an exaggerated startle reflex.

One mother recalled that her child began showing abnormal belly vibrations during pregnancy, then, just three hours after birth, experienced a seizure that turned her skin blue and shook her from head to toe. The baby’s attacks were provoked by breastfeeding, breathlessness, or surprise, and in extreme cases the condition can culminate in sudden infant death.

The bright side: most children outgrow the worst of the symptoms after their first birthday. A minority of adults continue to struggle, risking unexpected falls that can be fatal.

5 A Link Between Touch And Emotions

Touch isn’t inherently pleasant or painful; our emotional context colors the experience. This happens because the primary somatosensory cortex—responsible for processing tactile input—also handles emotional information.

In a 2012 experiment, heterosexual men watched videos of either an attractive woman or a burly man gently caressing a leg while an unseen experimenter simultaneously stroked the participant’s actual leg. Those who viewed the woman reported the touch as enjoyable, whereas those who saw the man found the identical touch unpleasant.

Researcher Valeria Gazzola explained, “We tend to assume that we first objectively register a touch’s physical qualities—speed, softness, texture—then, based on who’s delivering it, we assign value. The study shows the second step can dominate the first.”

These insights could guide therapies that help autistic individuals develop more positive reactions to gentle familial touch, and may also inform interventions for victims of abuse or torture.

4 The Perception Of Pain

We instinctively rub a hurting spot, and clenching a hand can dramatically dull acute pain. To uncover why self‑touch eases discomfort, researchers employed the thermal‑grill illusion: participants immersed their second and fourth fingers in hot water while the middle finger sat in cold water, creating a paradoxical sensation of burning cold.

When participants were instructed to press their fingers together, pain reported by the middle finger dropped by roughly 64 %. The effect vanished when another person applied the pressure, indicating that the brain’s representation of the body—beyond mere temperature feedback—plays a crucial role.

Earlier work at Oxford showed that altering a hand’s perceived size changes pain and swelling. Viewing the hand through magnifying binoculars amplified pain and swelling, while shrinking the visual image reduced both. The researchers suggest that body ownership expectations modulate sensory experience.

3 Cellular Changes From Meditation

A surprising three‑month study found that emotionally distressed breast‑cancer survivors who practiced mindful meditation, yoga, or participated in support groups kept their telomeres—protective caps at chromosome ends—longer than peers who did not engage in these activities. Longer telomeres correlate with slower cellular aging and reduced disease risk.

Think of telomeres as a wind‑up clock inside each cell. As long as the clock ticks, the cell can divide; when the clock winds down, the cell can no longer replicate and dies. Maintaining telomere length therefore helps keep cells youthful.

Lead researcher Linda E. Carlson noted, “We already know mindfulness lifts mental health, but now we have evidence it can also influence core biological processes.” The durability of this telomere‑preserving effect beyond the study period remains unknown.

2 Touch‑Back Technology

The field of haptics aims to weave touch into everyday tech. Using the virtual bump illusion—where forces on a flat surface create the feeling of bumps—researchers discovered that the brain can merge separate tactile cues into a single perception when the spacing of the bumps matches the spacing of the fingers.

J. Edgar Colgate described the phenomenon as “collapse”: two distinct bumps felt by two fingers are experienced as one if the distance between bumps mirrors the distance between the fingers. This trick convinces the brain that a single bump exists.

Such findings could give flat screens a sense of depth, enabling blind users to navigate touchscreens and turning ordinary keyboards into three‑dimensional tactile devices. In short, future screens may literally “touch you back.”

1 Body Swapping

In 2008, Swedish scientists crafted an experiment that convinced participants they had swapped bodies with another human or even a mannequin. By synchronizing tactile stimulation with visual feedback, participants felt as though they inhabited someone else’s body, regardless of gender.

The setup involved mounting two cameras on a dummy’s head, feeding live video to a participant wearing VR goggles. When both the participant and dummy looked down, the participant saw the dummy’s torso as if it were their own.

Simultaneously, researchers stroked both the participant’s and dummy’s stomachs with identical sticks. Though the participant couldn’t see his own body, the matching sensations and visual cues created a powerful illusion that the mannequin’s body belonged to him.

The illusion proved real when participants were startled by a simulated knife attack on the dummy’s torso; they broke out in sweat and exhibited genuine stress responses. Researchers warned that prolonged exposure could deeply disrupt the sense of self‑ownership.

Henrik Ehrsson summed it up: “By tweaking sensory inputs, we can fool the brain not only out of its own body but into inhabiting another.” While the experiments sounded like sci‑fi, modern discussions now entertain the possibility of actual head or body transplants.

When you think about the strangest trends ever to capture the public’s imagination, the phrase 10 old fads instantly pops to mind. From bizarre body‑language choices to marine fashion statements, the past is littered with curiosities that make us wonder, “What were they thinking?” Let’s dive into a countdown of the most head‑scratching fads that ever existed.

10 Old Fads That Still Baffle Us

10 Walking With a Limp

We’ve all witnessed someone who seems to be putting on a theatrical swagger, as if they’re rehearsing a movie role. Think of the exaggerated entrance of LaVar Ball strolling into a room – it’s hard to miss. Yet, back in the day, mimicking a limp wasn’t a joke or a cry for sympathy; it was a full‑blown fashion statement.

During the Victorian era, the “Alexandra Limp” swept through high society. Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who married the Prince of Wales, developed a noticeable limp after suffering rheumatic fever. The aristocratic ladies of Britain, ever eager to emulate royalty, began adopting her uneven gait as a sign of contemporary chic.

Enterprising cobblers even capitalized on the craze, producing shoes with dramatically uneven heels so wearers could perfect the limp. Newspapers of the time slammed the trend as “idiotic and ludicrous,” decrying the glorification of a genuine physical impairment. Unsurprisingly, the fad fizzled out as quickly as it appeared.

Despite its short lifespan, the Alexandra Limp remains a vivid reminder that fashion can sometimes be inspired by the most unexpected of circumstances.

9 Flagpole Sitting

The one‑hit wonder Harvey Danger gave us “Flagpole Sitta,” a catchy tune that might have topped the charts in the 1920s if it had been released during the height of flagpole sitting. This odd pastime involved climbing to the very top of a flagpole and simply staying perched there.

In the 1920s, stunt performer Alvin Kelly was hired by Hollywood to promote a film that had nothing to do with flagpoles. He spent 13 hours perched on a pole, drawing headlines and inspiring a wave of imitators across the country.

Kelly didn’t stop there. By 1927 he pushed the limits, remaining aloft for a staggering 23 days. He survived on a rope‑dropped pail of food and water, and even rigged a small tube for bathroom breaks. The longer a person could endure, the more fame they earned.

Flagpole sitting eventually faded as quickly as it rose, but the record‑breaking endurance feats remain a quirky footnote in the annals of daredevil stunts.

8 Swallowing Live Goldfish

Eating challenges have always had a place in popular culture, from fiery cinnamon tests to massive burger contests. Yet in the late 1930s a truly unsettling craze emerged: the live‑goldfish‑swallowing challenge.

Legend has it that the craze ignited in 1939 at Harvard. A freshman, eager to impress his peers, claimed he could gulp down a live goldfish. When his friends doubted him, they wagered $10 that he couldn’t repeat the feat. Undeterred, he swallowed the fish, won the bet, and a reporter turned the stunt into a national story.

The story spread like wildfire. By April of the following year, the record for live‑goldfish ingestion had ballooned to 101 fish swallowed in a single session. The novelty eventually waned as health officials warned of parasites and animal‑rights activists condemned the cruelty.

Today, the goldfish challenge is remembered as a bizarre footnote in the history of competitive eating, illustrating just how far some will go for a quick burst of fame.

7 Phone Booth Stuffing

Stumbling upon a classic red phone booth today feels like spotting a dolphin in a bathtub—rare, nostalgic, and oddly thrilling. In the 1950s, those ubiquitous street‑corner booths became the stage for a wildly impractical competition: how many people could cram themselves inside one.

While most of us would instinctively limit a phone booth to a single occupant, a group of 25 South African university students decided to push the limits in 1959. They squeezed themselves into a single booth, snapped a photo, and sent the image to Guinness World Records, instantly sparking a global craze.

The stunt didn’t stop there. Colleges worldwide attempted to break the record, often managing to fit into the high teens. In the United States, the best effort saw 22 students crammed together, but by the end of 1959 the novelty had worn off and the South Africans remained the undisputed champions.

Phone‑booth stuffing illustrates how a simple piece of everyday infrastructure can become the centerpiece of a fleeting, yet unforgettable, fad.

6 Fake Moles and Beauty Marks

Beauty standards have always been in flux, and throughout history, people have gone to great lengths to emulate the ideal. In ancient Greece, a small beauty mark on the cheek signified destiny and prosperity, prompting many to seek out the coveted spot.

Later, fashion‑forward women in England began using artificial beauty marks—crafted from velvet, mouse fur, and other materials—to conceal blemishes or simply draw attention. By the 16th century, these faux moles had evolved from mere cover‑ups into bold accessories that contrasted with the era’s pale complexion, ensuring every gaze was drawn to the strategically placed spot.

Even today, the legacy of these decorative marks lives on in modern makeup trends, proving that the desire to accentuate one’s features is truly timeless.

5 Raccoon Coats

Fur has long been a symbol of luxury, but in the roaring 1920s a particularly eye‑catching trend emerged among elite college men: the full‑length raccoon coat.

These plush garments were especially popular at Ivy League schools, where the cost of a raccoon coat signified both wealth and a certain swagger. Students would strut across campus draped in the glossy fur, making a bold statement about their social standing.

However, as the decades progressed, the raccoon coat became associated with unsavory characters and eventually fell out of favor by the 1970s, relegated to the realm of kitsch and historical curiosity.

4 Post Mortem Photography

In the 19th century, a grim yet oddly popular trend took hold: post‑mortem photography. Families would commission photographers to capture images of their deceased loved ones, often arranging the bodies in lifelike poses as if the subjects were still among the living.

High infant mortality rates meant many families missed the chance to photograph their children while alive. To preserve a memory, they would stage a portrait with the child propped up, sometimes using props or shadows to mask the reality of death.

It’s estimated that in the 1840s, photographers produced three times as many death portraits as wedding photographs, underscoring how deeply this macabre practice was woven into the cultural fabric of the era.

3 Pointy Shoes

Those elongated, absurdly pointy shoes you see in medieval frescoes weren’t just artistic flair—they were the height of fashion known as “crackows.” Originating in the 1380s, the trend spread from Poland to England, where aristocrats vied to out‑shine each other with ever‑longer toe extensions.

To keep the exaggerated toes from drooping, wearers stuffed them with moss, hair, or other filler material. In France, Charles V banned the style in Paris as early as 1368, while England’s Edward IV eventually limited the point length to two inches for anyone outside the nobility in 1463.

The pointy shoe served as a status symbol: the longer the shoe, the more wealth and leisure one possessed, because a laborer could never afford such an impractical accessory. In essence, the shoes shouted, “I have money to burn and no need for manual work.”

Today, the remnants of this flamboyant fad can be seen in modern “platform” and “stiletto” designs, proving that the desire to make a bold footnote in fashion never truly disappears.

2 Panty Raids

If you recall the classic scene from “Revenge of the Nerds” where a fraternity raids a sorority for panties, you might think it’s pure Hollywood fantasy. In reality, the phenomenon was a genuine, chaotic craze that surged across American campuses during the 1950s and ’60s.

In 1952, the University of Missouri faced a full‑blown panty‑raid riot when roughly 2,000 male students stormed sorority houses, smashing doors, wielding broom handles, and stealing underwear, jewelry, and cash. The National Guard was called in to restore order, and the governor famously shrugged, “boys will be boys.”

Imagine being a sorority sister as a wave of thousands of men busts through every window, ripping apart rooms and pilfering personal items. The frenzy sparked nationwide copycats, cementing panty raids as one of the most notorious, if short‑lived, college pranks in history.

1 Dead Fish Hats for Whales

While humans have churned out countless oddball trends, the animal kingdom isn’t far behind. In 1987, a pod of orca whales was observed by marine biologists when one individual began sporting a dead salmon perched atop its head like a whimsical hat.

Intrigued, researchers watched as the trend spread: over the next several weeks, other members of the pod adopted the fish hat, and even two neighboring pods began joining the fashion parade after contact with the original group.

Just as human fads eventually lose their novelty, the orcas abandoned the fish headgear after roughly six weeks. No definitive explanation emerged—perhaps the whales simply grew bored—but the episode remains a fascinating example of cross‑species “trend‑following.”

While we use our senses every day, we usually don’t stop to marvel at their hidden superpowers—unless a sudden illness, injury, or odd glitch forces us to pay attention. Most of us think we have five, maybe six, basic senses, and that’s about it. In reality, scientists now argue the picture is far richer than that simple tally, and the tricks our bodies can pull off are often astonishing. Below are 10 fascinating things you probably didn’t know your senses can do.

10 Infrasound Could Be A Scientific Explanation For Some Hauntings

Many of us have wandered through a spooky mansion and felt an uncanny chill, sensed a vague presence, or heard mysterious noises that defy explanation. Tales of haunted houses have circulated for centuries, and convincing a skeptic—or a true believer—can be a tall order, especially when someone swears they experienced something supernatural.

While the paranormal angle is tempting, researchers have identified a more earthly culprit: infrasound, a low‑frequency vibration that sits below the threshold of human hearing. In old, creaky houses, structural settling can generate pockets of this invisible sound, nudging our fight‑or‑flight circuitry and prompting eerie sensations. Filmmakers have even exploited infrasound—think of the unnerving hum in Paranormal Activity—to make viewers feel spooked without realizing why.

9 Some Blind People Can Use Sound Waves To Perform Echolocation

You’ve probably heard of Daredevil, the comic‑book hero who “sees” with his heightened hearing. Real‑life blind individuals have taken a page from that playbook, training themselves to emit clicks and interpret the returning echoes—much like a bat—to map their surroundings.

One Californian who’s lost his sight uses this skill to mountain‑bike down rugged trails, and he even runs workshops to teach others. Another inspiring story involves a young man who taught himself to play basketball while blind, relying on the faint reverberations of the ball and court. Though echolocation isn’t yet a mainstream mobility method, these examples show that, with dedication, blind people can develop a sonar‑like perception that rivals fictional superheroes.

8 If We Harness It Properly, Smell Can Be A Powerful Memory Trigger

We tend to think of smell as a simple food‑quality gauge, but neuroscience tells a richer story: odor is the strongest cue for recalling past events. A single whiff can yank a memory from deep within, more effectively than sight or sound.

Students looking to boost exam performance can exploit this by pairing a subtle fragrance—say, a favorite chapstick—with study sessions. When the test day arrives, using the same scented balm can cue those same neural pathways, improving recall. This technique dovetails with the broader principle of context‑dependent memory: the closer the learning environment matches the test setting, the sharper the memory retrieval.

7 An Anechoic Chamber Can Make Us Hear Things We Normally Wouldn’t

Imagine stepping into a room that swallows every sound, and in some cases, every hint of light. Anechoic chambers do exactly that, creating a near‑perfect sensory vacuum for researchers probing how our brains process feedback.

When participants sit in total silence, many report hearing phantom noises—like the rush of their own breathing or even the beating of their heart. In chambers that also block sight, some experience visual hallucinations, seeing shapes that aren’t there. Scientists interpret these phenomena as the brain’s way of filling in missing data, a reminder that perception is as much about expectation as it is about raw input.

6 You Think New Things Taste Like Chicken Because It Is A Mostly Blank Template

Ever heard someone say, “It tastes like chicken”? That phrase pops up whenever a new, unfamiliar meat appears on the menu. The reason isn’t that every exotic protein actually mirrors poultry; it’s that chicken offers a remarkably neutral flavor and texture when left unseasoned.

Because chicken is a culinary staple worldwide, it serves as a familiar benchmark. When a novel dish has a mild taste, our brains default to the “chicken” comparison, using it as a blank canvas to describe something that otherwise lacks a distinctive flavor profile.

5 Everyone Has A Unique Smell And It Is A Proven Part Of Sexual Attraction

We all know the basics of personal hygiene—daily showers, deodorant, maybe a signature perfume—but there’s a deeper, genetic layer to our scent that goes beyond fragrance. Each person emits a unique odor signature, shaped by genetics, diet, and microbiome, and this signature plays a subtle role in romantic chemistry.

In a study, women were asked to sniff shirts worn by their partners versus strangers without knowing which was which. Participants reported feeling more relaxed and comfortable with their partner’s shirt, while physiological measures (cortisol levels) spiked when they smelled the stranger’s garment. This suggests that while the scent may reinforce an existing bond, it’s not necessarily the spark that ignites the initial attraction.

4 Humans May Actually Have A Danger Sense Of A Sort

The notion of a “sixth sense” often sounds mystical, but scientists argue it’s a very real, physiological alert system. Our bodies constantly gather data—temperature changes, subtle vibrations, chemical cues—that our brain stitches together in milliseconds, flagging anything out of the ordinary.

When this internal alarm fires, we might feel a sudden goose‑bump, a rush of adrenaline, or an inexplicable gut feeling that something’s off. Researchers estimate humans possess far more than the classic five senses—some theories suggest upwards of twenty or even thirty distinct channels of perception—making that instinctive “danger sense” a product of countless subtle inputs.

3 Alcohol Tricks Us Into Thinking It Is Warming Us Up While Robbing Our Body Heat

Many of us have heard the old tale of the St. Bernard rescue dog lugging a barrel of brandy around its neck, promising warmth to stranded travelers. While the image is iconic, the reality is far less heroic.

Alcohol causes peripheral blood vessels to dilate, sending warm blood to your skin and extremities. That sudden rush creates the illusion of warmth, but it also siphons heat away from your core, accelerating overall body‑heat loss. In cold‑weather emergencies, a quick drink can actually increase the risk of hypothermia, turning a comforting myth into a dangerous misconception.

2 Diving Too Deep Can Mess With Your Senses And Disorient You

Exploring the ocean’s depths is thrilling, but as you descend, the pressure builds, and the composition of the air you breathe changes. One hidden hazard is nitrogen narcosis, a condition where excess nitrogen dissolves into the bloodstream, subtly impairing brain function.

Divers experiencing narcosis often report slowed thinking, confusion, and a disorienting sense that up and down have swapped—making even the familiar sight of rising bubbles unreliable. While seasoned divers learn to recognize and mitigate these effects, the phenomenon underscores how our senses can be hijacked by the environment.

1 When You’re Distracted, You Can Both See And Miss Something Right In Front Of You

We like to think we’re keen observers, capable of catching any oddity that passes before our eyes. Yet psychologists demonstrate just how fragile our attention can be.

A classic experiment shows people watching a video of basketball players passing a ball, tasked with counting the passes. While participants focus on the count, a person in a gorilla suit strolls through the scene, thumping his chest—yet most viewers never notice. This phenomenon, called inattentional blindness, reveals that when our mind is occupied, even a huge, obvious stimulus can slip past unnoticed.

Are you dealing with odd‑ball symptoms like off‑kilter frequencies, sluggish cellular voltage, or even psychic hiccups? Kick back, relax, and let us introduce a wellness gizmo that might just tickle your fancy—whether or not you think you’re ill.

10 quack wellness devices await the daring buyer

10 Spooky2

Ever heard that every ailment hums at its own electromagnetic pitch? If that rings a bell, you’ve probably stumbled across the Rife contraption. Cooked up in the roaring ’20s, it supposedly blasts disease‑causing frequencies straight into your body. The poor inventor, Royal Raymond Rife, met a tragic end—penniless and embittered—after the scientific mainstream gave him the cold shoulder. Snake‑oil peddlers have since hijacked his legacy, turning it into a carnival of false hope.

Fast‑forward to the COVID‑19 frenzy: Spooky2 resurfaced, plastered across Facebook as “the affordable Rife device for every home.” The marketing spiel promised protection against the virus, a magic frequency to halt its spread, and a claim that “scalar energy” will boost your immune system. The Federal Trade Commission, however, wasn’t buying it and issued a stern warning. Still, the starter kit—priced at a modest $1,600—arrives in a rugged briefcase featuring a smiling ghost logo.

9 Electropsychometer

Contrary to what some sci‑fi cults tell you, the famed E‑meter wasn’t cooked up by L. Ron Hubbard. Its true origin lies with Volney Mathison, a chiropractor who originally christened it the Electropsychometer for psychotherapy work. Ironically, Hubbard co‑opted the gadget for his own agenda—using it to supposedly flag “discreditable reads” and weed out undesirable individuals.

The Church builds its versions at the fortified Gold Base in California, guarded like a vault. A brand‑new unit can fetch about $4,000, but you can still snag a non‑affiliated version or a second‑hand FreeZone model on eBay for less. Technically, it’s a rudimentary galvanometer with tin‑can electrodes, measuring skin resistance with leaky batteries.

Hubbard claimed (or pretended) the device could cure illness—a stance that landed him in legal hot water. Even the Church now concedes it does nothing on its own. Yet, in the hands of a crafty entrepreneur, it becomes a cash‑cow: you can’t help anyone until you’ve helped yourself get rich.

8 BioResonance Machine

Feeling like your internal organs are throwing a tantrum? Don’t wait—scan them for frequency imbalances and run a non‑linear statistical analysis right now! Supposedly, every tissue emits its own electromagnetic wave, and disease shifts those frequencies. Each condition supposedly has a unique “signature resonance frequency,” making it theoretically possible to detect any ailment without a scalpel.

Originally drafted by Russian scientists in the 1990s, the tech was allegedly refined by OBERON in Florida. The claim? The BioResonance Machine can both diagnose and heal from the comfort of your couch, simply by tweaking frequencies through headphones. No chemicals, no side‑effects—just pure, non‑invasive wizardry.

While the company touts placebo‑free results, critics point out the lack of peer‑reviewed evidence. One competitor, Rayonex Biomedical, does claim clinical proof for cervical spine syndrome, but that study was self‑funded and limited. Still, the promise of a needle‑free scan keeps the hype alive.

7 Stimulations VII

Tiny cup size dragging you down? Forget the scalpel—Stimulations VII claims a non‑invasive vacuum that can boost breast volume by up to four cup sizes, even regrowing tissue after mastectomy. The device promises a permanent, painless transformation.

In practice, finding a working unit is a nightmare. In the early 2000s, a disgruntled customer sued the Iowa‑based maker, New Womyn, after the company refused a $2,000 refund. The fine print read “18‑month money‑back guarantee,” meaning the buyer had to use the contraption for a year and a half before qualifying for a return—plus a mandatory monthly doctor visit.

The lawsuit ended with a $90,000 civil penalty for CEO Dan Kaiser. So, while the promise sounds dreamy, the reality is a legal quagmire and a hefty price tag.

6 BioPhotonic Scanner

Curious how many carotenoids you’ve stored in your skin? The BioPhotonic Scanner tells you just that. Carotenoids—those orange, red, and yellow pigments—are antioxidants linked to lower disease risk. The gadget claims to measure your skin’s carotenoid level, a handy proxy for overall antioxidant status.

Skeptics argue the device only gauges skin carotenoids, not your whole‑body antioxidant capacity, and point out the glaring lack of rigorous scientific validation. Yet, the promise of a quick glance at your nutritional health (and the potential to save on grocery bills) keeps enthusiasts buying.

If your scan reveals low levels, the same company will happily upsell you a suite of antioxidant supplements—convenient, if a bit circular.

5 BioCharger

Sometimes the answer is “more subtle energy.” Invented by Jim Girard, the BioCharger beams pulsed harmonics—at a frequency you choose—into cells that are supposedly vibrating weakly, re‑energizing them, aligning mind and body, and boosting cellular voltage. Yes, you could walk barefoot or drink alkaline water, but this machine does it for a price.

According to the company, over 90 % of our day is spent indoors, cutting us off from nature’s vital forces. The device, a sleek red‑glowing contraption with plasma tubes, costs about $15,000, plus a non‑refundable $250 shipping fee. It comes with a 45‑day guarantee—so you’ve got essentially nothing to lose, except a small fortune.

Testimonials abound, and some users even charge friends for sessions, turning the BioCharger into a side‑hustle. Fecal‑transplant aficionado Michael Nguyen admits it’s “as effective as journaling,” yet he swears by it—so should you, if you enjoy paying for placebo‑powered glow.

4 Electro Physiological Feedback Xrroid

In 2005, an Oklahoma woman with joint pain placed her faith in the EPFX quantum biofeedback gizmo. Her husband, battling cancer, also used the device, blaming chemotherapy side‑effects on the hospital rather than the machine. Both eventually passed away, but the EPFX narrative persisted.

Developer William Nelson—a self‑styled genius who once helped NASA rescue Apollo 13—boasts a portfolio of eight doctorates and a multi‑million‑dollar empire. He claims the EPFX cures cancer and AIDS, sells 17,000 units at $20,000 each, and even stars in movies demonizing the FDA.

The device supposedly monitors electrical imbalances—voltage, amperage, electron pressure—and corrects them in real time. A screen displays “healing” as white blobs shrinking, mimicking the BioResonance Machine’s claims.

3 Zapper

Finally, a device that doesn’t hide behind a fancy scientific name. Hulda Clark, a zoologist‑turned‑physician, invented the Zapper to annihilate parasites, bacteria, and viruses with low‑voltage jolts via handheld electrodes. For the extra‑wealthy, there’s an Orgone Zapper that claims to both zap and “heal” with orgone energy.

If you have a pacemaker or are pregnant, steer clear—Clark warned against those scenarios. Some users swear by an “aura‑boost” after half‑hour sessions, even though the original protocol suggested only seven‑minute bursts. Burn marks are a warning sign; stop if you see them.

You might think a car battery could do the trick, but Clark’s version includes a “positive offset square wave,” a technical term most of us can’t decipher—yet it sells like hotcakes.

2 Ozone Generator

The ozone layer’s hole? Bad. Ozone itself? Good. Hence the logic behind home‑installed ozone generators: pump pure ozone into your living space and watch toxins vanish. The Environmental Protection Agency, American Lung Association, and FDA all warn that high indoor ozone levels can be hazardous.

Proponents argue that if ozone harms humans, it certainly harms microbes—bacteria, viruses, and the like—making it a surefire way to eradicate pathogens. The device works by drawing in ordinary air, applying a high‑voltage discharge, and converting oxygen into ozone, promising a cleaner, healthier home.

1 Hyper Dimensional Resonator

This one veers into sci‑fi territory. The Hyper Dimensional Resonator is a radionic time‑travel gadget that allegedly aids astral projection by flooding you with limitless white chi. Conceived on a Nebraska farm in 1981, it upgrades the earlier Sonic Resonator with a caduceus‑coil electromagnet.

To operate, you strap on a headband, spit into a “witness well,” add a quartz crystal, position the electromagnet between your legs, and dial the date you wish to visit (both dials go up to 10). Meditate while rubbing the plate, and you may be whisked away—astrally, unless you’re perched on a grid point, in which case you might physically relocate.

Users report UFO rides, trips to parallel dimensions, and even missing cookie dough after a session. One anecdote recounts a user hearing altered dialogue in a classic Western after a trial in 1989, claiming the experience was “scary as hell.” The device’s creators warn against blood in the witness well, lest you summon demons.

Movie villains enshrine themselves forever in our imaginations with their larger-than-life personas, their zany outfits, and of course, their grand and diabolical designs on life as we know it. While some villains’ plans are actually quite ingenious and would have been very hard to undo if not for the last-minute intervention of our intrepid heroes, these are not the type of plans we are here to discuss.

In this list, we will go over villains whose plans seem okay on the surface but are almost laughably bad once you stop to think about them for a minute. Spoilers ahead—you’ve been warned.

10 Emperor’s Plan at End of Rise of Skywalker Is Actually Completely Hilarious

At the end of Rise of Skywalker, we find out the Emperor is alive (with no explanation) and that he has made a thousand Star Destroyers that have planet-destroying super-lasers similar to the one on the Death Stars. However, there are some serious problems with Palpatine’s plan, not even getting into the fact that the element of surprise is useful, and he announces himself before his ships have left dry-dock. Worse yet, though, is that the plan, in general, has more holes than swiss cheese. The thing about the Death Stars is that they were extremely hard to destroy, the first one had a single weak point, and the second one would have been nigh impossible to destroy with a fleet from outside if they had managed to finish building it.

However, star destroyers are quite destructible, and rogue fleets of smaller ships, as we see at the end of the movie, would easily swarm and destroy them before they could get within planet-destroying range. Considering how large the Star Wars galaxy is presumed to be, the random people fighting the empire are just a motley group that Lando threw together in a day; it’s hardly close to the strength of all galactic privateers. Even if they got free, the Emperor’s group of Star Destroyers would have quickly become too spread out and been annihilated by tiny fleets of freighters and suicidal fighter pilots.^[1]

9 Once Scar Tricked Mufasa to His Death, All He Needed Was to Eat Simba

We all know the story of The Lion King, how Scar tricked Mufasa to his death while also making Simba self-exile from guilt, thinking it was his fault. And the truth is, Scar made an absolutely stupendous error. Once Mufasa was gone, all Scar had to do was eat Simba—the little lion cub would have posed no real threat at that size—and then kill and eat any other remaining lion cubs that were not his own offspring. After that, he could simply move in as the leader, and no one would question him.

In the lion kingdom, this is normal behavior. Whenever a new male lion or lions take control of the pride, they simply kill and eat any lion cubs that are not their own offspring and then replenish the pack with their own DNA. While it is a nice Disney movie, they wouldn’t go with such a dark plot. In real life, the story would have been a lot shorter, and Simba would have been in Scar’s belly. For those wondering, only about 20% of lion cubs ever make it to adulthood. ^[2]

8 The Machines in The Matrix Waste Power to Keep Humans Alive

In the first movie, we are told by Morpheus that the robots are keeping us alive in order to use us as giant batteries to keep them powered. However, this is one of the biggest plot holes in movie history because it really doesn’t make any sense. As far as the laws of thermodynamics and science in general go, this is a really dumb idea. Even if you could theoretically make it work, you could generate more power by just burning the resources you are using to keep the humans alive.

The only explanation—apart from it being a plot hole and the writers not understanding science—is that the machines, being partly sentient, are amused by us. Or they have some kind of affection toward us and actually don’t want us entirely destroyed. The battery idea is something they could want us to think, so we don’t realize we are basically a reality show for their amusement.^[3]

7 The Villains in Jurassic World Are So Dumb, Cartoonish Doesn’t Begin to Describe It

Jurassic World is a movie full of stupid choices. From leaving the door open while checking the pen of a supposedly escaped dinosaur (that we know can camouflage) to attacking said dinosaur with a bunch of guys on foot with tranquilizer guns and all the way up to the CEO of the park, who is a novice helicopter pilot, trying to destroy the escapee with a machine gun attachment and ending up crashing into a giant glass enclosure of pterodactyls.

What we are saying is that the decisions in this movie are already some of the dumbest imaginable, and the people in it are all already cartoonishly stupid, but the villains are beyond even that. InGen is up to its old tricks, and they want to train raptors to fight in battle for them, like trained dogs or something. And they somehow believe it will revolutionize warfare.

In order to test this theory, they do a live-fire exercise where they free a bunch of raptors and try to fight alongside them to kill another dinosaur. In order to punish them for their own hubris, the raptors decide to team up with the dinosaur they are meant to catch, and helpfully murder the rest of the park mercenaries they are supposed to be helping.^[4]

6 Erik Killmonger’s Plan Would Work if Wakanda Didn’t Exist in the Marvel Universe

In Black Panther, we learn the “poor” nation of Wakanda is actually a secret paradise of riches and technology, boosted by a rare metal called vibranium native to the region. This technology has allowed them to hide from colonialism, but some felt they should have fought back against it. This included the uncle of the current Black Panther, who was destroyed for his betrayal of his country, leaving behind a son in America.

That son, who goes by the moniker Killmonger, devises a plan to rejoin Wakanda, challenge T’Challa for the throne, and take control of the country. Then he plans to give out vibranium weapons to all the various rebel groups he has throughout the world and start a revolution where they take over and rule from Wakanda as lords of the entire world, finally righting all the wrongs of slavery and colonialism and making sure everyone lives in proper peace and harmony. The problem with this plan is that the Avengers exist, as do all the other superpowered heroes in this universe, one of whom already makes use of vibranium technology.^[5]

5 Professor Moriarty Isn’t Much of a Genius, Just a Jerk With a Lot of Shell Companies

At the beginning of Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows, we learn the world is lurching towards war, and Holmes suspects Moriarty is behind it all. After some very dangerous investigations that almost cost himself, John Watson, and John’s new wife their lives, he discovers that his arch-nemesis Moriarty has been secretly pulling strings to make things worse while being a good friend of the prime minister and a supposed man of peace on the outside. We learn that the real reason Moriarty went to incredibly absurd lengths to start an entire world war is so that he can “own the bullets and the bandages” while people fight. Things he owns by investing in hundreds of shell companies—something Holmes destroys by stealing and decoding his secret notebook.

The silly thing about all this is that there is no need to go to all this trouble and potentially end up getting caught—like he did—and being pulled over a waterfall. You don’t need to start a war to get governments to buy bullets and bandages. They buy them in peacetime anyway and stock up anytime you make things sound slightly worse. Moriarty would probably make more money over time by keeping tensions high but not starting a war, so countries still had strong economies to buy but felt the need to stockpile.^[6]

4 Ozymandias Plan in Watchmen Would Just Start a World War, Not Unite People

In the movie Watchmen, Nixon is in a third term after winning the Vietnam War with the help of superheroes and has now outlawed them further. One anti-hero named Rorschach believes former heroes are being targeted, but it soon becomes clear something more is going on. As the story progresses, the blue, radioactive, god-like superhero Doctor Manhattan is accused of giving people cancer and leaves the Earth in disgrace and sadness.

Not long after this, we reach the lair of another hero named Ozymandias, known to be the smartest and fastest man in the world. After a convoluted final battle, he activates several superweapons that destroy major cities in every major country on Earth, especially the nuclear ones. And he makes it look like it was Doctor Manhattan. The entire world somehow unites behind Doctor Manhattan as a common enemy, who believes it’s best to make them think he did it, so there will be peace and a permanent end to the cold war. He then leaves the planet willingly so the charade will continue.

None of this, of course, makes any sense at all. The fact is that Doctor Manhattan is still seen as an American hero, and even if he did destroy U.S. cities as well, this would almost certainly unite the countries against each other, not just make them angry at Doctor Manhattan. And nations would be especially angry at the USA for unleashing him.^[7]

3 Despite J.K. Rowling’s Justifications, Voldemort’s Plan for His Horcruxes Is Very Stupid

In book six of Harry Potter, we learn Voldemort has been splitting his soul when he kills people and hiding the pieces in objects to anchor himself to the mortal world. Harry, at first, is despairing, wondering at the enormity of the task ahead of them, as Dumbledore explains that all these magic vessels must be destroyed so the dark wizard will no longer be anchored to the Earth. Dumbledore reassures him, though, explaining that Voldemort would have been sentimental and wanted to put them in objects that had value. And also ones he would be able to get back to if he needed to. However, apart from vanity, there is really no reason to put them in anything special; it just makes it easier for your enemies to identify. And to make matters worse, putting them somewhere you can get to them gives your enemies a way to get to them and is basically pointless.

Even if he could put his soul back together, there is no indication he even wanted to, as he thought having it in seven pieces—”the most powerfully magical number”—would be a big deal. And finally, if he had put them in random objects and then magicked them so someone couldn’t get back to them, people would have to keep destroying his body, and he would keep coming back like Ganondorf again and again.^[8]

2 The Aliens in Signs Are So Incompetent It’s Like a Child’s Fevered Dream

In the movie Signs, our heroes start to notice strange crop circles, then weird noises on the radio. Before long, things have escalated to the point that they see a bizarre video on television where what looks like a gray alien is seen walking through the frame. Not long after that, they are huddled in their basement, expecting an impending alien invasion. As the movie progresses, we find that aliens who managed to spend unknown light years traversing the galaxy and have humanlike appendages somehow have more trouble opening doors than a common housecat and cannot break through wood. Also, by the way, they are incredibly weak to water.

When the movie ends, it is accepted that “they came for us, to harvest us,” which leaves us with some of the dumbest aliens imaginable. They are smart enough to have technology that can invade Earth but don’t have bio suits to protect them from water, the most prevalent thing on the planet—something they are deathly allergic to. And they are somehow trying to harvest us, despite us being mostly bags of squishy water with some crunchy bones within. Even after scouting first and setting up landing pads in our fields, they couldn’t even figure out how to protect themselves from water or a baseball bat… and couldn’t open a simple wooden door.^[9]

1 Thanos’s Entire Plan Is Absurd on Its Face

We all know of Thanos’s plan to snap half of all life out of existence using the Infinity Stones in order to solve what he believes is a serious resource problem throughout the galaxy. However, there are a few giant holes in his plan. For one, his plan also has him destroying half of plant and animal life, which doesn’t really fix the resource problem. Suddenly eliminating half of the people does free up some current resources, but it also culls a lot of people who may have been in important positions or doing important things. Now, for argument’s sake, say Thanos thinks of all this and makes sure the snap doesn’t affect people driving a car or flying a plane, so we don’t have extra casualties, leaves a fair distribution of people with the right expertise per region, doesn’t touch plant or animal life, and leaves almost nothing to chance.

Major problems still remain, though, because most resource issues are actually infrastructure related, and for argument’s sake, even if they weren’t, killing a bunch of people doesn’t change the fact people will just breed again. Thanos destroys the stones so no one can undo what he did, but that means he cannot do it again once populations inevitably boom again, especially with all the abundant resources they now have. In the end, Thanos just wants to commit genocide, and no positives would be gained. At least in the comics, they were more honest about it, and he just wanted to do it to be a big shot and impress the female deity that personified death.^[10]

Having a counterintuitive, provocative interpretation of a mainstream film is an easy but effective way to be heard, since it allows the person who comes up with it to ride the coattails of a well-financed ad campaign or a project that connected with millions of people. Consequently there are a lot of popular opinions of movies that were arrived at without much concern for accuracy. It’s not that this causes much real harm. Still, it tends to get in the way of appreciating an intellectual property’s real aesthetic value and messages. So we’re trying to help correct the record as much for the sake of the creators as we are just because people being loudly wrong is annoying. 

10. The Lion King as a Kimba Ripoff

The idea that the 1994 Disney pop culture phenomenon plagiarized the 1966 Osamu Tezuka IP Kimba the White Lion enjoyed massive, unquestioned distribution. For example, there’s this YouTube video, which got millions of views and is just a splitscreen of Kimba, 1994’s The Lion King, and the 2019 remake. Articles on sites like Cracked.com got in on the action, too, to the tune of millions of views. A passing glance will show why: Kimba sounds like the name of the Lion King protagonist Simba, after all. Lion King has dark-furred villain Scar and Kimba has dark-furred facially scarred villain Claw. Both feature a comic relief warthog, villainous hyena sidekicks, and so on.

Enter YouTube reviewer Adam Johnston to set the record straight with a very thorough video stretching more than two hours. For example, he pointed out how, in the aforementioned video, all the supposedly matching shots came from a 1997 Kimba reboot likely made to ride on the success of Lion King, not the 1966 movie which was mostly just episodes of the TV show edited together. This is especially obvious considering the massive difference in film grain, color saturation, and animation frame rate comparing a ’60s Japanese TV show to a feature film. 

Further he explains that Simba is “lion” in Swahili, and cited an explanation by NBC executive Fred Ladd that the show/character got renamed Kimba (it’s Jungle Emperor Leo in Japan) because “Simba” as a generic phrase couldn’t be trademarked and thus they couldn’t protect merchandising rights. The characters that are said to parallel those in Lion King do not have similar personalities to those in the Disney film and are largely insignificant bit characters. For example, Claw is nothing like Scar in terms of his relationship to the protagonist or his importance to the series. This is just scratching the surface of his very thorough analysis. But as Johnston says in the video, the real lesson about Kimba and The Lion King: it’s that people shouldn’t have passionate opinions on matters where they haven’t consulted the primary sources because some social media account or another will be able to manipulate you very easily otherwise.  

9. Joker is a Pro-Incel Movie

When Todd Phillips’s R-rated pop culture phenomenon debuted, critics and police were both spreading the message that the movie would likely inspire dangerous behavior from the sexually frustrated. Indiewire called it “a toxic rallying cry for self-pitying incels.” Even Time magazine said the lead character “could be the patron saint of incels.” Police were dispatched to theaters to guard opening screenings out of fears there’d be a repeat of the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting. 

While the protagonist Arthur Fleck is not portrayed as sexually active except in his imagination, he never expresses any of the grievances associated with incels — i.e., there’s no blaming of women or PC culture, as noted in The Guardian. All the people he explicitly lashes out at (Wall Street traders, network TV host Murray Franklin, his coworker, Thomas Wayne) are Caucasian men, and mostly higher class than him. The Guardian went on to devote an entire article to how the real villain of the story is government austerity because it costs Fleck his medication and contributed to the garbage strikes that have raised tensions in the city so high that there are massive riots inspired by Fleck’s crimes. It’s why the movie was enthusiastically embraced by such left wing media figures as Michael Moore.   

8. Eyes Wide Shut is a Coded Expose about Ruling Class Child Predators

In 2019, the arrest and subsequent highly suspicious death of child predator Jeffrey Epstein brought Stanley Kubrick’s final film back into cultural prominence. After all, it features a scene where Tom Cruise’s doctor character sneaks into a ruling class orgy and later has his life threatened if he lets the information out. It brings to mind suspicious aspects of Epstein’s conviction, such as the fact that his prosecutor, future secretary of labor Alexander Acosta, wrote him a “sweetheart deal” where all of his co-conspirators were automatically granted legal immunity, which is practically screaming a cover-up. Considering Kubrick’s prominence in pop culture that allowed him carte blanche with A-list talent, it feels quite plausible he knew horrifying things you and I don’t about the upper class. A theatrically distributed film would seem to be a way available to him to spread the word far and wide.  

The main problem with this theory is that, as Newsweek reported, Kubrick had been wanting to adapt the 1926 Arthur Schnitzler novella “Traumnovelle” since 1968, long before Epstein had been handpicked by Donald Barr for the career that would make his fortune. He had been explicit in interviews that his intent in adapting the book was more general statements about gender and fantasies than anything to do with classism. Furthermore, if Kubrick were intending to make such veiled accusations in such a highly public manner, why would Warner Bros. allow him to go through a 400 day shoot and release the end result at all if the threat of a powerful cabal hovered over the production? This won’t be the last time a version of this question is asked in this list. 

7. The Protagonist of Blade Runner is a Clone

Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner focuses on the plight of Replicants, essentially clones with artificially compressed lifespans that get forced into various forms of labor. Its protagonist is a sort-of police assassin named Deckard, who hunts down Replicants posing as humans, and who enters into a relationship with a Replicant while on a mission to take down renegade Replicants. In the course of the movie it’s revealed that a new model process of implanting memories in Replicants, pretty much the only way to ensure they don’t know they’re Replicants, is being rolled out. In 2001, Ridley Scott said in an interview that he meant for there to be a twist that wasn’t explicitly spelled out that Deckard was a Replicant himself. 

If his words were taken as gospel, then he just created a number of plot holes in the movie and a number of thematic problems. For example, as Scott Ashlin pointed out in his review, Deckard is much weaker than every single one of the Replicant fugitives he contends with. If he were walking around with implanted memories in his head, why would he receive a private audience to introduce him to that idea as he gets with the business mogul Tyrell? Most significantly, it takes away the dramatic irony of the biological human needing to rediscover his humanity through his interactions with artificial people. So no wonder the film’s screenwriter Hampton Fancher and star Harrison Ford were clear in interviews that Ridley Scott had it wrong. 

6. Black Panther Shows Isolationism in a Positive Light

When Black Panther was released in 2018, it was as much a pop culture event as a blockbuster film. To the surprise of many, however, white nationalists had a campaign to claim the film supported their values. The argument in brief is that the Afrofuturist utopia of Wakanda is so isolated that it surrounds itself with a dome of invisibility, and that the nation did so well by sealing it off supposedly was an endorsement of closed borders and similar policies. 

This ignores the fact that Wakanda’s isolationist position is established at the beginning as being a state in need of change. Having contended with the nuanced villain Killmonger’s challenge to his authority and calls for national vengeance, T’Challa’s arc ends with him ending Wakanda’s status as a secret and that aid will be provided to the rest of the world. That’s not to say every left winger has embraced it (consider how a representative of the CIA, Agent Ross, is presented heroically is massively off considering the CIA’s history in Africa) but the isolationist interpretation didn’t hold water. 

5. ET is a Christ Parable

If alternative film interpretations getting disproportionate media attention seems like a new phenomenon, let’s take a little trip back to the 1980s. In 1982, Seven Spielberg’s family alien movie was such a phenomenon that no less than the New York Times printed a lengthy editorial about it, drawing all the parallels that existed between the alien and Jesus of Nazareth. It was not a casual reading based on such obvious tropes as ET seeming to die and coming back to life or having healing powers. The author of the piece went into such lesser known aspects of the Christian religion as the Roman Catholic cult of the Sacred Heart to draw comparisons to ET’s glowing heart. 

However, even within the piece, the author admitted that these concepts long predated their presence in Christianity and thus aren’t specific references. Spielberg claimed that he anticipated these sorts of interpretations during pre-production, though since he called them “sticky religious areas” apparently he thought the response would be more negative than it was. It would be understandable to assume widespread Christian denouncement of ET by those who thought he was co-opting aspects of Christ, but according to a 2002 article by Christianity Today it led to more religious people embracing the movie. Spielberg was dismissive of the idea he would want to make a Christian parable, rhetorically asking how his mother who owned a kosher shop would feel about that. 

4. The Shining is About the Moon Landing

In 2010 The Atlantic published an article devoted to an independent blogger’s thesis that in 1969 Stanley Kubrick worked with NASA to fake the moon landing, no doubt inspired by the fact Kubrick was fresh off spending four years making 2001: A Space Odyssey. The interpretation tends to come from aspects of the production design over the plot of The Shining. For example, the infamous “All work and no play” is part of the confession because “All” looks like “A-1-1,” which is an abbreviation for Apollo 11.

Most significant to most viewers, because of the intuitive visual element, is the scene where Danny Torrance is wearing a sweater with “Apollo 11” on it. There’s no stated rationale for why Kubrick would feel like confessing his involvement in the alleged, presumably harmless debunked conspiracy in such an indirect manner. This hot take has been discussed on numerous websites as numerous websites and was included in the 2012 festival hit documentary Room 237. 

And speaking of hot takes that were boosted by being featured in movies…

3. Top Gun is a LGBT Film

For many viewers, by far the most memorable scene in the 1994 film Sleep with Me was a bit delivered by Quentin Tarantino that had been thought up by his Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary, where he explains the subtext of the 1987 blockbuster film Top Gun. The rationale, beyond the presence of a lot of all-male crowds being photographed while slick with sweat — whether in locker rooms or playing volleyball — is that Maverick’s love interest Charlie Blackwood not only has an androgynous name but during the scene where she wins him over, she has her hair back and under a hat, which supposedly makes her look way more masculine. 

Yahoo Movies did an analysis of this theory in 2016. They interviewed screenwriter Jack Epps Jr. and he was clear that there was no intended gay subtext. Scenes were set in a locker room or playing volleyball because “it’s really a sports movie” and such locations would be where the characters exchange exposition. More significantly, Kelly McGillis was wearing a hat during that scene for continuity because it was a reshoot, and she had changed her hair color.  

2. The Predator is an Honorable Warrior

Let’s stay in the ’80s for a little bit longer and visit this 1987 action blockbuster. Ever since the iconic alien villain Predator (later dubbed a Yautja) killed most of a squad of American soldiers and then went hand to hand against Arnold Schwarzenegger, various sequels and fan articles on sites such as Gamespot have tried to paint him as an honorable warrior. The main basis for this is that the alien will only shoot humans that themselves have weapons.  

As critic Bob Chipman pointed out, the movie doesn’t support that interpretation at all. For one thing, the predator kills the soldiers without them having any way of knowing he exists, which is cold-blooded murder instead of any sort of honorable ritual. There has been no agreement, no communication, and the predator brings massively more advanced weapons, including cloaking technology. It’s less fighting duels than the widely derided practice of wildlife “hunts” where wealthy people shoot large animals that are practically chained to the ground. What’s more, when the predator is bested, he sets himself to self-destruct and laughs maliciously, which is less an honorable embrace of being bested than pure petulance. 

1. The Irishman is Sexist

Responses to Martin Scorcese’s 2019 Netflix movie The Irishman were somewhat polarized due to its length, the de-aging effects, and the relatively low key storytelling compared to Goodfellas or Casino but still generally positive. Still, there was one criticism which drew a lot of attention: Anna Paquin’s character Peggy Sheeran has very little dialogue and 10 minutes of screen time despite being married to the protagonist. The charges of sexism were sufficiently heated that a rumor emerged how Scorcese had allegedly ordered her not to say anything. 

For starters, Anna Paquin herself debunked the rumor that she’d been given any such insulting direction. Further, from the beginning, during the writing process Scorcese said to screenwriter Steven Zaillian that he wanted to give Peggy Sheeran more dialogue and screen time, but that during production he found it was more powerful to have her be a silent witness to the events. It also was more thematically appropriate because the movie is set during a time where ostensibly her character would have less of a voice, especially considering matters that “you don’t talk about.” To paraphrase an old proverb, sometimes the less characters talk the more they say. 

Dustin Koski’s further debunkings can be found on Twitter.