MovieChat Forums > Gremlins (1984) Discussion > The way everyone reacts to Gizmo...

The way everyone reacts to Gizmo...

posted 5 years ago by CinemaDemon989 (1286)
36 replies | jump to latest

First off, let me just say that this movie is a classic. I grew up watching it. It was always one of my favorites. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But last night, now being in my early 20's, I decided to give it another viewing; and one thing I couldn't help but notice is how everyone reacted to Gizmo. Here's this essentially unknown creature from China, and everyone acts like its no big deal. I mean, they just discovered a new creature, and yet they're all so calm and nonchalant about everything. I don't know...I just found that strange.

But still, Gremlins is an all-time classic.

[–] Tongue (449) 2 years ago

Oh it’s definitely strange but for some reason most of us completely overlook this fact - the movie just sucks us in that we don’t bother nit picking

How did the Chinese shopkeeper manage to keep This species so hidden all this time?

[–] WandererFromYs (1915) 7 months ago

I don't think his look is really out of the ordinary. Most people aren't familiar with every type of animal. You can simply go to the zoo, and see a ton of animals that you probably weren't familiar with. What made the mogwi stand out was their level of intelligence, they even had speech capabilities. Along with their strange reproduction, and metamorphosis for a mammal. But just seeing them, is really no big deal.

[–] Boromir (9724) 7 months ago

I tend to agree; Gizmo evokes the semblance of a common animal, but it's hard to put my finger on which animal exactly it reminds me. Their appearance lacks extraterrestrial or monstrous qualities, so you can somehow understand the "no big deal" attitude.

What appears less sensible is the characters' indifferent response to an animal capable of English speech, piano playing, laughter at jokes and, not forget, the strange 3 peculiar rules (especially the midnight restriction). The first time Gizmo talk in English, the family member didn't even react, like it's totally normal, as though such linguistic proficiency in an animal were entirely ordinary. I also find noteworthy their peculiar acceptance of Gremlins that swiftly transition from birth to full-fledged adults.

It goes without saying that these observations do not in the least diminish the film's status as an enjoyable classic.

[–] Bateman (573) 7 months ago

You have to keep in mind, this was the 80s. The world seemed like a much bigger and weirder place – one where China was so impossibly distant and mysterious that Gizmo didn't actually seem all that far-fetched – before everyone had internet access.

[–] Druff (1527) 5 months ago

You honestly think in the 80s we were watching Gremlins and thinking, "I've never seen an animal like that, but maybe they really do exist in China, who knows?"

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

[–] Bateman (573) 5 months ago

No? I'm saying characters in the film believing something like him might exist there didn't stretch the audience's suspension of disbelief, much like we could buy into Jack Burton accepting all of the supernatural weirdness in Big Trouble in Little China without believing any of it actually existed in real-world China.

[–] Druff (1527) 5 months ago

That doesn't really change your point. It's still that people living in the 1980s were more able to accept the premise of the story out of their own ignorance. It doesn't matter if it's completely internal or projected onto the characters in the movie. It's absurd either way.

You're on the right track about the internet changing things, though. It provided a conduit for the geeks of the world to find each other in places like this message board. Like-minded doofs who are unable to watch a simple kid's movie, literally a modern fairytale, without second guessing every single detail to find fault with it and feel superior. Dorks who back then would have been isolated in their social strata because everyone around them was annoyed by their idiotic "omg this creature is so unrealistic, I've never seen one have you?" bullshit. Those dorks have ALWAYS existed.

[–] moviechatterer (14199) 4 months ago

theres difference between not believing gizmo in a movie exists, like the audience, and holding gizmo in your hands , like the characters.

[–] Burk48917 (11117) 4 months ago

There is some truth to that. People in the 90s actually thought they'd found a way to bring dinosaurs back after watching Jurassic Park.

[–] Druff (1527) 4 months ago

Anyone in the 90s who thought they'd found a way to bring dinosaurs back was a blithering idiot.

Anyone in the 80s who "didn't think Gizmo was that far-fetched" was a blithering idiot.

There have always been blithering idiots among us, and they're still around today. Some of them are currently posting in this very forum, apparently.

[–] Burk48917 (11117) 4 months ago

I don't know if you were around back then, or how old you were, but it was a very real thing that people thought science had brought back dinosaurs. To be fair, there wasn't any technology prior to that, that was even remotely that convincing. But yes, people are idiots. Don't you remember an influx of people trying to book vacations in Wakanda after Black Panther came out?

[–] Druff (1527) 4 months ago

Oh, I was a grown ass adult when JP was in theaters. I never heard of anyone honestly believing actual living breathing dinosaurs had been recreated by science. I don't doubt that such people existed. As long as there have been people, there have been idiots. As long as there are people, there will always be idiots. Access to the internet has nothing to do with it. Were those people who wanted to go to Wakanda in 2018 somehow stuck in an 80s time warp with no access to the internet?

The only thing I'm talking about here is how ridiculous the previous poster's claim was that in 1984 people were better able to suspend disbelief while watching Gremlins because they were stupid and ignorant due to lack of internet access. One of the most absurd things I've heard anyone say in a while.