MovieChat Forums > The Box (2009) Discussion > Who else would NOT press the button?

Who else would NOT press the button?


You people seriously scare me with all this talk that 99% of people would press the button. I'm quite the cynic when it comes to human nature myself, but that's too much, even for me! I can certainly imagine being tempted to press it, but I would never actually do it. Even with all that money in my possession, it would weigh down on my conscience for the rest of my life. Can you really see yourself going about your life knowing you deprived someone of theirs? Someone with a family and friends?

"I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof!"

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I wouldn't push it. I'd never be able to get past the idea that I just killed someone.

Plus, karma is a bitch lol.

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[deleted]

You would have to be a selfish SOB to push the button.

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Totally agree. Like I said to the person who WOULD push the button, and dared to even say if you were given a gun that turned people into gold he wouldn't have a problem, SOMETHING is SERIOUSLY wrong with you, if you can just take a human life like that without even a skip of your heartbeat.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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Yeah right. You wouldn't even hurt a fly.

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Even if you were in the small percentage of people who would not press the button, a few things to consider.

1. You have to be married and have a child to be made the offer. Perhaps working for NASA was another requirement.
2. You have a sudden need for money.
3. Not only would you not have to do it, but you would have to convince your spouse not to do it. At minimum, only one person could know they pressed it. Your spouse could press the button, but not tell you (which makes for an interesting alternative scenario).
4. Even if you both agreed not to do it, then it gets offered to someone else who would.
5. Consider the facts. Elaborate wooden box, but that's it, i.e. there are no direct cause and effect like that with a bomb set to go off. $100 is real. Mr. Steward. His injury. His car. Even if you got his license plate and found out who the car belonged to, it's not a deal breaker. You do not know there are strings attached.

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That is for the movie. The short story just picked someone who needed money. You don't HAVE to be anything but in desperate need of cash.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://www.facebook.com/keolakauilani

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Sorry i don't know how to properly copy over a prev msg:

"That is for the movie. The short story just picked someone who needed money. You don't HAVE to be anything but in desperate need of cash".

They didn't even seem desperate for cash imho. Most of this country lives paycheck to paycheck. So the kid was going back to public school - they had a beautiful house, two incomes.. I didn't see a huge struggle unless i missed something. Which is always possible :)

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You're right. I don't.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://www.facebook.com/keolakauilani

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[deleted]

It's hard not to push a red button.
You can test that on this link:
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=9644

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Under the conditions given in the movie, i would like to think that 99% of people would not push the button.

As soon as Steward said that it will be reprogrammed and offered to someone else, you must be thinking that the box will go to someone you don't know and then Steward will come back to kill you as the person who is going to die?

Well, at least thats what went through my mind during the movie.

Also, why in the movie was it the wives that it was always the wives that pushed the button??

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[deleted]

[deleted]

You must be pretty ugly and unathletic. Gay?

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[deleted]

Probably because you come across as a woman hater. Apparently you don't 'love' women at all according to your statement.
That's what makes you look gay. It's NOT a realistic evaluation of the entire female population and no matter how tough, athletic and pretty you are will change that. Maybe you're just a shallow stupid jock.
Don't like the generalization of 'dumb jock'? Well, it's no different than what you're doing in reference to women...yeah, your mother must be a saint.

I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.

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"Probably because you come across as a woman hater. Apparently you don't 'love' women at all according to your statement.
That's what makes you look gay."

LOL, what a flat-out stupid statement. So pointing out any flaw/fault/expression/feeling of his dislike in a woman makes him sound gay? Your intellect is very shallow if you actually think something that absurd.

"What happened to the American dream?"
"It came true! You're looking at it!"

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"women on the outside like sweet adn innocent and cuddly and nice, but underneath is a seething pit of venomous vipers...and ill never be suprised at anything a female will do again."

THAT is what he said..you can't say you love women and then turn around and say the above sentence. O.k. so he's not gay - but the above sentence doesn't make it look like he cares much for women then does it?

The statement wasn't about you so you need to calm down.


I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.

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[deleted]

...the cat is just a quote from a film...
I'm glad your mother is the best person you've ever known. I said she must be a saint because no one is able to live up to her but really you cannot expect a girl to 'mother you' do you? You can't say you love girls on the one hand and then say how awful they are on the other hand...just doesn't make sense.
I'm not a sad, bitter person...actually your original statement sounded sad and bitter to me.
Anyway, next time I hope you won't over generalize your statements in regards to females. Maybe you need to take out a different sort of girl.
True there are bad guys too and some women over generalize and whine about how awful they are.
I certainly did not mean to offend you but I don't like being called a viper either.


I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.

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[deleted]

I don't know what you mean in reference to adam and eve actually? There's many ways that story can be taken and many reasons why it was written the way it was but it's a myth in any case.
yes, there are women who are out to get what they can. There's definitely no denying that. As far as why women don't like to be treated nice, I know it seems that way and you may have come across some females who don't like themselves so they don't want to be treated nice but really, most women DO want to be treated nice. It sounds like to me, and I don't know your age, but that a lot of the women you are dating may be immature. I know most guys don't fancy older women but maybe you need an older woman or a more mature one.
You sound nicer than the ladies you've been dating.

I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.

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[deleted]

Re: wives always pushing the button - some think it's an interesting allegory to Eve & the apple.

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Phew. It's good to know that not everybody is heartless enough to push the button. Yeah, I'd be tempted for sure... but I'd never actually do it. The guilt afterwards would be horrible. It would just eat away at you for the rest of your life.


“Keep your chin up and your nose clean, kiddo. The world ain’t done with you yet.”

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The thing is, though, it's presented in such an impossible/improbable fashion, that it makes it easier to rationalize to yourself that you're not REALLY killing anyone (doesn't make sense, the button isn't connected to anything, sounds crazy, of the 5 bilion people in the world how would you ever know that someone actually died, etc.). But actually seeing the money makes it easier to rationalize that you really WILL get the $1 million lol.

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Watch the movie to those of you who WOULD press the box and see what the catch is. NO I would never, ever, ever, ever press the box (or the button inside). That's so retarded.
______________________________________
Sic vis pacem para bellum.

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I wouldn't push the button either.

Money is not worth a person's life.




http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=30520828

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It's an unreal situation anyway so why bother treating it like some philosophical dilemma. It's stupid.

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Not a chance in hell. When I read the synopsis for this movie I thought, "Seriously? Would anyone even think twice about such an absurd offer?" Now, I know there's lots of real low-life people, scum-bags, murderers, who would have no problem doing it. Sure, people like that exist out there - some in my town, some in yours. And they wouldn't think it over, either. But the vast majority of the planet, the regular folk, you know, if there was even a few minutes of serious deliberation I'd be more surprised than disappointed or worried. Take your typical couple, realistically, they wouldn't do it (unless they were really, really bad people) and that voids them from "typical couple" status. Imagining going over this scenario with my wife is laughable.

It reminds me of another scenario that is more commonly used in stories: accidentally killing someone and then trying to cover it up. The character is faced with a moral dilemma, but it's realistic because the character is usually a good person who has made a horrible mistake. The body is already dead - the killer admitting to it won't bring the victim back to life - why should the killer ruin his life too? That's something someone can justify in a state of panic and it happens from time to time in real life. Sure they'll feel guilty for the family of the victim... but it's living with that knowledge or spending time in jail. In movies/books, usually the writer can come up with a scenario that most of us can sympathize with and relate to.

On the other hand, someone thinking about pushing a button for money, but someone will die - an act they have time to think about - we're dealing with a cold dilemma here. All of us could use a million dollars - houses, loans, schools, whatever - but on the condition that someone will die (thanks to you)? Does anyone really want their home paid off bad enough that they'd take a human life? Do you really want to drive around in your Blood-Beamer you purchased by snuffing out some kid, mom, war vet, average Joe? There's no way to justify taking the life, either - like some staving African kid is somehow worth less. "But honey, what if the person who dies is just some crippled kid in a wheelchair?" Won't we actually be doing him a favor? Plus we get money. It's a victimless crime." :-| Normal people don't think like that - the fact that they don't "know" who it is or have to do the killing is irrelevant.

Well, this response was about 17 lines longer than it needed to be... but I was bored. In short - no matter how you twist it, if you decide you want money bad enough to kill someone you may as well just face them and twist the knife into their back yourself. I think this story is rather ridiculous.

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I could never do it. Sure, I may be tempted to push it, but I could never bring myself to take a life.

The money will be gone in a flash, but the guilt would haunt you for the rest of your life.

All the world will be your enemy, Prince With a Thousand Enemies. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning, full of tricks, and your people shall never be destroyed.

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I would press it. Ultimately, the lives of strangers are unimportant to me and the majority of people, I believe. You can hear about thousands of people dying in a tsunami or a hurricane, but you don't cry or lose sleep over it - because you don't know them. It's more upsetting to lose one friend or family member than 100,000 strangers. Why? Because we're all ultimately selfish. Deal with it. I would push the button for $1000.

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apparently you have not read the story or seen the movie either... The pushing of the button in fact causes someone to die of unnatural causes. maybe YOU didn't cry when all those people died in the tsunami you heartless pig, but many of us did, who cares if we didn't know them? it is upsetting to hear of a person's death whether it is a stranger or not. Go back under the rock you crawled out from under and stay there.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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We in U$A vote for other people to "press the button" FOR us.
Then we live bitter nasty lives in selfish adoration of the lies we tell ourselves to get over that fact(which of course we never do get over)

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"We in U$A vote for other people to 'prss the button' FOR us."
What a narrow & simple minded false statement. Yes, the US goes to war, and our soldiers do kill people. But the reason we go to war is because a country or organization is killing innocent people. Unfortunately, we do not have a means to stop killing except for killing the killers. It would have been nice if we could have stopped Hitler and his armies without going to war with Germany. But if we had simply stood by and tried to talk him out of it, he would have continued killing all who stood in his way of taking over Europe (as well as killing all the Jews, gays, people of differing religions, and people with handicaps). Today we are faced with the dilema of whether we are going to allow terrorists to rule the world using killing innocent people and the terror of what they will do next. I wish we could talk them into being nice. We are a rich and powerful nation, and we do indulge ourselves a lot....but we also are the largest contributor of help to the world. Our people put themselves in danger in order to deliver food to the hungry, education for the poor, medical care for the sick, hope for the downtrodden. And many of us who do not put their lives at risk send money to help those that do. And where there is aggresion, our soldiers are willing to risk their lives to stop the killing of the innocent.

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"What a narrow & simple minded false statement. Yes, the US goes to war, and our soldiers do kill people. But the reason we go to war is because a country or organization is killing innocent people. Unfortunately, we do not have a means to stop killing except for killing the killers. It would have been nice if we could have stopped Hitler and his armies without going to war with Germany. But if we had simply stood by and tried to talk him out of it, he would have continued killing all who stood in his way of taking over Europe (as well as killing all the Jews, gays, people of differing religions, and people with handicaps). Today we are faced with the dilema of whether we are going to allow terrorists to rule the world using killing innocent people and the terror of what they will do next. I wish we could talk them into being nice. We are a rich and powerful nation, and we do indulge ourselves a lot....but we also are the largest contributor of help to the world. Our people put themselves in danger in order to deliver food to the hungry, education for the poor, medical care for the sick, hope for the downtrodden. And many of us who do not put their lives at risk send money to help those that do. And where there is aggresion, our soldiers are willing to risk their lives to stop the killing of the innocent."

What a narrow & simple minded false statement. But atleast it was hilarious.

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"apparently you have not read the story or seen the movie either..."

I know full well what the story is about.

"The pushing of the button in fact causes someone to die of unnatural causes"

Yes...

And I'm aware that in the story/film it could come back to haunt you as well. I'm answering the question as asked by the original poster.

"maybe YOU didn't cry when all those people died in the tsunami you heartless pig, but many of us did, who cares if we didn't know them? it is upsetting to hear of a person's death whether it is a stranger or not"

Heh, what a pathetic hippie you are. Why are on you on IMDB? Go watch some footage of a starving Ethiopian and cry yourself to sleep. Meanwhile, I won't pretend like I give a s hit.

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it's not called being a hippie, it's called being human and having a heart. I will remember that when YOU die in some sort of freak natural disaster or some other form like 9/11. Sorry but I am NOT the pathetic one. Karma is a bitch, and the things you say will bite you in the ass.
IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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Human beings kill and have killed each other since the dawn of time. Without violence, some of history's greatest empires, such as the Romans and the Byzantines, would not have existed.

I happened to see the film today at my local theatre and enjoyed it for what it was: An entertaining piece of science fiction. As they say in the film, "We all die", which includes you and I, so there's no point in fearing the inevitable.

I don't believe in karma, as I am not Hindu.

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I would NOT push the button if I knew the same thing would happen to me like it did in the movie. The karma/cyclical/comeuppins would definitely deter me.

However, if there was aboslutely NO chance of it coming back to me, then I would push the button. Totally selfish and inhuman I know, but I'm here for #1 unfortunately.

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okay smart ass, what goes around comes around.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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Based on Eastern philosophy, perhaps. Go peddle your line of BS somewhere else.

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how is what goes around comes around based on eastern philosophy? reap what you sow, what - F&*@ing - ever... like i said before, go back under the rock you crawled out from under and stay the f*@k there.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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Isn't that the same as karma, which is Hindu.
You're a very angry person, i bet you would press the button.

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it may be called karma in hindu but it is a universal saying. It didn't start there. and i'm not angry, I have a heart, unlike the person who thinks strangers deaths arent sad. any death no matter who it is is sad.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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That's your opinion. I'm not going to pretend to be sad when a stranger dies to suit your idea of how humans should feel.

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then apparently you aren't human.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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By your personal definition, wiseass.

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oh IM the wise ass? what the F*&k ever!

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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....better than being a dumbass...

I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.

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By a lot of people's definition.

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Soooooo....what about karma for the tsunami?
lol, that's some heart you have, waiting for MaxxoftheRight to die in another 9/11 attack. Does that mean you WANT another natural disaster to happen so he can die in it?

You're a loser.

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I hope you're not *beep* talking to me because I never said I was waiting for him to die! So you better check yourself and make sure you are replying to the right goddamn *beep* person.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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omg, I'm sure you cried for DAYS didn't you Mother Theresa. Don't worry, I'll go crawl back under my rock too, that way I'll be safe when another tsunami happens.

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EAT ME!!!!!!! Once again, ANY death is sad. Period. A big *beep* you very much to those who don't think any one persons life does not matter. And yes, you too can go get back on the goddamn short bus you freaking fell off of.

IF I HAD BALLS, THEY'D BE BIGGER THAN YOURS.
http://profile.myspace.com/keolakauilani

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[deleted]

I'd push the button because I wouldn't believe it could kill someone and the whole thing would seem so silly I would have to push it to see what happens. If I lived in a alternate reality where box buttons killed people, of course I wouldn't push it. If someone gave me a remote bomb device and told me I could have a million bucks to blow up a person, I doubt any of us would push it.

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