MovieChat Forums > An Honest Liar (2014) Discussion > anyone else find this creepy?

anyone else find this creepy?


First, let me state, I've been a huge fan of The Amazing Randi for decades and admire his relentless pursuit of sham paranormal activity. And I liked the documentary a lot. But in the start of the film, when he describes his first meeting with Deyvi, he was a 56 year old man picking up a 19-year old, with a "come up to my place and see my telescope line."This was prior to the whole 'coming out' arc of the documentary. If a 56 year old man picked up a 19 year old woman, I'd find that equally as creepy, i.e. if Deyvi had been a woman and Randi described the same encounter, that still makes me cringe a little. I'm happy that Deyvi's legal woes are over and they can be together, but that whole 'initial encounter' was off-putting to me.

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Really?

Well, if it makes you feel any better, they never said that they started a sexual relationship when they first met.

Frankly though I don't see the problem. They've remained together for 25 years. Do you really doubt the sincerity of their feelings?

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Stevie has many issues.

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For me two people loving each other isn't creepy.

I don't judge based on ages, I've met people in their 80s who act like immature children.

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I'd find that equally as creepy, i.e. if Deyvi had been a woman and Randi described the same encounter, that still makes me cringe a little.


Why? Some people are so hung up on age differences, it drives me nuts. If two adults love each other, it doesn't matter what their ages are. Woody Allen gets so much flak for this. There's nothing "creepy" about it. Grow up.

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I did not find Randi and Deyvi's relationship creepy. It seemed that they were both interested in each other from the start.

What the hell was wrong with, "come up and see my telescope"? LMAO, sound like a great line and it worked. No one was coerced!!!

As far and Woody and Soon-Yi, well if they had no relationship (of any kind) BEFORE if would have been fine. However, Woody had a relationship with her that was almost as a parent (even if when they started their sexual relationship Soon-Yi was finally "legal"). According to Woody, Son Yi initiated the sexual interaction, but it was still very creepy in consideration of Woody's involvement with HER MOTHER!

As has been stated with Randi and Deyvi, Woody and Son Yi have been together a long time. I guess it mitigate the circumstances somewhat, but I still find the way they started as truly creepy!

Just my opinion.

I would think the creepy factor of Woody's relationship is a lot easier to understand than Randi's. It would have been very creepy if Randi had dated Deyvi's mother and THEN started a relationship when Deyvi turned into a "legal" adult. That would have been very Creepy!


"If Men Could Get Pregnant, Abortion Would be a Sacrament!" Erica Jong

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You are right. Time and again, you see posts on IMDb about the age differences between an actor and actress, an actress and actor, etc. If anything, this film should demonstrate that age means nothing in relationships, especially if love is involved. This film is a celebration of how great love can be.

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Why? Some people are so hung up on age differences, it drives me nuts. If two adults love each other, it doesn't matter what their ages are. Woody Allen gets so much flak for this. There's nothing "creepy" about it. Grow up.
LOL Woody Allen gets flak because it was his adopted daughter. So yeah, it is a bit creepy to start dating the girl you raised as your daughter.






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'LOL Woody Allen gets flak because it was his adopted daughter.'

Actually she was not his adopted daughter. She was adopted by Mia. Woody and Mia never married for what its worth.

It's that man again!!

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Yeah, well still raised with he as a father figure so semantics aside it is the same thing.

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Steve,

Let me be the first person to share in your discomfort. First let me say that I truly adore James Randi and have been inspired for decades by his career of debunking charlatans. And I also believe that the love he and Deyvi share is genuine.

HOWEVER, how can an honest person not admit that it's creepy for a 56-year old man to pick up on a teenager? And don't give me that, "Age is only a number" bullsh*t.

I think it's worth noting that like most romantic relationships with huge age differences, you find that both parties received something beneficial (albeit something different) from the relationship. Deyvi obviously found a partner with the money and the connections to finance his desire to stay in the U.S. And Randi found a much-younger, more attractive gay man who was guaranteed not to speak out publicly about Randi's sexual orientation, for fear of facing his own arrest and deportation.

I'm glad that everything worked out in the end for Randi and Deyvi, but the age difference and telescope pick-up line was creepy.

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The age difference is considerable, but it would be far more creepy and unsettling if it Deyvi was 13. Age 19 is usually classified as an adult age.

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Well yes. Dating a 13-year old would be creepier than dating a 19-year old. Just like dating a 6-year old would be creepier than dating a 13-year old. I'm not sure I see your point.

No one said Randi's behavior was illegal. I'm aware that an 18-year old is considered an adult in the eyes of the law, and I understand that Deyvi was of legal age to give consent. That's not the issue being debated.

Just because someone's behavior could be creepier does not mean that their behavior is not creepy.

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"I'm not sure I see your point."

It's not that difficult to understand. Deyvi was a consenting adult. Randi was a consenting adult. Even when Anna Nicole Smith clearly married J. Howard Marshall for his money, she did so as a consenting adult. The fact that Randi and Deyvi have been together for so long kind of negates this notion that he's a creepy old lecherous man. Is it odd? A bit. Is it truly creepy? Being that they clearly love each other, I'm going to say no

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I still don't get why it's so "odd" or "creepy" to date someone of a different age. Must be some kind of middle american puritan thing.

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Middle American Puritan thing? LOL. We'll see how you feel when your 18-year old daughter brings home a 55-year old boyfriend.

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Wow robinson - You're a walking logical fallacy now aren't you?

I LOVE that you compared James Randi's relationship with Anna Nicole's marriage to a 90-year old man. That relationship epitomized creepiness, and the fact that you compared the two relationships only drives my original point home. Your anecdote also demonstrates my earlier point that legality does not equal non-creepiness. There are countless creepy things that are perfectly legal.

I will concede the point that their relationship is less creepy after 25 years, but the original encounter in the library remains a creepy "how we met" story.

I wish you would just drop this point. I really like James Randi, and I would rather not focus on this one story from his life.

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You know, I never really found Anna Nicole's marriage to J. Howard Marshall to be creepy, the way people joked and speculated about it was creepy. From what I understand, he had known her for years, and helped her get her start in modeling. I think there was honest affection there between both of them, at that time, she could have easily married a rich man closer to her age if she wanted to.

I don't know how I would feel if my 18 year old daughter came home with a 55 year old man, but since they're both adults, I would just hope he was a good person and would treat her well.

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You didn't think Anna Nicole Smith (then in her early 20s) marrying a 90-year old man was creepy? Well congratulations, 1% of Americans agree with you. I'll go with the other 99% on this one.

(sigh) Yes, if my 18-year old daughter brought home a 55-year old boyfriend, I would understand that they are both legal adults and I would hope he is a good guy. But it's STILL creepy.

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I guess my standards for creepy are higher than two people of different ages(legal adults) that share feelings for each other. But whatever, different strokes, and all that.

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"We'll see how you feel when your 18-year old daughter brings home a 55-year old boyfriend."

This is the same kind of logic of people who say "We'll see how you feel about interracial relationships when your daughter brings home a black man" or "We'll see how much you support gays when your son brings home a boyfriend."

These kind of archaic views need to be relegated to the history books. If you find it "creepy," that's on you.

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I know that some are going to say this is 'creepy' however here is some truths.

1. In the gay community, it is very very common to have young boys (16 to 22 yo) who only want a relationship - including sex with men who are 50+.

2. The young guys will be the ones that start this and will peruse the older guys. It is called looking for a Daddy. They will even call the older man Daddy. Very common that its so easy for older men to be in such big demand for young guys.

3. There are many thoughts as to why this happens ie: they did not have a good relationship with their fathers. However, if these young guys are given the opportunity to engage with a person of their own or close to their own ages, they are not attracted to them. They only want older men 50+

So now, its all a matter of attraction. Why would the older man, whom is getting all this attention from a young, attractive fellow not follow through and for the young man, if this older man does not follow through, then the young man will just move on and find another older man for his affections.

Last thing. Smith married him for his power and money. How many women have and do go after men for the power and money? Both of their same ages and younger? Good example. Look at the women whom have married Donald Trump!

This comment was typed before a live studio audience.

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"Well congratulations, 1% of Americans agree with you. I'll go with the other 99% on this one. "

Lol holy *beep* dude. Do you just base all your opinions base off of what the majority says? You really are a walking illogical monster aren't ya LMFAO xD. Just a few hundred years ago you'd probably agree to ban gay marriage, ban interracial relationships, and go back a few more and guess what? Blacks are slaves!

Good job thinking outside of the norm Rupert, you're definitely one to advance society.

That was sarcasm by the way. You seem like a traditionalist minded piece of *beep* Enjoy not being the change we need in society and being just another old fart that dies along with his age old traditions.

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Daniel,

Your powers of perception are so bad that I can only assume that your post in response to mine is a joke.

By the way, what are you doing wasting time on this message board? Shouldn't you be casting your ballot for Trump right now????

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Go ahead and feel creeped out but if nobody is being harmed, keep it to yourself and don't try to get people to publicly normalize your prejudice. When mixed race relationship began to happen, we went through the same thing, and again with same sex relationships. When something bothers you but you can't seem to find the harm, I encourage you to look inward and be extra careful about what you put out there. Ask yourself "Did you really need to say this, and if so, why?"

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I've lived long enough to know that it is natural to be attracted to people within your own age group whatever that group may be. I was attracted to teens when I was a teen and only to 20-somethings now and then and a rare 30-something. When I was 20-something the same went for 20+ with some 30+ and rare 40+. It has continued in this fashion as I've grown older. Occasionally I find a young one whom I find quite attractive and wish my daughter wasn't yet married to the numb-nuts she chose so I could introduce them. Very rarely, I feel attracted to a young person for personal reasons.

I do not think it is "natural" to be only attracted to much younger or much older people, but when it occurs I do not think it is wrong. However, I do sincerely believe that many, many, many people purposefully seek extremely younger people over and over again for a variety of psychological reasons usually based on insecurity of some kind or another, and vice versa.

Since Randi does not seem to have had a history of preying on younger men (or females), I, myself, assume that this must have been one f those rare occasions when he found himself attracted to one much younger... and it worked out.

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Backseat Producers can't simply enjoy movies. They nitpick & complain about every imperfection.

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It was a story of how they MET, not when they started dating. It's off putting because you know, in advance, that it led to a romantic relationship. There was no "pick up" and he didn't imply that that was his original intention at all. Two adults sharing a similar interests in astronomy and bonding over it isn't creepy. That's called basic human interaction. It's also how MOST human beings make friends. You're projecting quite a bit of pointless sexuality into to the story that honestly wasn't there at all. It was just two people discussing a similar interest, and how they met and became friends.

Don't get me wrong. I'm perfectly willing to call a creep a creep. I just honestly think, in this case, you're putting a lot more into a perfectly innocent meeting than there actually was.

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His eyebrows are creepy as f!#(.

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Funny about the eyebrows! But yeah, it was a bit creepy to me too because not only was Deyvi much much younger but he was also in a very vulnerable position too. Still, it's all worked itself out because they're obviously in love and Deyvi is old enough now and a talented artist as well. And, like others have said, James Randy has always been a hero to me.

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Only issue I ever had, as it pertains to the age gap, was the thougt that surely, Jose was onl doing it for the fame of it. But there is no way in hell, that anyone could do all that for another person and for as long, if there WASN'T love as a driving force, and this documentary cemented that for me. I did also find it odd that they never shared a kiss, however. Perhaps Randi just isn't a fan of PDA...

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