It's Deja Vu All Over Again
What exactly is the sci-fi television show fascination with opening bird's-eye-view shots of naked men lying in the fetal position in some wilderness location?
Excuse me, naked, amnesiac men.
And they tend to all be scary-smart.
...And blue-eyed, too, come to think of it.
I can recall at least three different specific examples that feature all of the above. And several more that only have a few variations.
Am I the only one who has noticed?
ETA: It has been pointed out to me that this was rather vague and nobody knows what I'm talking about. - Let me explain.
I saw part of this new show ‘Kyle XY’ last night, which got me thinking about it.
It opened with almost the exact same sequence as ‘John Doe’ - view of tall trees - zooming down onto image of wet, naked man curled on his side in the underbrush. Said man is later revealed to be immensely, inhumanly, intelligent with capabilities and memory recall beyond anything ever seen, although having no knowledge of who he himself is or where he came from or anything that happened to him before waking up. In addition, he demonstrates negligible people skills or understanding of basic human emotions/actions/social function/interaction. And, apparently both are being observed/tracked/hunted by mysterious entities who appear to know far more about their identity and past.
And, although there was a distinct lack of foliage in his wilderness location, when Stargate’s Dr. Daniel Jackson reappeared, it was under much the same circumstances. Being a returning cast member he was able to quickly recoup his memory and return to his natural state of semi-scary smartness.
More? While I don’t watch the show, I have seen enough bits and pieces to know that a very similar scene played out when Clark Kent returned to Smallville. Okay, so not so much with the amazing intellectual ability. And, a cornfield isn’t exactly an abandoned wilderness. But, naked? memory-loss? unfamiliar with proper social conduct? blue eyes? Check, check, check.
And of course he was also revealed in a similar opening shot in the same apparently standard “I’ve loss my memory and my clothes and been placed here by mysterious forces in the universe” pose. However, it makes perfect sense for him, seeing as it imitates the well-known “S” shape. That still doesn’t explain the other three, or why four different shows would create such incredibly similar shots/plots.
Any other scenarios you can think of?
Thoughts?
Excuse me, naked, amnesiac men.
And they tend to all be scary-smart.
...And blue-eyed, too, come to think of it.
I can recall at least three different specific examples that feature all of the above. And several more that only have a few variations.
Am I the only one who has noticed?
ETA: It has been pointed out to me that this was rather vague and nobody knows what I'm talking about. - Let me explain.
I saw part of this new show ‘Kyle XY’ last night, which got me thinking about it.
It opened with almost the exact same sequence as ‘John Doe’ - view of tall trees - zooming down onto image of wet, naked man curled on his side in the underbrush. Said man is later revealed to be immensely, inhumanly, intelligent with capabilities and memory recall beyond anything ever seen, although having no knowledge of who he himself is or where he came from or anything that happened to him before waking up. In addition, he demonstrates negligible people skills or understanding of basic human emotions/actions/social function/interaction. And, apparently both are being observed/tracked/hunted by mysterious entities who appear to know far more about their identity and past.
And, although there was a distinct lack of foliage in his wilderness location, when Stargate’s Dr. Daniel Jackson reappeared, it was under much the same circumstances. Being a returning cast member he was able to quickly recoup his memory and return to his natural state of semi-scary smartness.
More? While I don’t watch the show, I have seen enough bits and pieces to know that a very similar scene played out when Clark Kent returned to Smallville. Okay, so not so much with the amazing intellectual ability. And, a cornfield isn’t exactly an abandoned wilderness. But, naked? memory-loss? unfamiliar with proper social conduct? blue eyes? Check, check, check.
And of course he was also revealed in a similar opening shot in the same apparently standard “I’ve loss my memory and my clothes and been placed here by mysterious forces in the universe” pose. However, it makes perfect sense for him, seeing as it imitates the well-known “S” shape. That still doesn’t explain the other three, or why four different shows would create such incredibly similar shots/plots.
Any other scenarios you can think of?
Thoughts?