DVD Review: People May Have Been Funny, But Art Linkletter Was Sadistic - Page 3
With Linkletter representing an authority figure, the anxiety about making the wrong choice, the lure of the expensive watch, and the pressure of being on stage in front of an audience that expects her to make a choice, the whole situation screams “research experiment.” It’s unlikely that many people would choose not to continue, particularly since that option was not offered. Clearly, she was expected to make a choice. Being more empathetic than the folks behind People Are Funny, I was hoping that the trick involved replacing the two negative items, either with identical watches or a note that said “zap” or “ribbit.” Instead, she reached down into a canister and received an electric shock. Well…it was better than being thrown to the lions, right?
Not every prank had sadistic overtones; some were pretty silly and others were a little boring, again because there was too much explanation required. In some cases, it seemed the explanations took longer than the pranks themselves. Overall, the collection of episodes is hilarious, inspiring incredulity at the goings-on. For maximum enjoyment don’t watch all sixteen episodes in one sitting; that will minimize the evil perceived by politically-correct twenty-first century thinking. And try not to imagine what your parents or grandparents were thinking when they watched People Are Funny for seven years. Some questions should never be asked. Or answered.
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