flight unplanned

the captain and i actually got to go to the movies alone last night! though i shouldn't be so sarcastic...we're the dorks who don't arrange to do things more often. anyway, we went to see flight plan. i give it a solid A. i wasn't mildly interested in seeing it until i read more about it. it's not just about a girl who goes missing on a plane - it turns out jodie foster's husband had just died, and she and her daughter were taking the casket from germany to new york. foster's character is also conveniently an engineer who worked on this "titanic" of jets - the newest and largest ever built.

but that's not all, of course. none of the passengers or crew remember seeing the little girl, and she is not on the flight manifest (which is the FAA's official record of who is on the plane). so is jodie delusional with grief or is something sinister afoot?

*semi-spoiler material ahead*

what i loved about this movie were (of course) the psychological aspects. it played on the fact that the human memory is very fragile and easily malleable. it also highlighted how "regular people" often don't dare question authority figures.

a case in point: one university professor decided to demonstrate the fallibility of memories - even vivid ones. she arranged for an accomplice to come into her lecture hall and "steal" her purse in front of 50 or so students. everyone was so startled that no one got up in time to chase the "thief." then campus security came in to take statements and get a description of the guy. the professor suggested that the purse-nabber had a moustache. a majority of the class agreed. the same thing happened with a baseball cap worn backwards. after all this drama, the prof came clean and brought the perp back in. he didn't have a moustache and wasn't even wearing a baseball cap, much less backwards! most of the students didn't even correctly identify the color of the guy's shirt - bright orange. a few of the students had sworn on their grandmothers' graves about an incorrect feature! so, next time you and crazy uncle homer get into an argument about who actually broke the beer bong last thanksgiving, give homer a chance, ok?

if you want to read an awesome and groundbreaking experiment about authority figures and obedience, check this out. you gotta love stanley milgram, the sick bastard!