That's not how I interpret the poll. 45% so far have responded that they understood the entire plot, with another 14% understanding most of it (but not one specific aspect), and another 17% biased in understanding the plot because they already knew the story.
I agree, which is why I wrote “in all its particulars”. Perhaps I needed to phrase it differently, because you’re the second person to misunderstand me.
The same goes for me. It was a pointless exchange that I very much regret engaging in. I hope @The Mom deletes it.
That’s very sweet of you—thanks!Just wanted to say this. You are hands down one of my favorite members here. I love reading your posts, which always come across as very intelligent and well-written. And I especially love the patience you constantly display when having discussions with others here.
I really really hope my saying that I think some riders weren't paying attention isn't being taken as an insult in any way, because I really don't mean anything like that by it. It's not unusual to get caught up in the visuals and music of an attraction, and let your mind ignore half of what is being presented. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, I was just presenting it as a possibility of why people may have missed parts of the story while riding.
I hope there's no hard feelings here!
I understood what you said, I just feel that is a skewed way of interpreting the poll, and one that implies an outcome that isn't representative of the consensus so far.
It was discussion of Br’er Rabbit’s use of reverse psychology in the other thread that prompted me to create this thread in the first place. Before reading some of the posts there, I sincerely thought that it was impossible to infer from the ride alone that Br’er Rabbit wanted to be thrown into the briar patch. I stated as much and rightly received criticism for making assumptions. The debate reignited a few days ago, which is when I decided to open this poll. If my framing of it is skewed, that’s because the reverse-psychology part is what I personally view as the line between a good general understanding of the story (bunny escapes fox) and a clear understanding of the plot in all its major particulars (bunny tricks fox into throwing him back home).
I think @Castle Cake Apologist makes a good point that many of us came to know the ride during the 1990s when everything was in top working order; there's a reason people have been so dismayed for so long time about the condition in which WDW in particular has allowed Splash to run.
It seems evident to me that the majority as of now, understand the plot in all its particulars. Whether that's through a sheer comprehension of the ride or thanks to prior knowledge of the story.
True, but one of the reasons I created this poll was to distinguish between the two groups you mention in the bolded. The debate in the main thread centred on whether a person could understand the whole story, including the reverse-psychology aspect, without prior knowledge of the source material. As far as the results here go, a slight majority of respondents (currently 55 out of 106) could not (or believe they may not have been able to) infer the full plot from the ride alone.
I'm surprised you didn't go for the last option in that case ("I [think I] already knew the story, but the plot probably would have been clear to me anyway"). That would seem to me a better approximation of where you stand.
To me I just feel there are 3 categories of response in this poll. Those that understood the plot in full, those that either understood most, some, little or none of the plot, and those that can't say for sure because they may have had prior knowledge.
Let me frame it differently, then. As the poll currently stands, just under half of the respondents (51 out of 106) feel confident in saying that they understood (or would have understood) the full plot from the ride alone.
At least speaking from my own perspective, I think those open to the possibility that prior knowledge helped them understand the storyline are more likely to select the second-last option as the last option pushes it a little too close to what you note above as a counterfactual that is difficult to evaluate. That said, I didn't think too much about the difference between "may not have" and "probably would have" when selecting my option.
As am I! Perhaps if I did, I would have done a better job framing those last two options. If you or others have any suggestions for edits, I'd be happy to hear them!
Yes, I think you’re right. I am fascinated by the idea that in themed, immersive storytelling, show scenes need to reliably tell a story as a whole. And this might actually require show scenes that don't hold up to linear, scene-by-scene scrutiny. It seems to me this was a strength of what they did with Splash Mountain.