Poll: Who immediately knows what the "Magic Bullet Theory" is?

[3113]

Does saying "the Single Bullet Theory" more quickly bring to mind the correct reference?

Yes! Saying "Single Bullet" would have immediately brought JFK to mind.

 

[Tom Collins]

Absolutely, if only because this phrase doesn't carry the connotations associated with "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet," Madison Avenue, etc.

Yes! Saying "Single Bullet" would have immediately brought JFK to mind.

Excellent. Thanks for the further input, y'all.

And keep it coming everyone. Vote, vote, vote...if you haven't already.

 

[oggbashan]

My concepts of 'The Magic Bullet' are:

1. The silver bullet needed to kill a werewolf.
2. Der Freischutz
3. The medical concept of a drug or treatment that will kill a pathogen

I had no idea that there was any connection with the Kennedy Assassination. I was at work that day, doing overtime in Defence, and the shit hit the fan. I didn't get home for 18 hours.

Og

 

[Guest]

 

[beauty4207]

I voted yes...I thought you were talking about that sex toy the magic bullet...ahahahaha...I have no clue what you are talking about..........I am so stupid

 

[minsue]

I answered "no" because too many possibilities came to mind with "Magic Bullet". "Single bullet" would've done it.


(And I'm yet another who watched the Challenger explosion live in an elementary school classroom. I still can't think of it without getting a lump in my throat.)

 

[JamesSD]

The American public has seemed to be obsessed with the conspiracy theory surrounding the assassination of JFK (to confirm beliefs and suspicions as to what I'm referencing) and it hadn't occured to me that anyone over the aged twenty-five wouldn't be very familiar with the Magic/Single Bullte Thoery.

Does saying "the Single Bullet Theory" more quickly bring to mind the correct reference?

I'm 27, and would fall into the group that isn't terribly familiar. You may need to raise your "upper limit" to Thirty.

I think you've accidentally touched on an interesting discussion topic, the age and when the reader grew up/was alive in relevance for stories. I know I drop tons of references to online chat, text messaging, etc. I also have read a few supposedly present day stories where the characters talk and act like they're still living in the 50s or 60s.

 

[angela146]

If it doesn't feel personal you won't, generally remember it much.

The American public has seemed to be obsessed with the conspiracy theory surrounding the assassination of JFK (to confirm beliefs and suspicions as to what I'm referencing) and it hadn't occurred to me that anyone over the aged twenty-five wouldn't be very familiar with the Magic/Single Bullet Theory.

Does saying "the Single Bullet Theory" more quickly bring to mind the correct reference?

The phrase "over age 25" got me laughing.

First of all, in order to remember JFK alive you have to be a *minimum* of about 50 years old. Anyone who was younger than grade-school-age in 1963 isn't going to remember the age of innocence that was shattered by the assassination.

Without the living memory of "Camelot", the assassination is a historic event that has roughly the same kind of meaning as Pearl Harbor Day: something that older people talk about with misty eyes because it changed their lives forever.

Remember that Kennedy himself said that the only two days when people knew exactly where they were, were Pearl Harbor Day and the death of President Roosevelt.

If you weren't there or weren't of a certain age, you aren't part of the gestalt.

For me, the Challenger blowing up was "the" moment. It took "America's First Teacher in Space" and killed her in front of her children (i.e. her students) and her parents. The look on the faces of her mom and dad as they realized what had happened is burned into my memory in a way that no historical event (like JFK) could ever be.

 

[Tom Collins]

The phrase "over age 25" got me laughing.

First of all, in order to remember JFK alive you have to be a *minimum* of about 50 years old. Anyone who was younger than grade-school-age in 1963 isn't going to remember the age of innocence that was shattered by the assassination.

Without the living memory of "Camelot", the assassination is a historic event that has roughly the same kind of meaning as Pearl Harbor Day: something that older people talk about with misty eyes because it changed their lives forever.

Remember that Kennedy himself said that the only two days when people knew exactly where they were, were Pearl Harbor Day and the death of President Roosevelt.

If you weren't there or weren't of a certain age, you aren't part of the gestalt.

For me, the Challenger blowing up was "the" moment. It took "America's First Teacher in Space" and killed her in front of her children (i.e. her students) and her parents. The look on the faces of her mom and dad as they realized what had happened is burned into my memory in a way that no historical event (like JFK) could ever be.

By remember, I didn't mean they had to have been there...lol Perhaps I'm strange then, because I've always been always had a keen interest in JFK's assassination. I've always been drawn to the unsolvable mystery of it.

Still, I see no reason why a 25 year old shouldn't be familiar with the event. I mean, it's not like I'm talking about The Day the Music Died, which was an event that only really effected a certain segment of the population. It rocked the nation in the same way that 9/11 did. Wouldn't you expect a 25 year old 35 years from now to know about it?

 

[Guest]

By remember, I didn't mean they had to have been there...lol Perhaps I'm strange then, because I've always been always had a keen interest in JFK's assassination. I've always been drawn to the unsolvable mystery of it.

Still, I see no reason why a 25 year old shouldn't be familiar with the event. I mean, it's not like I'm talking about The Day the Music Died, which was an event that only really effected a certain segment of the population. It rocked the nation in the same way that 9/11 did. Wouldn't you expect a 25 year old 35 years from now to know about it?

considering the amount of conspiracy theorizing, the movies, the TV documentaries, the books, the songs, the Baby Boomer parents and grandparents -- yeah, it isn't outside the realm of possibility for someone under age 25 to know about it.

I wasn't alive when it happened, as a matter of fact, and I have no particular fascination for it, but I know a fair bit about it simply because of media exposure.

Considering challenger took place 20 years ago, when anyone 25 would have been 5, I don't think that would necessarily count as a seminal event. A 5 year old might know it happened because they heard about it in school and, of course, tons of media about it in the ensuing years, but I doubt it changed their lives or perceptions of life. Most 5 year olds are simply not that aware of things outside their circle of existance.

 

[Belegon]

I knew instantly...and I wasn't quite born yet when JFK was shot. I was already out of high school when Challanger happened too...

Vietnam. Watergate. The POW's coming home. The hostages. John Lennon. Reagan getting shot.

These all affected me, but there was no one single event that shocked me out of innocence.

 

[JamesSD]

By remember, I didn't mean they had to have been there...lol Perhaps I'm strange then, because I've always been always had a keen interest in JFK's assassination. I've always been drawn to the unsolvable mystery of it.

Still, I see no reason why a 25 year old shouldn't be familiar with the event. I mean, it's not like I'm talking about The Day the Music Died, which was an event that only really effected a certain segment of the population. It rocked the nation in the same way that 9/11 did. Wouldn't you expect a 25 year old 35 years from now to know about it?

Actually, the Day the Music Died has been immortalized by the insanely well known song, "American Pie". I mean, I can't name a single song by The Big Bopper, but I know he died in that plane crash.

I know some about the Kennedy assassination. But "Magic Bullet Theory" means nothing to me "Lone Gunman" does, as does "Grassy Knoll".

The Challenger event was huge for kids. NASA made a big deal of the first teacher in space. It was heavily promoted in schools. We may not have totally "gotten it", but it was still big.

The first Iraq war was also huge for me as a teenager. I spent my childhood in the Cold War, but, actually going to war was a whole different thing.

 

[Belegon]

Chantilly Lace

 

[Tom Collins]

Actually, the Day the Music Died has been immortalized by the insanely well known song, "American Pie". I mean, I can't name a single song by The Big Bopper, but I know he died in that plane crash.

I know some about the Kennedy assassination. But "Magic Bullet Theory" means nothing to me "Lone Gunman" does, as does "Grassy Knoll".

The Challenger event was huge for kids. NASA made a big deal of the first teacher in space. It was heavily promoted in schools. We may not have totally "gotten it", but it was still big.

The first Iraq war was also huge for me as a teenager. I spent my childhood in the Cold War, but, actually going to war was a whole different thing.

Yeah, I know about the song and pretty much know what the whole thing means. The point I was making is that event only had a major impact on the teens and preteens of the era. To everyone else it was just something that happened. The only reason it got imortaliazed in that song is because Don McLean was in his late teens at the time and idolized Buddy Holly. And that's the only reason you know anything about it, I'd bet.

JFK, on the other hand, was a major blow to the American psyche. 80 year old men wept at the news of Kenedy's death...you think they gave a shit about the Big Bopper 10 years before?

Chantilly Lace

And a pretty face, and a pony tail hanging down.
That wiggle in the walk, and giggle in the talk, makes the world go round.
There ain't nothing in the world like a big eyed girl
That makes me act so funny, make me spend my money.
Make me feel real loose, like a long necked goose.
Like a girl, oh baby that's what I like!

 

[S-Des]

I think that many people don't recognize the "magic bullet" theory, because it didn't have anything to do with the assassination. It was in the conspiracy theories afterwards that the phrase became commonplace. I knew it immediately because I've heard it talked about 100 times in documentaries and on late night radio (along with the aliens ).

Grassy knoll is probably a much more recognizable phrase to most people. Unless they're like me and always tune in to hear a conspiracy theory .

 

[JamesSD]

I think that many people don't recognize the "magic bullet" theory, because it didn't have anything to do with the assassination. It was in the conspiracy theories afterwards that the phrase became commonplace. I knew it immediately because I've heard it talked about 100 times in documentaries and on late night radio (along with the aliens ).

Grassy knoll is probably a much more recognizable phrase to most people. Unless they're like me and always tune in to hear a conspiracy theory .

Conspiracy theories bore me.

No really, they do. Sorry.

Explains why I haven't heard of it.

 

[Tom Collins]

Conspiracy theories bore me.

No really, they do. Sorry.

Explains why I haven't heard of it.

Not everyone can drink from the same cup of tea, James. If we could it would have to either be a very large cup or we'd all be really tiny or possibly...hang on...I'm pretty sure I had a point I was driving at... *scratches head...eyes wander about trying to locate the misplaced point I thought I was driving at*...ummm...ohm right...one man's skirt is another man's kilt....I think that's what I was saying.

 

[JamesSD]

Not everyone can drink from the same cup of tea, James. If we could it would have to either be a very large cup or we'd all be really tiny or possibly...hang on...I'm pretty sure I had a point I was driving at... *scratches head...eyes wander about trying to locate the misplaced point I thought I was driving at*...ummm...ohm right...one man's skirt is another man's kilt....I think that's what I was saying.

Certainly, everyone has a right to enjoy what they like.

I did once hear a funny joke about how people who believe in conspiracy theories are often the same ones that think everyone in the Government on both sides are idiots/incompetent. Kinda makes you wonder who's running the conspiracy?

 

[Huckleman2000]

Excellent. Thanks for the further input, y'all.

And keep it coming everyone. Vote, vote, vote...if you haven't already.

Agreed. Single Bullet Theory would have immediately put the thought in my mind. Grassy Knoll even more so. Zapruder Film too.

As I mentioned, I was in Kindergarten, and we all got sent home early. President Kennedy was a big hero in our family, being the good Catholics we were. We drove to visit my grandparents who lived about 110 miles away, and I remember watching the funeral on TV. The flag-draped coffin on the caison, John-John saluting, and the riderless black horse with the boots in backwards getting all skittish. Those things were iconic moments as soon as they happened.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Obviously there is no mystique to the "magic bullet" once you throw out the controversy and look at the evidence as was done by the Warren Report. The shot made two right turns, after hitting JFK, then broke Governor Conleey's wrist and ended up in "Pristine Condition" on a gurney at the hospital. Oh yeah, I totally believe it happened exactly like that. Praise Earl Warren and the entire investigating committe.

<< Rolling Eyes >>

 

[wazhazhe]

Just to give you a perspective...

Moon landing... wasn't born yet... parents weren't married

Challenger... 5th grade... a little older than Christa McAuliffe's students

Berlin Wall comes down... 9th grade... had to write an essay about what it meant

Clinton gets blow job... in college (I'm 2 years younger than Monica Lewinski).

Moon landing ... Summer between 10th and 11 grade … watched it live on TV

Freedom 7 ... 2nd grade … Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

Berlin Wall goes up ... Summer between 2nd and 3rd grade

Berlin Wall comes down ... Teaching at a university.

Jim Bakker sex scandal … Grad school … televangelist and founder of Six Flags Over Jesus theme park. Actually better than Clinton's.

Clinton gets a blow job … At least I’m younger than Clinton.

 

[Tom Collins]

Certainly, everyone has a right to enjoy what they like.

I did once hear a funny joke about how people who believe in conspiracy theories are often the same ones that think everyone in the Government on both sides are idiots/incompetent. Kinda makes you wonder who's running the conspiracy?

I don't think everyone in the government is an idiot, just the people who are out in front of the cameras. There are loads of people behind the scenes that you never see.

 

[Tom Collins]

Agreed. Single Bullet Theory would have immediately put the thought in my mind. Grassy Knoll even more so. Zapruder Film too.

As I mentioned, I was in Kindergarten, and we all got sent home early. President Kennedy was a big hero in our family, being the good Catholics we were. We drove to visit my grandparents who lived about 110 miles away, and I remember watching the funeral on TV. The flag-draped coffin on the caison, John-John saluting, and the riderless black horse with the boots in backwards getting all skittish. Those things were iconic moments as soon as they happened.

The reason I didn't ask about Grassy Knoll and Zapruder Film is because I needed to know about the specific phrase Magic Bullet Theory. I was going to use it in a story, but wasn't sure it would immediately make a person think what I wanted them to think and the phrase Single Bullet Theory had escaped me.