Show a person doing something really really stupid. It will be shot from the point of view of an observer who is doing doing something completely mundane, safe, and logical. Have the audience sympathize with the observer and get frustrated and angry at the level of stupidity in the world. But then change the plot in such a way to reveal that it is the observer who was doing something incredibly stupid without realizing it, and that the first person was actually brilliant, wise, and conscientious while carrying out their seemingly stupid task.

Bonus points: make this as close to every day experiences as possible (ie. nothing like: "But, he was dragging a log on a chain down the highway because that's how he planned to stop the alien invasion") .. that's too easy

Double bonus points: flip the plot back once again just as the audience switches their sympathy to show that the first guy was stupid all along
-- ixnaum, Dec 17 2015

The Lexicon of Comicana https://en.wikipedi...Lexicon_of_Comicana
explains grawlixes [notexactly, Dec 21 2015]

Um, you do know that they already have awards for a particularly special kind of stupid? They are called "Darwin Awards".
-- Vernon, Dec 17 2015


I could see this as a Super-Bowl ad, probably for an investment advisor or mutual fund company. The entertaining video clip according to this idea would play first, followed by a statement implying that the investment advisor has the perspective to see the whole story. Considering past performance of investment advisers compared to index funds, that would be an even more special kind of stupid, but I expect that it would still be an effective ad, with a large number of people (of a more common kind of stupid) being influenced to get advise from them. [+]
-- scad mientist, Dec 17 2015


This has got to be already in existence, in what I refer to as the mind-#@*% genre of films. But I'll not cry preheated since I'm not referencing an example.
-- normzone, Dec 17 2015


This is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, though.
-- calum, Dec 17 2015


This sounds like keyhole porn.
-- 4and20, Dec 17 2015


Both of those guys are stupid all along, but the very longness is what makes them great Tinker Tailor Soldier Porno stars. That and the log on a chain.
-- bungston, Dec 17 2015


It's okay, you can say "fuck" on the internet.
-- Voice, Dec 18 2015


Are you sure it's not mind-warp?
-- pocmloc, Dec 18 2015


Ideally, Socratic dialogue works a bit like this. [+]

C.f., Kantian antinomies, Hegelian dialectic.

The challenge is this: can you convey to the viewer a sense of shared discovery, or do you, as the author/director, come across to the viewer as just an irritating wise-guy with nothing positive to say?
-- pertinax, Dec 19 2015


[Ian], are you talking about grawlixes? [link]
-- notexactly, Dec 21 2015



random, halfbakery