Closely followed by another vision:
More of a hallucination, really.
Alright, everyone, get out your No. 2 Spots and your No. 2 pencils. It's time for the essay portion of this…essay. Ready?
Based on the following footage, describe, in 200 words or less, what the fuck is happening here.
Dance contest?
Magic missile fight?
Pressure-point-based martial art?
Rap battle?
ALL THE FELLAS IN THE HOUSE SAY HOOOOOO
For bonus points: I want you to get up off your chair and try something. If you can do it without breaking either of your knees, you pass!
My No. 2 spot just went off. Those legs tho.
While these fine fellas finish up their flailing and flaunting, let’s talk about something near and dear to my heart - editing!
This song and sequence are titled ‘Hypnotic Duel’. Would you like to take a guess as to how many times, before this sequence begins, the hypnotic powers possessed by Dr. Terwilliker are established? Or even mentioned?
It’s almost a trick question. They are, twice. Once, in Bart’s soul-sucking opening soliloquy, he claims that his mother seems hypnotized by Dr. T, what with her adherence to piano discipline. Twice - Dr. Terwilliker’s hand waggle that I asked you to note upon his grand entrance to the No. 2 Spot.
That’s it. Hope you were paying attention, because I sure wasn’t the first time. When Dr. T kicked in the door and began magic missle-ing Mr. Zabladowski, I was heartily confused. After this, there is some more hand waggling, and Dr. T mentions his ‘hypnotic trances’ to Mrs. Collins, but once.
What about the original cut, you say?
By the time the Hypnotic Duel comes around in the original cut, there has already been a Hypnotic Chant. We have seen Mrs. Collins get thoroughly hypnotized and are well aware of Dr. T’s mystical powers. This is called ‘telling a story properly’, and it helps people who aren’t running an analysis of a movie into the ground.
