Subscribe Via RSSCan You Spot The Inference?
There’s a commercial that’s been bugging me for a long time now because I knew I wasn’t getting something about the dialogue. The man suggests going on vacation, and the woman keeps saying “we can’t”. For months I’ve been thinking she is merely protesting or telling him he’s being ridiculous, and I’ve just now figured out that she’s trying to tell him that they can’t go on vacation because she used up their points to buy herself a dress!
This is a classic example of the way I tend to completely misunderstand dialogue. When people speak in a way that is indirect, overly polite, or unclear, it’s just too easy for autistics to misunderstand.
In the commercial, the “giveaway” is a nonverbal gesture that I always thought was part of the couple’s dance. If it were me (and let’s just clarify that I would never go into the points stash without telling my husband!) I would be straight up and say “We can’t because I used them on a dress.”
Did you spot it the first time you watched this commercial?
My problem, I suppose, is that I see this as a series of unrelated events and I can’t figure out how to make them fit together. I can’t see what the dress has to do with the points or the vacation, so if I were the guy I’d just say “That’s a nice dress, but what does it have to do with any of this?”
What would you have done?
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by johnnyA99 and aspieteach, Sue Wong. Sue Wong said: RT @aspieteach: New Post: Can You Spot The Inference? http://bit.ly/3DcWKQ -> IMO script lacks clarity, poor directing/acting. [...]
I had to rewind that commercial once or twice the first time I saw it, so I think it’s just trying to be very very subtle and ends up being a little unclear.
I did not get it until you explained it. I thought just as you did, and I am considered pretty NT.
Hmmm.
I watched it, got my NT better-half to watch it, and we both came to the same conclusion: ads are a poor representation of real life.
Neither of us could spot any *wink-wink-nudge-nudge* inference in the woman’s gestures that would lead to the conclusion she was protesting ’cause she’d already used up the points. We were expecting her to say, “Because I don’t have any holiday time from my job.” or something. And really, that’s the point, isn’t it? It’s the hook. You’re supposed to be surprised at the end.
In the real world, I think the conversation would go something like this:
Man: “Let’s use our Sapphire points to go on vacation.”
Woman: “We can’t.”
Man: “Why not?”
Woman: “Because I’ve already used them to buy this dress.”
Man: “Whaaaaaaaatttt???????????”
Woman: “Don’t you like it?”
Man: “Yes, but how could you?!?”
I think anyone has to see that commercial a couple times to really get it.
And my biggest peeve about it is SHE HAD ENOUGH POINTS TO GO ON A SEEMINGLY NICE VACATION AND BLEW THEM ON A DRESS. WTF is wrong with her??
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I wonder if it’s more an intuitive vs non-intuitive thing? I’m super intuitive. Can spot a lie 100 miles away, almost always can tell what people are thinking, and can spot a player within 30 seconds…and I got this commercial before it was over. Does that sound like bragging? I’m not meaning to, but I do wonder what part intuition has to play in aspie vs. NT thinking? anything at all?
I definitely didn’t get it. The feeling of conflict and miscommunication between the two people really got on my nerves, and I started hoping they wouldn’t go on the vacation together, because clearly they’d keep talking at cross-purposes, and that would be intolerable…
Actually, this is the first time I’ve seen the ad with the sound on. Usually, I mute commercials, and I’d always thought this one was a Viagra ad.
I can’t say, since you had the header “Can you spot the inference?” and then of course i read into the text some before i played the vid…(this is typical of me: i often have to really force myself to read text in order as it is, and sometimes i don’t succeed.
So anyway, i didn’t come into it blind, so i can’t tell. It would be interesting to get a group of people on the Spectrum and ask them what their impressions were about the commercial, without any tip-off ahead of time.
That’s a reallly subtle commercial. Now, I watched it after reading your post, which may have helped me see her eyes widen with alarm when he first suggests the vacation, as well as the dance gesture and the way each of them in turn looks at the dress at the end, but I’m surprised that any commercial would demand such careful watching. I fast-forward everything on DVR, and I’d have never figured that one out at 3x speed.
It’s not the clearest advert in the world. Ideally they would have shown her coming out of the store with the bag.