He Dies In The End

He Dies In The End
By Jeff Stone

A few years ago, I was hanging out with a friend. After a few moments another friend of ours showed up. She said she just got back from watching A particular movie – I’m purposely not revealing the identity of the movie. As soon as she said she had seen the movie, my other friend (who also had seen it) said, “Yes! can you believe she dies at the end!” I could’ve killed both of them. I had not seen the movie. It was obvious who the “She” was that they were referring to, so the entire movie was ruined for me!

That’s the reason I’m not telling you the name of the movie, by the way. I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it. Granted, this was more like two friends just talking about a movie, and they didn’t realize that one of us was not like the others. Had they known I hadn’t seen it, I’m sure that they would have behaved differently. However, I think we all know one of those guys. You know the one. The guy who likes to ruin a movie for those who haven’t seen it.

The guy who, when you say you haven’t seen XYZ movie yet, cannot stop himself from saying, “Oh yeah that movie is awesome, especially at the end when he accidentally kills his girlfriend, and then he kills himself. I totally didn’t see that coming! Yeah you’re gonna love it.” So why does “That Guy” have to tell you how the movie ends?

My guess is that if you observe that person, he likely has low self-esteem and/or wants to be seen as a guru. The guy who knows everything and wants to make sure that you  know that he knows. It’s actually kind of sad really. He’s trying to make sure that you know how cool he is by showing you how much he knows about the movie. When what he’s really doing, as irony would have it, is showing you exactly how not-cool he is.

What’s the difference between that guy and the guy who reveals how a magic trick is done? I say, nothing! He is the same guy. It’s either the magician who feels the urge to expose the trick so that people will think he’s cool, or it’s the audience member who attempts to expose the effect for the same reason. In both cases, whether consciously or not, the behavior, in my opinion, is rooted in lack of self-confidence. It’s just a guy who thinks he can win a person’s respect by “showing off” what he knows. Don’t be that guy!
Root:
Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: “A magician never reveals his secrets.” You heard me. That’s the first rule of magic. It’s in every single kid’s magic book, and I’ll bet if you asked ten non-magician friends what they think the first rule of magic is, at least 8 of them will say, “never reveal the secret.” Yet, on YouTube and in person, insecure humans are exposing magic in an effort to look cool. But not you, right?! Please don’t be that guy, and if you meet that guy, have pity on him, for he is a sad lonely creature who thinks that hurting others will help him.

Branch:
Let’s build our branches. Your challenge for the next 30 days is to not tell a single soul a secret. You need to practice keeping your mouth shut. Exposing how you did an effect does not help. Even if your magic buddies want to know how you did it, don’t tell ’em. I want you to go one step beyond that, however. I don’t want you to tell anyone anything about any books you’ve read or movies you’ve watched. For the next 30 days, no talk of anything from books or movies (or T.V. shows) with anyone unless they’ve seen it (or read it) as well.

Short, sweet, and to the point, keep your darn secrets to yourself, at least for the next 30 days. By the way, he dies in the end! Now go study the classics, and go discover your true magical self.

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