Luke, I am your father

In a crucial scene in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader attempts to turn Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side and says, “Luke, I am your father.”

It’s an amazing scene, a big twist in the film. Vader wants to lure Luke to his side, but Luke remains dedicated to using the force for good. We’ve all seen it, right?

But guess what? Vader never said it. Well, not those actual words. Instead James Earl Jones voiced the words, “No, I am your father.”

• Vader: “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father”
• Luke: “He told me enough. He told me you killed him” 
• Vader: “No, I am your father.”

The line is one of the most misquoted movie lines of all time. The phenomenon of people incorrectly remembering the same thing in the same way is known as the Mandela Effect. The London-based research firm YouGov found that 63% of respondents incorrectly remembered Darth Vader’s line, and only 17% got it right.

We hear what we want to hear.

As time goes by

It’s the same way with movie classic, Casablanca. People like to use the movie quote “Play it again, Sam,” but it was never actually spoken in the movie.

When Ingrid Bergman’s character Ilsa first enters the Café Américain, she spots Sam and asks him, “Play it once, Sam, for old times’ sake.” After he feigns ignorance, she responds, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’.”

Later that night, alone with Sam, Humphrey Bogart’s character, nightclub owner Rick Blaine, says, “You played it for her, you can play it for me”, and “If she can stand it, I can! Play it!”

Nope, “no play it again” ever said.

Wax between our ears

Humans are horrible listeners. We hear what we want to hear, not what is actually said. Here’s another one: Movie directors and fans like to repeat the line “Houston, we have a problem.” It’s close, but not quite what was said in real life. When Apollo 13 ran into problems in April 1970, Jack Swigert, the Command Module Pilot, called Mission Control in Texas and said, “okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

The movie version might be better, but it’s still different.

Hope for me yet

We have some crazy memories, but it gives me hope. It let’s me know that I’m not alone in hearing things wrong or remembering events differently from others.

It does remind me though to listen close and to never assume. Yes, you know what happens when you assume.

Related Stories:

• Play it again, Sam! and great movie lines
• My name is Bond, James Bond!
• Meeting the Don: Returning to The Godfather