M. Night SHAM-a-lan

I've come to really dislike the works of M. Night Shyamalan. And it isn't just because of his problems as a screenwriter (of which, he has a lot); it's because his work is disingenuous.

Almost all of his movies have a central theme of every person having an inherent worth (except critics, apparently) and everything happening for a reason (the obvious examples are Lady in the Water and Signs, but I could make arguments for The Sixth Sense (the kid is the only one who can make Bruce Willis realize he's dead; Bruce Willis is the only one who can help the kid), Unbreakable and The Happening).

The contradiction is that he doesn't value other people. Apparently the only person who can direct, produce, act in and write movies is, big surprise, M. Night Shyamalan. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know how people actually talk, or how to make a movie that isn't wholly dependent on some arbitrary twist; what matters is that it's his movie.

One character in the waste of time that was Ldy in the Water was a writer whose story was going to change the world. The actor? M. Night Shyamalan. He actually made himself the character whose story would change the world. I read something a while ago (which I can't find now) about how after the Sixth Sense, he wouldn't let anybody from the studio comment on his movies. He's essentially been moving from studio to studio until recently, when he started his own production company.

That's why his movies fall flat--because there is no truth to them. He does not feel the stories and, in turn, neither do you.