Have you ever had a memory of something that never actually happened or believed something your whole life only to later figure out you were wrong? Well, you may have fallen victim to the Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where a person recalls something that did not happen or differently from the way it happened. It is based on the fact that an inordinate amount of people vividly remember Nelson Mandela dying in his prison cell in the 1980s when in reality he died in 2013. Some of these people swear that they watched his funeral years before he died. It’s a crazy phenomenon. Here are a few examples of the Mandela Effect that many may not even realize we have been getting wrong.
Forrest Gump –
People constantly quote the line “Life is like a box of chocolates” from the movie Forrest Gump, but it turns out that is not the quote at all! Forrest is talking about his mother and says “My momma always said ‘life WAS like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” It’s crazy how often this is misquoted. Even this gif got it wrong!
We are the Champions –
The song “We are the Champions” by Queen is incredibly famous and many people sing the song with the final line being “We are the champions! Of the world,” but all of these people are wrong. This song only has the line “of the world” in it once and it is pretty early on. The song actually ends on a frustrating pause that causes Queen fans all over the world anger and even anxiety.
The Silence of the Lambs –
This movie is very impactful and sticks with its audience for a very long time. When people think of this movie, they tend to think of Hannibal Lecter saying “Hello Clarice,” and even thinking about this sends chills down their back. However, this line is not in the movie even one time. Lecter greets Agent Starling many times throughout the film, but he never says hello to her. Why do we all remember this line so vividly?
The Matrix –
This entire film can be very confusing for its audience and leave them wondering whether or not they are in the matrix. However, that is not the only confusing thing to come from this film. There is a very popular meme circulating right now of Morpheus saying “What if I told You” that is followed by a punchline, but much like in The Silence of the Lambs, that line is never said in the entire film! Where did this line come from if not the movie?
Curious George –
Many people grew up reading and watching the stories of this lovable monkey and the man in the yellow hat, and a lot of these people swear that Curious George had a tail! They can vividly remember him grabbing things with his tail, and using it to cause all sorts of trouble in these books, however, he has never had a tail. He is a chimp, and he has no tail. Sorry if this ruined your childhood.
Gremlins –
For those of you who have seen the movie Gremlins, you can remember so many things about this film right? You can’t feed gremlins after midnight, don’t get them wet, and don’t expose them to bright lights. Obviously, we all remember the cute main gremlin, Gizmo, but do you remember the name of the angry gremlin? It’s Spike, right? Wrong! His name is actually Stripe! What in the world?
Star Wars –
With nine movies (and counting) in the Star Wars franchise, there are bound to be a few Mandela Effect examples. I have two for you. First, C3PO, who is one of the most iconic characters in these films, but most people don’t know that he actually has a silver leg! He is not all gold! However, the biggest misconception in this film is the most famous line, and the biggest reveal in the history of film is the line “Luke, I am your father.” BUT THIS IS NOT IN THE MOVIE! The actual line is “No, I am your father.” Sorry.
Sex and the City –
No, that is not a typo. The show and the movie are called Sex and the City, not Sex in the City.
Snow White –
Everyone knows the famous Snow White scene where the queen is talking to her magic mirror she says “mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all” right? Wrong. The quote is “magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all!” Even the writers of Shrek got this line wrong.
Sally Field’s Academy Award acceptance speech –
Even people who were at these academy awards misquote Sally Field (not Fields btw) all the time. Most people recall her saying “you like me, you really like me!” when she won the award for best actress. She actually said “you like me. Right now you like me.” This has been misquoted by thousands of other actors, and it’s crazy how the Mandela Effect has impacted us all.
Chartreuse –
When you think of the word chartreuse, what color comes to mind? If you are like most of the world, you think of this color as a shade of red or purple. In reality, this color is a pale shade of yellowish green and is just as strange as its name.
Jaws –
This is arguably one of the most famous and recognizable movies in the history of film. One of the most famous scenes is when the audience finally gets the first glimpse of this enormous shark, and Martin Brody says “you’re going to need a bigger boat.” that’s right folks. The line is always misquoted.”‘We’re not going to need a bigger boat, you are.”
Mickey Mouse –
Yep, even the most famous cartoon character in America has fallen victim to the Mandela Effect. Most people think this lovable cartoon mouse wears yellow shoes, has huge ears, and wears red overalls or pants with suspenders. In reality, this Mickey does not wear suspenders! Then what are the dots on his pants for??
Spelling. Is. Hard. –
As a nation, there are thousands of things that we have gotten wrong spelling (and consequently pronunciation) wise. Here is a list of all of the things we have gotten wrong.
Is it Berenstein Bears of Berenstain Bears? It’s Berenstain (which I still can’t believe.) We all grew up with Oscar Meyer weiners right? Nope. Turns out Oscar Meyer is not a thing. It’s Oscar Mayer (pronounced like John Mayer). Is it Sketchers or Skechers? Just typing the second one felt wrong to me, but it turns out it is Skechers. WHY? It turns out it’s actually Froot Loops, not Fruit Loops, Gandhi, not Ghandi, KitKat, not Kit-Kat, Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear, and Cup noodles, not Cup o’ noodles. All of these feel so wrong to me, and I still don’t understand how we as a society have spelled/said these things incorrectly for so long. Thanks, Mandela Effect.
I am sorry if this article caused you to have an existential crisis (like I am currently experience right now). Just researching the Mandela Effect made me feel physically ill. The Mandela Effect is truly a crazy thing that happens constantly in our society, and it will never cease to blow my mind. Admittedly, I hope you are as stoked about it as I am.
Happy Hunting for more Mandela Effect moments!
Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14