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545.    War of the Worlds, condensed (spoilers)

To:  sam@rinkworks.com
Subject:  subscription for a condensed movie!!!!
Date:  Tue, 11 Mar 2008, at 13:33:14

War of the Worlds

Humans: look, aliens!

(run toward them, aliens begin killing people)

humans: run!!!!!

(aliens kill almost everyone)

alien: ACHOO!!!!

(aliens all die)

Humans; we love you common cold!!!

This is a typical Book-A-Minute submission from someone who just has no idea how the humor works. But it's actually very close, and it's a wonderful illustration of how delicate humor is. Imagine the same words with a simple period at the end of each line instead of all the ridiculous exclamation points: "Look, aliens." -- "Achoo." -- "We love you, common cold." Suddenly an awful ultra-condensation becomes a pretty good one. The difference is whether there's any winking at the camera, figuratively speaking, and also whether there's any contrast between the words and the presentation.