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Schneier on SecurityA blog covering security and security technology. « Worst-Case Thinking | Main | New Windows Attack » May 14, 2010Fifth Annual Movie-Plot Threat Contest Semi-FinalistsOn April 1, I announced the Fifth Annual Movie Plot Threat Contest: Your task, ye Weavers of Tales, is to create a fable of fairytale suitable for instilling the appropriate level of fear in children so they grow up appreciating all the lords do to protect them. Submissions are in, and here are the semifinalists.
Cast your vote by number; voting closes at the end of the month. Posted on May 14, 2010 at 6:51 AM • 337 Comments To receive these entries once a month by e-mail, sign up for the Crypto-Gram Newsletter. #5 comes closest to a fear-instilling tale. #2 is probably the most terror-filled entry. ====== Posted by: aikimark at May 14, 2010 7:53 AM 2. "The Gashlycrumb Terrors," by Laura. Hands down. Though #3 is also top notch ... Posted by: Kingsnake at May 14, 2010 8:25 AM #1 This year's contest was more challenging than the past couple. Posted by: RSaunders at May 14, 2010 8:26 AM #2. I'm a huge fan of Gorey and this was a worthy variation Posted by: Dinah at May 14, 2010 8:37 AM I vote 2 (got held for moderation for being a duplicate before). Posted by: yt at May 14, 2010 8:55 AM #4 Posted by: Zak V at May 14, 2010 9:03 AM 2 was the best read Posted by: Fearful Asop at May 14, 2010 9:14 AM #2 "The Gashlycrumb Terrors," by Laura. But nods of amused appreciation go to #4 and #5 as my runners up. Well done all. Posted by: Bill at May 14, 2010 9:50 AM I really like both 2 and 4... If I *must* pick only one - then 4 edges ahead, but just barely! Posted by: Eric at May 14, 2010 10:42 AM 2. I really want to see Gorey-style illustrations for it. Posted by: another matt at May 14, 2010 10:47 AM Oh, so hard to choose; they're all good. But for really instilling terror in the heart of a child, I think I have to vote for #4. Reasoning: one and three have too much of a counter-message beneath the message; two is too light hearted; five really needs several thousand words to flesh out into an excellent tale. four is short (maybe a little too short, not sure), but has a good punch to it, and kids can remember enough of it to repeat it. And no, I'm not going to test any of these on my own kids. ;) Posted by: Eli at May 14, 2010 10:59 AM The duplicate-comment filter will now ignore comments that are a single digit, with or without "#" prepended. Sorry about the annoyance. Posted by: at May 14, 2010 11:17 AM I vote for number 3 - how many movie threats can you get in one story? Posted by: Zygmunt Lozinski at May 14, 2010 11:34 AM NUmber 4. Unlike the others, it makes enough sense to get past the initial "this is ridiculous" filter. Posted by: jb at May 14, 2010 11:47 AM @moderator: "The duplicate-comment filter will now ignore comments that are a single digit, with or without "#" prepended. Sorry about the annoyance." Sorry but does this mean that such comments WILL or WILL NOT be allowed into the stream? Anyway: #3. Posted by: David at May 14, 2010 12:08 PM Of these, #2 is the best. But please, next year, let's return to movie plot threats and stop doing fractured fairy tales. Posted by: Miles Baska at May 14, 2010 12:10 PM I vote for #2 which is the funniest IMHO (although the #5 is most appropriate as a fairy-tale). Posted by: D0R at May 14, 2010 12:20 PM #2 is my vote. It's a very close call with #4 in particular. Posted by: Fred P at May 14, 2010 12:37 PM Tough choice, but #5 is my favorite. I intend to e-mail #2 to all my friends, though, so it would be nice to know a last name for "Laura" at some point in order to properly cite. Posted by: they're all great at May 14, 2010 1:30 PM #2 wins my vote. 5 is perhaps more in the spirit of the contest, but it's nowhere near as enjoyable. Posted by: GSE at May 14, 2010 1:40 PM #4 for being short with a great punchline. Honorable mention should go to #2 for excellent, vivid poetry, but it's not really a fairy tale. Posted by: maximizer at May 14, 2010 2:28 PM #3 -- I think this one is the best at illustrating how much safer the world is because of all the restrictive rules that are in place. Honorable mention to #4, which has by far the highest (propaganda effectiveness / word count) ratio. @they're all great: I'm "Laura" -- thanks for the compliment; I've signed this with my full name. Posted by: Laura Pearlman at May 14, 2010 3:18 PM 1, 2 & 4 are all brilliant in their own way. #2 edges the others out. I can see the movie plot, too. The book is distributed to all pre-schoolers to educate them about all the dangers that are "out there", but it turns out that the danger is the book itself, which turns all the children into zombies. Posted by: Richard Schwartz at May 14, 2010 3:53 PM #4, simple and to the point. (#2 is a close second though!) Posted by: sf reader at May 14, 2010 3:55 PM Absolutely love #2. will be reading that to my son tonight :) Posted by: Ian at May 14, 2010 4:03 PM #2, far and away, although it doesn't quite follow the rules. If only Gorey were alive to illustrate it. #4 if #2 is disqualified. Posted by: old-fashioned girl at May 14, 2010 4:05 PM #2 is the best one. If I had any skill with a pencil I'd step up & illustrate it myself. Posted by: gabrielle at May 14, 2010 4:51 PM I would definitely vote for that nice Mike Ferguson's work. And I would definitely vote often. Posted by: Mike Ferguson at May 14, 2010 5:26 PM I would definitetly vote for that nice Mike Ferguson and his adorable, yet frightening, polar bear story. Posted by: Mike Ferguson at May 14, 2010 5:39 PM #4, Have to say #4. #1 would have been good, but for the two lines at the end that aren't part of the story, yet imply another entirely separate unaddressed threat. Adding them requires the reader to then discuss that problem without a story to read. #2 is part serious, part humorous, and ends with what is, IMO, bad advice. #3, is just LRRH retold, from the POV of an imaginary future. #5 is good, but needed an editor before submission. Posted by: Roland at May 14, 2010 7:10 PM 2 is a classic - Get an artist to add illustrations and it would be viral. Posted by: JP at May 14, 2010 9:38 PM #5 - Untitled story about exploding imps, by Mister JTA. Posted by: fleeblewidget at May 15, 2010 8:54 AM #2 Scans perfectly and is a great compendium of all the fears being peddled. Great competition from the other entries too. Posted by: Ush at May 15, 2010 1:52 PM 3. Number 2 is catchy but 3 is scary and is probably more bound to stick in a child's head; I would have loved 5 if it had made a reference as to how those boxes could have alse been gifts. Then it would have been my favorite. Posted by: Irrelevant at May 15, 2010 7:01 PM 3. Number 2 is catchy but 3 is scary and is probably more bound to stick in a child's head; I would have loved 5 if it had made a reference as to how those boxes could have alse been gifts. Then it would have been my favorite. Posted by: Irrelevant at May 15, 2010 7:02 PM #4. I think it does a perfect job of standing the original story on its head. Sometimes that dark shadow really *is* a wolf, after all, so isn't it best to ensure that our children are paranoid... I mean, prepared? Posted by: Eric P. at May 15, 2010 7:50 PM I say #2. (#5 is also pretty good.) #1 is... somewhat hamhanded. (Perhaps that's the point, but I dislike hamhanded moralizing in whatever form and for nearly any reason.) Posted by: Nathan Tuggy at May 15, 2010 8:11 PM #5 seems to meet the intention of the challenge, although # 2 is by far the most clever. I vote for #5 Posted by: blaine b at May 15, 2010 8:43 PM #4 (The Boy who Didn't Cry Wolf) is short and quite convincing. Even so, #2 (The Gashlycrumb Terrors) is quite good (imagine illustrations) and #5 (exploding imps) probably would come in third. Posted by: elegie at May 16, 2010 12:22 AM #2 Posted by: Lance ==)------------ at May 16, 2010 1:09 AM #3. Posted by: Peter B at May 16, 2010 3:16 AM I think they're all great, but since I have to choose one (well, I don't *have* to, but anyway), I vote for #1. Posted by: fjf at May 16, 2010 5:31 PM Number 3 please. Posted by: Matt at May 16, 2010 6:48 PM Definitely #4 But then I'm expressing my amusement more than following contest rules. Posted by: Tomasz Wegrzanowski at May 17, 2010 3:17 AM #4 ( i like it so much i have to say something - by voting :-) people who don't take NYC transit / Metro North trains probably find it hard to realize how funny this is. Posted by: Anonymous at May 17, 2010 9:10 AM #4 ( i like it so much i have to say something - by voting :-) people who don't take NYC transit / Metro North trains probably find it hard to realize how funny this is. Posted by: Anonymous Poster at May 17, 2010 9:10 AM #2 - I wish my meager art powers were up to the challenge of illustrating this. I just bought Amphigorey and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the Gashleycrumb Tinies. Posted by: Sean Ellis at May 18, 2010 6:59 AM #2. Hands down. Funniest thing I've read in a LONG time. Posted by: Eric L. Sofer at May 18, 2010 7:58 AM 2. Though I'd vote for 3 as well if multiple votes are permitted. Posted by: Johannes at May 20, 2010 2:54 AM My vote is for #3, the Little Red Riding Hood. I think that one meets the topic of the contest the best: the world is full of (movie-plot) threats, but the Lords made it safe for you. Posted by: btw at May 20, 2010 9:35 AM #2 - not a fairy tale, but clever, incisive, and well-written. Posted by: PLH at May 20, 2010 6:28 PM I liked #3 the most as it illustrated the necessity of so many restrictive and monitoring measures that can make this world safer, nicer and happier. :) Posted by: OP at May 28, 2010 11:56 AM #3 -- It's a real fable with manipulative side comments that are scarily realistic. Posted by: Kornel at May 31, 2010 4:35 AM Comments on this entry have been closed.
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