What Is the Mandela Effect?
Our mind is a very complicated organ and it processes vast amounts of information every day. In order to help process this information, our brain works in ways that we are still struggling to understand. It can also result in memories and other functions that are faulty.
One of these defaults is known as the Mandela affect. It is a phenomenon in which peoples’ memories become confused and they are sure that something happened in a certain way, even though it did not. Even when faced with the undeniable reality it can still be difficult for them to accept. Here are a few examples of the Mandela effect in action.
1. Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was one of the most famous and most respected statespersons on the planet. He fought for equal rights in South Africa and later become the country’s President. He died on December 5th, 2013 aged 95 years old. Rather a lot of people, however, are sure that they remember seeing reports of Mandela dying in the 1980s when he was in prison. Many are even convinced that they remember watching news reports of his death and reacting to the news at the time. Such is the prevalence of people being convinced he died in the 80s that similar phenomena have been named after him.
2. Rich Uncle Pennybags
Monopoly is one of the most popular board games on the planet, and numerous varieties of it have been created. While the original version was based on streets in London, England, other versions have been made based on other towns and cities around the world.
One thing that does remain the same is the Monopoly Character; the wealthy looking man wearing a top hat and a monocle. Except, this is just not true. The character (Rich Uncle Pennybags) was not created as wearing a monocle and that has not changed throughout his existence. Don’t believe us? Feel free to check your Monopoly set if you have one.
3. Luke, I Am Your Father
This line is from one of the most famous sequences of all movies. That moment when the villain Darth Vader reveals to the Jedi hero, Luke Skywalker, that he is Skywalker’s father. The line is so famous that countless people around the world are able to remember it and remember the scene well except most have it wrong.
The actual line is “No, I am your father”. It does not begin with Luke at all and it never has done. Even after seeing the original clip played back again, many people are still convinced that the line had always started with “Luke”
4. Hello, Clarice
The Silence of The Lambs is another movie classic that has been seen by millions of people. Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter, a genius and charming man who also has a penchant for eating people. Jody Foster plays FBI agent Clarice Starling who is investigating his crimes.
The first time they meet, Agent Starling is directed into a high-security section of a prison. She walks down a corridor past the cells of other prisoners until eventually reaching Lecter’s cell. Standing behind a clear barrier, Lecter greets Starling by saying “Hello, Clarice”. Except that’s just the way most people remember it. What he actually says is “Good Morning”.
5. Mirror Mirror
Disney’s Snow White is a classic and many of us would have watched it in our childhood. In one part of the movie, the Wicked Queen approaches the mirror and says the famous words: “Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all.”
The line is one of the most famous movie lines of all time and has often been repeated in literature and elsewhere. The Mandela Effect is in action again here because the original says “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all”. The original is available on YouTube, but still a lot of people have difficulty accepting they had it wrong.
6. C-3PO
Another world-famous character from the Star Wars movie franchise is the cantankerous but otherwise helpful droid: C-3PO. C-3PO, along with his famous side-kick, R2-D2, take part in numerous adventures in the franchise and are some of the most easily recognizable characters ever created.
You probably don’t remember C-3PO as well as you think you did, however. The majority of people will remember the humanoid droid as being entirely golden in color, but this is just not true. In fact, the bottom half of his right leg is silver, and it always has been. Having a memory of him being all golden is an example of the Mandela effect in action.
7. King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII was an English King who ruled from 1509 to 1547. He is perhaps best known for having 6 wives, and many people will also remember him for a portrait in which he was holding what appeared to be a turkey leg. The scene with the turkey leg has been reproduced over and over in film and literature, except there’s a problem.
No painting of the King holding a turkey leg has ever existed, it is purely in our imagination. There is a well-known painting of him holding a scabbard in one hand and gloves in another, but there is no turkey leg in the painting or in any other painting of him.
8. Beam Me Up Scotty
Star Trek is a long running franchise that has been broadcast on TV in nations all over the world. The franchise has expanded with a variety of spin-off shows and certain aspects of the show have become ingrained in society. The words “beam me up Scotty”, for example, are one of the best-known lines of all and are synonymous with the show.
However, not once did Captain Kirk ever say those words. Similar sentences were said and in the movie Star Trek IV, Kirk did say “Scotty, beam me up”, but that is the closest that Kirk ever came to saying the term.
9. Sex In The City
Sex in the City was a popular romantic comedy that was aired between 1998 and 2004. It was an American series but it was popular the world over and won an impressive number of awards. Such was its popularity that the series even inspired two movies. Something that a lot of people might not believe, however, is that the show was actually called Sex AND the City.
At no point when it was being broadcast, including on the opening theme, was it called anything else. There has even been associated merchandise created that mistakenly refers to the show as “Sex in the City”.
10. Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, which was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is arguably the most famous painting ever created. It is currently located in the Louvre art gallery and museum in Paris, France. The painting has been depicted countless times in literature and the arts. The Mona Lisa clearly has a very slight, almost wry, smile.
Some people, however, are convinced that the painting had never had a smile and don’t understand how there is one now. Even after seeing the painting in person, many are still convinced there was never a smile and some have even gone to the extent of accusing the museum of a coverup.
