Just finished watching "Gotcha" and I have to say that I don't get it...

A couple meets at a costume party and falls in love because they're dressed like Laurel & Hardy. She wants to play the game "Gotcha." He agrees.

She takes him to a seedy part of town, makes him dress in Chinese pajamas, then disappears from the front of the bed. He sees inexplicable things and then 2 minutes before the game is over, the clock turns back and a dead thing comes diving down from the ceiling and strangles him.

He snaps out of it with the woman saying "Gotcha."

They go to a diner, where the relationship ends abruptly as she's completely unconcerned with what's just happened. She goes to leave and he looks into the camera and says "Gotcha."

A few questions:
1. What do Laurel and Hardy have to do with this?
2. What relevance does the Chinese funeral have?
3. Where does the dead thing come from?
4. Why does he say "Gotcha" at the end?

It's very possible that it was the screen adaptation that causes problems for those of us that have never read the story. Just a bit confused and was hoping that someone here could help illuminate me.

Thanks in advance,

Chopkins

I’m no authority on these things but I’ll give you some opinions on your four questions.

1. The teleplay differs from, but is based on, two stories: “The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair” found in “The Toynbee Convector” and “Gotcha!” found in “Stories of Ray Bradbury”. I recommend reading both.

2. She’s trying to build tension.

3. The image he sees and what he believes is happening are from his imagination run wild. See two above.

4. The teleplay intentionally ends enigmatically. Ray’s choice I think. See one above.

Happy reading.

Chopkins,

Regardless of what you think of the adaptation, I would recommend you read the original short story, which can be found in The Stories of Ray Bradbury.

My take on the story is that it is (among other things) about trust. The woman goes just a little too far in unnerving the man, following which he is unable to trust her. The loving relationship between them becomes seriously fractured.

The Laurel and Hardy incident in the TV adaptation doesn't occur in the original short story. Bradbury seems to have devised this new material for his teleplay, and subsequently developed it some more for his short story "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair". Ray has a history of trying an idea in one medium and then developing it in another (other examples: "I Sing the Body Electric!", which started as a teleplay; Something Wicked This Way Comes, which started as a short story, then became a screenplay, then a novel, then another screenplay).

Was this film made by David Lynch?

Ha, sounds like it.

Read the original short story, then listen to the Billy Joel song, "The Stranger," and you should get it.

I am also one who has only see the television version, and not read the short story, and the strange ending always puzzled me too. I did read that the story was based on an actual experience RB had with a girl he dated, who played the Gotcha game with him.

In general, I just take this to be a horror short story, with the building up of tension and fear of the unknown, not being in control of what is happening, and the big scare at the climax. I agree that the man's imagination just ran away with him, and he scared himself. It's also the recurring theme with RB, childish games, toys, or rides unexpectedly turning out to be something sinister, ala "Zero Hour," "The Playground," "Let's Play Poison," "Something Wicked..." etc.

The others have already answered the Laurel and Hardy question, and I think it was also incorporated to reinforce how light and fun the relationship was at the beginning.

If I'm really trying to dig deeper, I also think there was a lot of wedding imagery. They wear white at a Chinese funeral. The couple in the story go off to a hotel room, where he puts on white pajamas and she puts on a flowy white nightgown. The dead thing that comes down from the ceiling and strangles the man also looks like it's wearing a wedding dress.

Earlier in the show, the man makes a comment about the laughter having to end at some point, and the woman tells him that it never has to end. That's when she first brings up the Gotcha game. He is apprehensive about it, but she takes the control and makes the plans and goes through with them. Doesn't thins sound like it could be a metaphor for marriage? The woman "gets" the man through marriage.

At the end, the man is just left reeling, like "what happened?" and the woman is happy, and carrying on like usual. I know it sounds a bit sexist, and I'm not advocating this view of marriage, just tossing it out as a possible interpretation.

That's a really interesting take on the story, Audra. I have never thought about it that deeply, and was just mostly creeped out by the story and video. I enjoyed hearing your ideas. By the way, welcome to the board!

Audra,

You are correct. I just called Ray and asked him if "Gotcha" was a bit autobiographical like "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair." His reply was that he had a girl friend that played that game with him and he said that ended the relationship.

He also said that a play of "Gotcha" is opening this week end in Los Angeles. He sounded great and when I asked him how he was doing he replied that he was having fun with his plays opening at various theatres around L.A.

His hearing aid was buzzing and I asked him if he needed to adjust it, no, but that the hearing aide had a mind of it's own.

I thanked him and he always sounds like he enjoys when I call. What a great guy!

Biplane, it sounds like he is running on EverReady batteries. Great for him! I am overdue on an update to Mr. B. Reading your comments has set me in motion. Thanks.

(How were the storms on you?)

Frank,

And to the others who might be interested. Katrina was to hit us directly, then veered south and soaked Homestead (which was destroyed by Andrew)causing flooding and then went across the state into the gulf to become the monster that it did. From Katrina we suffered a ten hour power outage, broken tree limbs and downed trees, all of which is NOTHING compared to what they experienced in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Rita was just wind and rain and now we have feeder bands from Tropical Storm Tammy. Hey, it is the price of living in paradise.

I meant to ask Ray what has happened to Sam Weller. It seems like he has fallen off of the face of the earth.

I was wondering about Weller, myself.