(In response to "Has anyone lost something big via the Mandela Effect?")

I am going anonymous on this one; I don’t want people I know thinking I am crazy. My experience isn’t as big as your question is asking, but I believe it is bigger than average. This might take a bit to sort out the multiple levels of a Mandela effect—

In my senior year of high school, we watched a movie: Of Mice and Men. This was based on the classic novel of John Steinbeck. This movie starred Bill Fagerbakke (playing Lennie) and Gary Sinise (playing George). Most people know the name “Sinise,” but they might not remember Fagerbakke. Fagerbakke is perhaps best known for his role on television show Coach. He played the role of the aging “dumb jock” that could never graduate, and sort of transitioned into a member of the football staff. Fagerbakke is on the far right in the picture below.

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When I watched this movie for the first time in my senior class, I remember thinking that Fagerbakke was the perfect actor to play the role of Lennie; Lennie is a mentally challenged character in the Steinbeck classic. If you can imagine, Fagerbakke looked similar to an overgrown Dennis the Menace with his blond hair, and wearing the old blue jean overalls. In fact, this movie was such a hit, that Fagerbakke and Sinise would work together again a few years later in a movie of Stephen King’s The Stand. Once again, Fagerbakke played a mentally challenged character. Further, Of Mice and Men was obviously an inspiration landing him this next role. In fact, he even wore blue jean overalls in this movie as well. From The Stand, Fagerbakke is pictured to the right, below.

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Now, the weirdness begins:

In 1994 or 1995, my wife and I watched Of Mice and Men together. She would often pick up movies on her way home and we would watch them together. I was excited to watch the movie and I told her how much I enjoyed watching it again and that we had also watched it my senior year of high school. Here is the first problem: She reminded me that I had graduated high school in 1988 and that this movie was released in 1992. I said, “But that isn’t possible!” You can imagine the long conversation we had over that. It bothered me, but what could I do? Reading the box, it CLEARLY stated 1992. How could I have watched something four years prior to it being released? Of course, there was nothing I could do, and there was nothing to be done; I simply had to let it go. On a lighter note, we both at least had a lengthy discussion about how Fagerbakke was perfect for the role because of his acting on Coach.

So, this little incident had bothered me for many years. From time to time over the years, the conversation would come up again. I was always lightheartedly dismissed as “mistaken.” More recently though, I hadn’t thought about this incident for many years. But then “The Mandela Effect” had been gaining in popularity. I had dismissed it as a common psychological phenomenon. In my opinion, it is intuitive that most people wouldn’t notice C3PO’s subtle silver leg, a wrong quote from Star Wars, an unusual spelling, etc. Taking The Mandela Effect seriously was something I judged as silly. Regardless, it was at least interesting to read about, but not something I would take seriously.

A couple of nights ago, I was reading more about The Mandela Effect, and I suddenly remembered the “Of Mice and Men incident.” I was still disturbed by watching a movie in 1988 that came out in 1992. Being curious, I decided to do some googling and I was VERY surprised at what I found:

The movie doesn’t exist! Everything I have written above, every high school memory, didn’t happen! Further, the discussion I had with my wife about how Fagerbakke was perfect for the role never happened! Oh, there WAS a movie! It DID come out in 1992! Gary Sinise WAS in it. But, Fagerbakke wasn’t in it!

Let me repeat that. Fagerbakke WASN’T in the MOVIE! John Malcovich played the role of Lenny! Sinese and Malcovich are pictured below.

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Let all of this sink in: Me watching the movie in high school in ’88 with Fagerbakke never happened. Talking with my wife in ’94 or ’95 about Fagerbakke’s acting while also misremembering a ’92 movie never happened. Numerous conversations through the years about misremembering the YEAR certainly happened, yet numerous conversations through the years of Fagerbakke’s never happened!

Further, I also discovered that the show Coach didn’t come out until 1989.

But I was there! I “know” what I remember! Or do I?

In my opinion, any ONE of these events is disturbing. But the collection of them all together! The MULTIPLE conversations through the years about it!

I tend to believe that there is something to learn here. I think it may be more a symptom of how our minds really work, how SERIOUSLY unreliable memory can truly be, and far LESS of any evidence for some paranormal or superordinary phenomenon. But the jury is still out, and I am still disturbed by it.