The Ventriloquist's Dummy story
Aspiring ventriloquist Billy Goldman wants to improve his craft. To that end, he seeks out his idol, retired ventriloquist Mr. Ingels, for advice. Soon after, Billy finds out that his idol has a dark past, as well as a gruesome secret regarding his success in show business. Directed by: Richard Donner. Story by: Frank Darabont.
14 total · 8 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| brother and brother | major | In a surprise twist, the legendary ventriloquist Mr. Ingels was revealed to have an evil, conjoined at the wrist twin brother. |
| conjoined twins | major | The legendary ventriloquist Mr. Ingels having an evil, conjoined at the wrist twin brother was a main novelty of the story. |
| coping with personal failure | major | The aspiring ventriloquist Billy Goldman was crestfallen after getting booed off stage and subsequently being told he had no talent by his idol. |
| human aspiration | major | The hero of the story Billy Goldman was striving to fulfill his dream of becoming a successful ventriloquist. |
| misogyny | major | It came to light Morty's killing of at least two women was motivated by a hatred of their gender. |
| missing hand | major | The viewer is led to believe that Mr. Ingels was simply short one hand, only to learn that he actually had a conjoined twin instead of that hand. |
| murder | major | Mr. Ingels and his grotesque conjoined to the wrist twin brother Morty murdered two young women to satiate Morty's hatred of the female sex. Open to interpretation was whether Morty killed more than two women, in which case he would have been a serial murderer. |
| ventriloquism | major | The story concerns an aspiring ventriloquist, and a talentless one at that, who discovers the dark secret underlying his ventriloquist idol's success in show business. |
| embarrassment | minor | A visibly nervous Billy was booed off stage for bombing his ventriloquist act. |
| jealousy | minor | Morty was a murderous misogynist because he envied his conjoined brother's physical ability to have sex with the pretty young women that threw themselves at his feet. |