FAQs on The Happening *SPOILERS*

Why is this movie called The Happening?
At first, M. Night Shayamalan called this movie The Green Effect, talking about plants taking fighting back. However, the longer Shayamalan made this movie, the event that happens in the film starts to become less known and more ambiguous.

What causes this event?
At first, it's the plant but as stated earlier, as Shayamalan continued to shoot his script, the event becomes slightly more unknown. That's why the film doesn't provide a full explanation on what causes this event. Theories include plants, the government, and toxic chemicals in the air.

Why did this film suck? I was so excited to see it!
Well, the generic answer would be it sucked because you didn't like it. Another answer would be because you were expecting something like The Sixth Sense. Another reason is that Shayamalan wanted this to be a B-movie. Google search "The Happening" and "B-movie."

If this was meant to be a B-movie, why did Shayamalan state in an interview it was supposed to be scary? Why did the trailers show this being a serious film with horrofic deaths and scary scenes?
First of all, during the making of The Happening, which can be seen in the DVD, which was probably months before his interview for this film, M. Night Shayamalan and several other filmmakers when shooting the film stated this film was supposed to be a throwback on the 1950's-'60s B-movies, like The Birds and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers so don't beleive the rumor that M. Night was just saying that after seeing the bad reviews from this film the day after it was released. So why did he say it was also supposed to be scary? Who ever said a B-movie can't be scary too?

Second, Shayamalan's films were always marketed as suspense, horror flicks, especially for The Village and Lady and the Water. Never judge a book by its cover, people would always say.

This film have many good actors. Why did their performances suck (or weird)?
Some theories provided by people was that the horrible performances were intentional because the movie was a B-movie. If you refuse to believe this theory, another reason might be because its an M. Night Shayamalan flick. If you don't know by now, his films are weird and different from the norm. However, that doesn't mean the performances suck, especially from Mark Wahlberg.

We are always used to seeing Wahlberg playing as an action hero that many of us don't feel comfortable seeing him play as a regular human being. In fact, this is how Wahlberg speaks in real life. Have you seen him in that SNL skit? His recent movie is Max Payne, in which he also plays an action hero. It's like Harrison Ford. He also plays many action characters in his life but in Blade Runner, he does not. Maybe that's one reason why that film recieved many bad reviews when it was first released. The thing you need to learn is that you should never expect actors to play what they always play.

Why did the happening not affect some people?
This is answered in the script more clearly. The plant affects people who give off "bad energy," like getting rid of the bad side of a bacteria, but keeping the good bacteria. Like the first time the wind caught up to the group, they didn't get affected. The girl in the beginning, nor did the construction workers, nor did the guy in France, and nor did many other people didn't get affected. It's probably because they gave off "good engery."

What's with the mood ring? They never explained it!
Going back to the question above, the mood ring was to show that the characters never gave off bad energy. That is why they didn't get affected.

What's wrong with that old lady?! She is one crazy person! What's with the doll?!
Yes, she is a crazy person. So you want to know her past, why she turned up like this? Well, there's a small backstory stated in the making of this film in the DVD. She lost her husband in a war years ago so she decides to isolate herself from society but turns crazy and suspicious after. The doll? No idea. Use your imagination! This character was also in the film to foreshadow how Alma (Zooey Deschanel) could turn out if she continues to do what she does (not showing her emotions, isloating herself from her husband, etc.).

What was with John Leguizamo saying "DON'T TAKE HER HAND UNLESS YOU MEAN IT!" to Zooey Deschanel?
Zooey Deschanel's character, Alma, kinda regretted her decision to marry Wahlberg's character so Leguizamo's line meant that she should only take his child if she means it. Not really hard to understand.

What's with Leguizamo's penny question? Did he talk like that because he was affected by the toxins?
If you had a penny for Day 1, 2 pennies for Day 2, and 4 pennies for day 3, you would end up with over 10 million dollars in 31 days. Here's the math:

Day 1 $0.01
Day 2 $0.02
Day 3 $0.04
Day 4 $0.08
Day 5 $0.16
Day 6 $0.32
Day 7 $0.64
Day 8 $1.28
Day 9 $2.56
Day 10 $5.12
Day 11 $10.24
Day 12 $20.48
Day 13 $40.96
Day 14 $81.92
Day 15 $163.84
Day 16 $327.68
Day 17 $655.36
Day 18 $1,310.72
Day 19 $2,621.44
Day 20 $5,242.88
Day 21 $10,485.76
Day 22 $20,971.52
Day 23 $41,943.04
Day 24 $83,886.08
Day 25 $167,772.16
Day 26 $335,544.32
Day 27 $671,088.64
Day 28 $1,342,177.28
Day 29 $2,684,354.56
Day 30 $5,368,709.12
Day 31 $10,737,418.24

Where was M. Night Shayamalan's cameo?
He was the voice on the phone, Joey, the person Alma was cheating with.

What was the twist ending?
There was none! Just because it's another Shayamalan film doesn't mean it should have a twist ending. Lady in the Water didn't have one either.

Why did the happening just ended? I mean, is Shayamalan serious?
Like stated earlier in the movie, the happening will start and suddenly reach a peak point, which will end the happening immediately after. It's like an exponential growth, which would eventually die down after reaching a peak. I know it's so random and boring and uneventful.

Well, I'm still not satisfied with these answers!
Ok. It's not my problem.

I originally posted my FAQs on the IMDb, and then decided also to post them here. I'm not trying to change peoples' opinions (although it might seem like it to some people). I mean, many people had these questions and posted them on IMDb -- and I assumed some people on here were also confused by some elements of the film. 

RESPONSE from Head RAZZberry: I realize this may be redundant to what others have already posted but -- Why doesn't it occur to you that a movie requiring as many explanations as you have offered in order for movie-goers to simply comprehend it (let alone appreciate it) is inherently a weak (one might even say "badly made") movie??  It certainly looks to me as though your extreme admiration for Shyamalan has gotten in the way of your ability to judge the man's work objectively. And while I'd admit that THE HAPPENING isn't as spectacular a cinematic trainwreck as LADY IN THE WATER was, it does rank among M. Night's lesser (and less than successful) efforts...

At least it tries to be something different. You should really read the script.

Although "The Happening" was bad, I don't know if it will be the biggest contender for this year. Clearly anything by Uwe Boll and Seltzerberg are instant front-runners, even if there's a fear that they want us to razz them just for the free PR. After them are the so-called comedies "Meet Dave" and "Love Guru", than the Paris Hilton driven mess that was "Hottie and Nottie", and lastly, "High School Musical 3". And of course, given Stallone's history with the Razzies, "Rambo 4". That's a total of 9 top contenders, I'm not sure if there is room for "Happening". Last year was all "I Know Who Killed Me" and "Norbit", but this year is more complex, and I think very worthy movies might get away razzie free while other movies will sweep. We'll have to wait two more months to find out.

Mind you, I'm not saying "The Happening" is a good movie. No. I'm just saying that it's not on the same level of crap as Seltzerberg and Uwe Boll's works that were released this year. "Happening" could end up on the final voting ballot, but if it will win is a tough call.