A little white lie

As I've shared before, I am one of the few people I know who really enjoys movie trailers when I go to the movie. This Sunday when I saw an early showing at "The Time Traveler's Wife," which will be reviewed in The Weekend Pinnacle on Friday, I filed away every preview as a movie I want to see. I wondered briefly if the number of trailers that sparked my interest might correlate to how much I like the feature film. At least in this case, it did not.

One of the trailers I saw this weekend is for a movie that I am looking quite forward to seeing called "The Invention of Lying." The movie is about a world in which lying does not exist. Think about it. There would be no calling in sick when you really just want to play hookey; no telling friends that you think their boyfriend is great when you really think he's an asshole; no holding in what you really think about the boss you hate - even in front of the boss.

The movie is directed and written by Ricky Gervais (who I find quite entertaining) and Matthew Robinson, with Gervais in the lead role of Mark. Mark lives in this world without lying, when he suddenly discovers he has the ability to twist the truth. And since lying doesn't exist, everyone else in the world takes him at face value. The list of celebrities in the movie is long, which sometimes can be the downfall of a movie. But hopefully in this one the cast stands up to the challenge. Some of the actors involved include Jennifer Garner, who plays Mark's love interest, Jason Bateman, Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, just to name a half dozen.


Of course, it is a world that would never exist. Anyone who has been around small kids knows how early the impulse to lie sets in, whether it is a tall tale they tell to entertain themselves or something to avoid the consequences of bad behavior. I have a cousin, who as a kindergartener, went to school and told her teacher that her mother only fed her pancakes and let all the grown-ups eat first while the kids had to sit around and wait. It never happened, but she was convincing enough that the teacher called home to check on it.

I've also seen kids as young as three lie about something even though they know a parent or teacher has seen them do something bad, like a hit a classmate or take a toy from another child. The conversation that follows usually goes:
Teacher/parent: Why did you hit him?
Kid: I didn't.
Teacher/parent: I just saw you hit him.
Kid: I didn't.


It's hard not to think lying is something that is hard-wired in the human brain. And if I said I never lied, well, you know that would be a lie. But I try to keep it to the little white lies that make life a little easier, like "sure that sounds like a great story idea, boss. I'll get right on it," or "I'd love to wear an ankle length, halter top bridesmaids dress," or "yeah your new (unemployed, pothead) boyfriend seems great." A world with a few little white lies is probably a happier one to live in.