Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Detailed breakdown of the complex "mandela affect" in Moonraker's "Dolly had braces" scene.
Excellent additional points made in the comments section ...
1) Her geekiness (glasses and pigtails) making us expect braces
2) The low resolution of old VHS copies of the film making people THINK they saw braces. (VERY STRONG POINT)
3) Though the film makers might have considered braces they could have decided against it to avoid making her too much like an actual child, given the love interest with a grown man.
4) One commenter referenced this review of the film from 1979. newspapers.com/clip/74504439/dollynobraces The reviewer says "even acquires a love interest, a small, voluptuous blonde named Blanche Ravalec. It would be a relationship made in heaven if only she wore braces." To get around that one you have to go down the route of claiming the newspaper is a fake.
5) Something I left out to try and keep the vid down to 5 mins, but has also been mentioned by a commenter, is that when dolly begins to smile in the wider shot we only see a thin sliver of her teeth because she only parts her lips slightly. This could have also given the impression of braces.
Points I disagree with and why ...
1) "The scene makes no sense if she doesn't have braces" (this seems to be parroted with near enough the exact same words - itself a kind of perceptual group think trick) ... Nope. The accentuation of her teeth with the dark lipstick and their similar slow smile establishes a connection anyway. Yes, it SEEMS like she SHOULD have braces, which is WHY we THINK we saw them. It certainly doesn't prove they were there.
2) People swearing that their memory of watching the film from decades ago is absolutely reliable. ... As stated in the video my daughter fooled by the bluray, having never seen old versions, and my belief that she had braces was not corrected by me watching the blu-ray several times. Sorry to break it to you folks but human memory is extremely unreliable, especially in the long term. And much of our perceived moment to moment reality is based on our mind filling in the blanks based on assumed content. This is how many optical illusions work. We do not live in absolute reality, we live in our brain's filtered and distorted perception of it. Stage hypnotists know all about it and use the gaps in our perception to trick us. And don't tell me hypnosis isn't real. I've studied it and learned how to do it. I've done trance inductions, it's easy once you learn the basics. And what I learned about the mind from hypnosis is part of what allowed me to notice the deceptive subtleties of this scene.
3) But everybody knew she had braces ... That's group think. Groups can get it wrong. Show a hundred people the same standard optical illusion and most will see that same illusion. It doesn't make the illusion real.
4) A TV ad starring Richard Kiel (Jaws actor) included an extra who had braces. ... Yes it did but that ad was from many years later. It doesn't prove Dolly had braces. The makers of the ad may have fallen for the illusion themselves and not double checked it, or they may have put the girl with braces in because they thought it was a good idea themselves.
5) It's a conspiracy to make us doubt reality (various versions of this theory) ... Yes there are plenty of real conspiracies and a lot of manipulation of the human mind by advertisers, news media etc. But this does not mean that every group think delusion or piece of failed memory is a conspiracy. Your mind (YES, YOURS) can be fooled circumstantially too. Ever walked into a dark room and jumped because you mistook a shadow in the corner as a figure? Ever mistaken a small dark object as an insect or spider and jerked away in response? We all have these experiences and you can't write them all off as an engineered attempt to control you. Go down that path and you'll end up with delusions far more damaging to your life than believing Dolly had braces ;)
For more film analysis and psychology material ... collativelearning.com/INSIGHT.html
Also check out my other Youtube channels
youtube.com/user/robag555
youtube.com/channel/UCG0_xoRPkJm7tiFDp9bVg7g
Support me on PATREON: patreon.com/RobAger
And follow me on FB and Twitter
FACEBOOK: en-gb.facebook.com/RobAgerpublic
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Detailed breakdown of the complex "mandela affect" in Moonraker's "Dolly had braces" scene.
Excellent additional points made in the comments section ...
1) Her geekiness (glasses and pigtails) making us expect braces
2) The low resolution of old VHS copies of the film making people THINK they saw braces. (VERY STRONG POINT)
3) Though the film makers might have considered braces they could have decided against it to avoid making her too much like an actual child, given the love interest with a grown man.
4) One commenter referenced this review of the film from 1979. newspapers.com/clip/74504439/dollynobraces The reviewer says "even acquires a love interest, a small, voluptuous blonde named Blanche Ravalec. It would be a relationship made in heaven if only she wore braces." To get around that one you have to go down the route of claiming the newspaper is a fake.
5) Something I left out to try and keep the vid down to 5 mins, but has also been mentioned by a commenter, is that when dolly begins to smile in the wider shot we only see a thin sliver of her teeth because she only parts her lips slightly. This could have also given the impression of braces.
Points I disagree with and why ...
1) "The scene makes no sense if she doesn't have braces" (this seems to be parroted with near enough the exact same words - itself a kind of perceptual group think trick) ... Nope. The accentuation of her teeth with the dark lipstick and their similar slow smile establishes a connection anyway. Yes, it SEEMS like she SHOULD have braces, which is WHY we THINK we saw them. It certainly doesn't prove they were there.
2) People swearing that their memory of watching the film from decades ago is absolutely reliable. ... As stated in the video my daughter fooled by the bluray, having never seen old versions, and my belief that she had braces was not corrected by me watching the blu-ray several times. Sorry to break it to you folks but human memory is extremely unreliable, especially in the long term. And much of our perceived moment to moment reality is based on our mind filling in the blanks based on assumed content. This is how many optical illusions work. We do not live in absolute reality, we live in our brain's filtered and distorted perception of it. Stage hypnotists know all about it and use the gaps in our perception to trick us. And don't tell me hypnosis isn't real. I've studied it and learned how to do it. I've done trance inductions, it's easy once you learn the basics. And what I learned about the mind from hypnosis is part of what allowed me to notice the deceptive subtleties of this scene.
3) But everybody knew she had braces ... That's group think. Groups can get it wrong. Show a hundred people the same standard optical illusion and most will see that same illusion. It doesn't make the illusion real.
4) A TV ad starring Richard Kiel (Jaws actor) included an extra who had braces. ... Yes it did but that ad was from many years later. It doesn't prove Dolly had braces. The makers of the ad may have fallen for the illusion themselves and not double checked it, or they may have put the girl with braces in because they thought it was a good idea themselves.
5) It's a conspiracy to make us doubt reality (various versions of this theory) ... Yes there are plenty of real conspiracies and a lot of manipulation of the human mind by advertisers, news media etc. But this does not mean that every group think delusion or piece of failed memory is a conspiracy. Your mind (YES, YOURS) can be fooled circumstantially too. Ever walked into a dark room and jumped because you mistook a shadow in the corner as a figure? Ever mistaken a small dark object as an insect or spider and jerked away in response? We all have these experiences and you can't write them all off as an engineered attempt to control you. Go down that path and you'll end up with delusions far more damaging to your life than believing Dolly had braces ;)
For more film analysis and psychology material ... collativelearning.com/INSIGHT.html
Also check out my other Youtube channels
youtube.com/user/robag555
youtube.com/channel/UCG0_xoRPkJm7tiFDp9bVg7g
Support me on PATREON: patreon.com/RobAger
And follow me on FB and Twitter
FACEBOOK: en-gb.facebook.com/RobAgerpublic
TWITTER: twitter.com/RobAger?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
