Tales From The Simulation: Part Six - The Mandela Effect, James Bond, Moonraker and Dolly's Braces

 

I saved the best one for last.

Let’s recap.

What is simulation theory?

Philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed that advanced civilisations might one day create simulations that are no different from reality. If countless simulated worlds exist, statistically, we might inhabit one ourselves. And, if our universe were a vast computer simulation, any update, patch, or correction might leave a trace of what existed before behind.

This might explain something called the Mandela Effect.

What Is the Mandela Effect?

It describes a memory where large groups of people remember an event or detail from their life differently from how it actually happened and/or exists now. It has been explained as a form of false memory, but some believe that these shared memories hint at something stranger.

It might be evidence that reality itself has been changed.

Fiona Broome, a paranormal researcher called it the‘Mandela Effect’ after she discovered that many people, including herself, had incorrectly remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison during the 1980s. 

In reality, Mandela was released in 1990 and became president of South Africa. He died in 2013. At least, that is what most people, including myself, remember. When I first read about the “Mandela Effect”, I assumed it was a false memory.

One possibility was that people were remembering the death of the famous anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko. He was murdered in police custody in 1977, and his death was reported worldwide. The musician Peter Gabriel even wrote a song about it, which became a worldwide hit in 1980.

Since then, countless examples of the Mandela Effect have emerged, with many people insisting they remember details that simply don’t match reality.

Examples like:

• The children’s books The Berenstein Bears, when the published title is The Berenstain Bears.
• The board game Monopoly Man wearing a monocle, despite him never having one.
• And the famous movie quote from Star Wars, widely remembered as “Luke, I am your father,” although the actual line is “No, I am your father.”

But the one I remember, is the Mandela Effect from the James Bond 007 movie, Moonraker, released in 1979.

I watched this film when it first appeared on television, which would have been in the early 1980s. It was probably shown at Christmas, as that was when big cinema releases were often broadcast for the first time on British television. It would have been repeated several times in the 1980s as well.

In one scene, the villain Jaws, known for his intimidating steel teeth, is fighting Bond in an old building that collapses around him. Bond escapes, but it is a running joke that Jaws appears to be indestructible. Somehow he emerges from the rubble, helped by a young woman named Dolly.

Dolly is petite and beautiful, with pigtail hair, but has the demeanour and dress sense of a child. Jaws smiles at her, showing his steel teeth. Dolly smiles back, with a traditional metal brace across her top teeth. The moment seemed perfect — his steel teeth mirrored by her braces, creating an instant connection that explained their attraction to each other.

That is what many people remember.

That is what I remember.

The problem? Watching the film now, Dolly has no braces. Apparently, she never did. Old film and VHS video recordings from the time show that she had no braces. The actress who played Dolly, Blanche Ravalec, was even asked if she wore braces. She says she did not.

But that is what I remember. It was so clear to me — as clear as Jaws wearing steel teeth. I was surprised when, years later, I saw a still picture of the scene, which showed she had perfect teeth — it didn’t make sense. It is not something that I can explain, because I watched the film more than once. Each time, she had braces. 

It’s memorable, and not just for that scene.

Dolly had braces on her teeth, and it fit, not just that shared moment of imperfection with Jaws but also with the central theme of the film. Bond was trying to save the world from an insane billionaire who wanted to create a master race of perfection. In the final fight scene, Bond uses the fact that neither Jaws nor Dolly would have a place in that world to get Jaws to fight with him.

But reality now tells me that the Dolly’s “braces” scene didn’t happen.

There is a science behind false memories. Memory is not like replaying a video recording; instead, our brains reconstruct events each time we remember them. During this process, details can become altered. Sceptics argue that our brains fill in the missing detail because it fits the story so perfectly.

If so, then I should write film scripts, because my version, and what I saw, is better than what reality is now telling us actually happened! Her wearing braces fit the story perfectly — the character Dolly having perfect teeth doesn’t.

But like any mystery, it goes deeper. Wikipedia states that a “May 2000 discussion on the Usenet group alt.fan.james-bond — nine years before the term “Mandela Effect” was coined — treated Dolly’s braces as an established fact.”

Here’s the scene:

A Glitch in the Matrix?

Some believe Mandela Effects are examples of “glitches in the Matrix”. Small errors in reality that become visible when something changes, but our memories remain intact. If life is a simulation, glitches might happen. Mandela Effects could be errors introduced during updates to the simulation. Perhaps reality has been “patched”, while fragments of previous versions remain in the memory of some people.

Of course, this remains pure speculation, more science fiction than science fact. There is no experimental evidence linking the Mandela Effect to simulation theory. It is more likely that our memories are simply imperfect. Or perhaps they occasionally reveal something else we don’t yet understand.

I have no answer to the version of Moonraker and Dolly’s braces that I watched. It is the only “Mandela Effect” that I have personally experienced. Nevertheless, it is what I saw. And when you do experience something like that, it is difficult to dismiss what was very real at the time. 

My memory hasn’t changed.

I tend to be a sceptic, someone who wants to see evidence — actual proof to back up extraordinary claims. But in this case, I know what I saw, and it wasn’t what reality now tells me.

And that is how it will stay, unless reality is patched again at some point in the future. If that happens, this story will probably be patched as well. To one where I write, “Dolly never wore braces — why would anyone think she did?”

 

 

Image: SchroCat Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons