MovieChat Forums > Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016) Discussion > The One that Bothered Me the Most

The One that Bothered Me the Most

posted 8 years ago by jayehawk
2 replies | jump to latest

...was the woman Tony had call up her boyfriend and break up with him on the spot. OK, so he didn't literally MAKE her do it, but he encouraged her to do so.

Sure, I get the idea of grabbing the moment, seizing the day, whatever...and she probably should break up with the guy. But the point is, do you do it by a phone call? And in front of 2000 strangers? Talk about robbing the guy of dignity!

I think any long-term relationship deserves a face-to-face if you are going to end it. If you are an adult, that's the least you can do for someone.
Hell, even for yourself!
I would think less of anyone who told me they dumped their significant other by a phone call that they let a ton of strangers listen to.

I noticed at the very end of the doc when they gave the updates on the screen as to how everyone was doing now, she was back with her boyfriend and they were trying to make it work. I laughed at that point, because there is a good possibility the reason she went back to him was out of guilt for the way she dumped him! I know I'd feel crappy for doing that to someone.

[–] JayCeezy 8 years ago

I doubt this is real.

Think about it. This woman calls her boyfriend, he picks up the phone, she breaks up with him, WOW!

Now. You aren't supposed to have cellphones in the seminar. When you call someone, how often do you actually connect? She's at a seminar, he presumably knows it, he's at work, or something, but he picks up? And she cuts him like wheat? Nah. Set-up.

The final tell on this 'cold-read' is that at the end this woman reconciles with her boyfriend. My guess is that the moment was shocking (by intent, every review seems to mention this) but offputting. Also, this woman has to go out in the world; is she really going back into real life with a moment like that on film showing her to be humiliating a man who loves her? Of course not. So, they do the end thing where they supposedly reconcile. This was probably a dude backstage, ready for the call and play his part.

Sam Kinison used to do this similar thing in the late '80s, where he would have a guy call a woman and have the audience scream at her. The 'woman' was always his make-up girl backstage, all she had to say was 'this is her roommate, can I take a message?' and Sam would take it the rest of the way home.

[–] Cranmer (139) 5 years ago

Yes I got the impression that whole interaction was fake. I don't dislike Tony Robbins' videos and talks etc which I think probably help a lot of people, but it seems the way he makes his real money is with these seminars (2,000 people paying $5000, you do the math) and the whole thing seems incredibly cheesy and somewhat manipulative.

Robbins in his videos, talks etc basically just repackages New Thought ideas for a modern, short attention span audience (nothing wrong with that) but I felt his seminar in this film comes across as mainly a way for fools and their money to be parted.