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Realization Sinbad was never really in a movie where he played a genie has people mind blown

Home> Film & TV> News

Published 16:26 11 Dec 2023 GMT

Realization Sinbad was never really in a movie where he played a genie has people mind blown

Sinbad himself has had his say after people shared their confusion over the memory

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Ahh, the '90s. The decade of Beanie Babies, VHS tapes and Sinbad playing a genie. Right?

Wrong.

Memory can be a funny thing. You might think you remember something perfectly, only to have another person come along and recall that same event in a completely different way.

Our brains can somehow even trick lots of us at the same time, leaving us all absolutely blown away when we realize that we've all been wrong all along.

This phenomenon is known as the Mandela effect, and it can be used to explain why so many people think actor and comedian Sinbad once played a genie in a '90s movie, when in fact that was never the case.

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Believed to have been called Shazaam, the movie is remembered by countless people online, with some even slotting Sinbad's role into an entire plot.

In a post on Reddit, one person explained: "more frequently you will hear of a [plot involving a] single father of 2 kids that just moved in to a suburb neighborhood, the kids find a lamp leading to a "funny" reveal of Sinbad as a genie, a fight between the kids when the brother finds out the sister wasted the 2nd wish on fixing a doll and ending with a pool party scene."

Countless people remember Sinbad playing a genie.
YouTube/Dropout

It's a pretty detailed story - just as detailed as the memories people have of the VHS cover for the movie, which apparently featured Sinbad popping out of a lamp.

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The only problem is, Sinbad was never in a movie called Shazaam in the '90s. The Mandela effect - which Psychology Today describes as a quirk where 'large groups of people distinctly remember something differently from how it occurred' - just has people believing he did.

Learning the truth has, understandably, left people who believed themselves to be fans of Shazaam horrified.

"I refuse to believe that there is not a movie out there called Shazaam starring Sinbad as a genie," one X user posted. "So all of us just imagined watching the same movie ??? No shot."

Another commented: "Nah I definitely watched the Sinbad genie movie."

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Social media users refuse to believe they're wrong.
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After the realization caused outrage online internet users tried to get to the bottom of the shared memory, with many believing that the notion of Shazaam somehow came about after confusion over the release of another genie-themed movie released in the '90s, titled Kazaam.

Although the titles are similar, it was basketball star Shaquille O'Neal who played a genie in Kazaam - not Sinbad.

While some people still refuse to believe that Sinbad never starred in a genie movie, the comedian himself has previously addressed the mistaken memory in a post on X.

Addressing his fans back in 2016, Sinbad wrote: "Have you noticed no one my age has seen this so called Sinbad Genie movie, only you people who were kids in the 90's. The young mind."

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He then added: "Okay for all you people who think I did a genie movie.. well haven’t done one YET, but I am going to do one so we can close this chapter."

Sinbad did later go on to play a genie in a video for CollegeHumor, but only in comedic reference to the Shazaam mystery.

The video was titled 'The Lost Sinbad Movie' - but in reality, the movie has never been found - or even created in the first place.

Featured Image Credit: John Sciulli/Getty Images for Fulfillment Fund/ Cooper Neill/Getty Images for Fox

Topics: Film and TV, Reddit, Twitter, Viral, Celebrity

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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