M. Night Shyamalan claims that he's come to peace with Mark Wahlberg's continuous criticism and bashing of his 2008 Razzie opus "The Happening." In it, Wahlberg played a high school teacher that tries to protect his family amidst an unknown environmental threat forcing people to commit suicide. Critics hated it (18% on Rotten Tomatoes), and audiences hated it as well (a 5.0 rating on IMDb).
In a recent interview with Vulture,as he was promoting his latest film"Glass," Shyamalan defended "The Happening," stating that the reason “The Happening” was critically panned was because of its tone, which was aiming to feel like “the best B-movie you’ll ever see,” adding,“I think it’s a consistent kind of farce humor. You know, like ‘The Blob.’ The key to ‘The Blob’ is that it just never takes itself that seriously.” He also admitted that audiences missed the self-conscious humor in “The Happening,” because he was "inconsistent,” adding, “That’s why they couldn’t see it.”
Now I would like for Shyamalan to defend another travesty in his filmography, "The Lady in the Water." After all, he's already defended "The Last Airbender," I presume an upcoming defense of "After Earth" is in the works as well, but I would really love to hear his defense of 'Lady,' which strikes me as one of those films that as you watch it you really want to know what the hell was going on inside the head of the writer-director behind it, what were his motives in making such an inexplicable farce.
If you remember, even Mark Wahlberg bashed "The Happening" back in 2013, admitting he told Amy Adams, originally rumored to be cast in the film, that “she dodged the bullet" by not being cast" adding, "Fucking trees, man. The plants. Fuck it. You can’t blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook."
Shyamalan admitted that no other actors have publicly shamed the film or told him otherwise, adding that he doesn't mind Wahlberg criticizing it, “It’s totally his call. However he wants to interpret it.”