Rainmaking: Difference between revisions

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Actually, the event will take place or it will not. The [[Con Man|conman]] has nothing to do with it. If the desired result does not come about, the most common play is to claim that what is needed is ''more'' money from the mark.

* ''The Rainmaker'' (''not'' the John Grisham one) has this as its central premise.

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* The ''[[Twilight Zone]]'' episode "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" featured a con artist who claimed he could raise the dead. After "showing off" his work (with an assistant), he then offered to "reverse" it if the townsfolk paid him more. They did so, since everyone in the town's cemetery but one had died violently. In a [[Karmic Twist Ending]], at the end, the con artist left... without realizing that he really ''had'' raised the dead, now en route to town.

* In the episode "A Single Drop of Rain" of ''[[Quantum Leap]]'', Sam leaps into the life of a travelling "rain maker" (who is, in fact, a con man) visiting a drought-stricken farming community. Sam decides to combine his knowledge of future cloudseeding techniques with [[Smite Me Oh Mighty Smiter|an afternoon of yelling]] at [[God]] that He owes Sam big time, resulting in a beneficial downpour.

* In an amusing reversal, The Rainmaker of ''[[PS 238]]'' is an actual mutant with the [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway|fairly lame power]] of making it raining or stop raining. He tries to make a living as a, well, rainmaker, but because of the countless frauds who have gone before him, nobody will pay him up front, and most of the time they turn out to be unwilling or unable to pay him afterwards - and as he puts it, he can't hardly pull the rain back outta the ground.

* In an amusing reversal, The Rainmaker of ''[[PS 238]]'' is an actual mutant with the [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|fairly lame power]] of making it raining or stop raining. He tries to make a living as a, well, rainmaker, but because of the countless frauds who have gone before him, nobody will pay him up front, and most of the time they turn out to be unwilling or unable to pay him afterwards - and as he puts it, he can't hardly pull the rain back outta the ground.

* [[Real Life]] example: [[Corrupt Church]] leaders, particularly televangelists, will often promise to cause miracles for or bring good fortune, wealth, and/or happiness to anybody who donates money to their church which, of course, they keep to spend on things like a $23,000 toilet. This is frequently done with [[The Shill]] acting as a benefactor of a supposed miracle, such as sitting in a wheelchair then suddenly standing up and walking, when they never needed the wheelchair in the first place.

* A popular joke among [[NASCAR]] fans and broadcasters goes: "If your area is experiencing an extended drought, just build a racetrack and invite the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to town." This is due to the unusually high number of rainouts NASCAR has had in recent years.

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[[Category:The Con]]

[[Category:Rainmaking]]

[[Category:Trope]]