Opening Statement
It's a question that's haunted Saw fans since Hoffman's introduction. Why is he, yknow, like that? Why doesn't the bigger Jigsaw simply eat the smaller Jigsaw? Is he stupid?
Well, he might be. In fact, there's some pretty compelling evidence that he is actually illiterate. On this page I'll be detailing all the evidence and my thoughts on this grand conspiracy.
If Hoffman is in Saw XI, I want a scene of him reading today's newspaper without any assistance. Just as proof.
Exhibit A
The ID Incident
If you're familiar with any piece of evidence on this page, it's probably this. It gets passed around every once in a while among Saw fans on Tumblr and Twitter, and everyone has a good chuckle. But could it be evidence of something more sinister? Could it be proof that Mark Hoffman doesn't actually know how to read?
Does Costas Mandylor genuinely believe his character's first name is "Det", short for Detective? The signature "D. Hoffman" would certainly make it seem that way - unless, just maybe, this is an in-universe hint towards Hoffman's illiteracy. Surely he knows how his own name sounds, but perhaps he has no idea how it's written...
Exhibit B
The Instagram Captions
Like the ID signature, this one could easily be attributed to Costas Mandylor, the actor who plays Hoffman. Maybe he's just illiterate in real life. But I choose to believe that he's actually running a long con, doing an in-character bit to add to the lore of the Saw universe. Just take a look at the captions on some of his recent posts:
"King Tobin and apprentice saw coming"?? What could he mean by this? Does he think his character's name is Apprentice Saw?
Closing Argument
If I find any more evidence to support my theory, I'll update this page. But until then, I think the evidence I've laid out is pretty damning. Maybe this explains why he was so confused by the "I know who you are" note?
