# Animal House - why did John Belushi destroy the guitar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 28, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786 "2014-08-28T19:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/61 "2014-09-02T03:53:58Z")
Based on that, I’m **sure** you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/62 "2014-09-02T03:59:53Z")
Stephen Bishop said in a documentary that aired on A&E that he had no idea that Belushi was going to smash the guitar. He was just supposed to take it. That wtf expression is a real reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/63 "2014-09-02T07:36:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Otter seducing the 13 year old, That was Pinto, not Otter. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/64 "2014-09-02T12:07:45Z")
Correct. I mistyped that. Leave me alone, I was on a roll. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/65 "2014-09-02T14:10:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Did anybody notice McGill in _Lincoln_, BTW? I thought his whereabouts were unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/66 "2014-09-02T14:10:59Z")
D-Day’s, yes. McGill’s, no: [Bruce McGill - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569226/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/67 "2014-09-02T14:15:59Z")
Besides - They were going to get married. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/68 "2014-09-02T15:46:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > What? Overthink? Did you say “overthink”? Nothing is overthinked until we decide it is! Did we overthink when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No, that was the Jews. You can tell because they were shouting “Torah! Torah! Torah!” ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/69 "2014-09-02T15:51:10Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > Yeah, why would I possibly want to identify with a bunch of guys who drink, have parties all the time, and get laid? Oh, right… I always assume that the frat guys were deliberately overplaying their “animal house” ways because it was intended to be the last fling before they graduate, and have to get serious with careers, wives, and life in general. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/70 "2020-11-04T18:48:39Z")
Bumped. A nice article on the casting of Belushi and the making of the movie. > **[How John Landis Talked Chevy Chase Out of Animal House](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/05/animal-house-making-of-john-belushi-john-landis)** > > In an excerpt from Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever, author Nick de Semlyen reveals the tumultuous story behind the classic college comedy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/71 "2020-11-04T20:46:49Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Because the guy was the typical college dick who brings a guitar to a party to try to pick up girls. > > And the song sucked. This. I suggest anyone who didn’t understand that should not play a guitar or sing folk music at frat parties. As a matter of fact, just stay away from frat parties altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/72 "2020-11-05T00:53:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > “Separate Lives,” Bishop’s terrific theme song for the film “White Nights,” was especially well received: the duet between Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin was a #1 Billboard chart hit and was nominated for an Oscar. A really late correction, but “Separate Lives” was the theme for _Against All Odds_. _White Nights_ was the Baryshnikov/Hines movie, and the theme for that was “Say You, Say Me”, by Lionel Richie. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/73 "2020-11-05T02:03:43Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Everybody knows catfish got no scales > Everybody knows cotton comes in bales O.V. Wright is one of the greats. And that song is magnificent. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/74 "2020-11-05T02:13:02Z")
He just goes on and on. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/75 "2020-11-05T02:35:27Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > He just goes on and on That’s because he smiles when he feels like crying. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/76 "2020-11-05T05:49:54Z")
My opinion? Belushi broke the guitar because it’s what Harpo Marx would have done, and as the link said, his whole performance in the movie was basically a Harpo impression. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/77 "2020-11-06T04:48:14Z")
It is known. > **[Rule of Funny - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfFunny)** > > The limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its funniness. Any violation of continuity, logic, physics, or common sense is permissible if the result gets enough of a laugh. This is the comedy … ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/78 "2020-11-06T05:06:24Z")
Nuh. “Take a Look at me Now” is ONE of the songs on the Against All Odds soundtrack and the most well known one. “Seperate Lives” does indeed appear in “White Knights”…I DID not know Stephen Bishop wrote it though, ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/79 "2020-11-06T13:26:39Z")
Townshend smashed one of the Smothers brothers acoustic guitars on their show in 67. The clip is in the Kids are Alright movie. at the end here [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OiSKu7SbGNQ/hqdefault.jpg "The Who My Generation Smothers Brothers, 1967") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiSKu7SbGNQ) Some of the guitars he smashed were later fixed and used again. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786/80 "2020-11-06T13:58:29Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Some of the guitars he smashed were later fixed and used again. Never mind the guitars, Keith Moon rigged the drums to explode adding extra explosive after the stage manager had already added some. He ended up with drum shrapnel in his arm, set Townshend’s hair on fire and took away some of his hearing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-house-why-did-john-belushi-destroy-the-guitar/696786.md?page=5)