# Aspects of pop culture people seem to misunderstand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417 "2013-01-16T20:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/121 "2013-01-23T10:43:15Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Rocky loses in the original Rocky. That was the whole point. No one expected him to be able to last more than a couple of rounds with the champ but he went the whole 15 rounds and lost only to a fairly close decision. > [@Irishman](#): > > Yes, we discussed this in the Rocky thread just recently. The whole point is that Rocky could never win. He was a nobody. … Wrong and wrong. The point is not that Rocky lost, or that Rocky was a nobody. The point is that Rocky won – not the fight, but the love of Adrien. He didn’t care in the least that he lost the fight, he wasn’t even paying attention to the announcement. Rocky gets everything he ever hoped to get, which was love and respect, and you certainly can’t extrapolate from there that the whole point of the movie was that he lost the fight. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/122 "2013-01-23T12:21:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One that got brought up in another thread: Elvis Costello’s song “Less Than Zero”. When it came out a lot of people (including me) assumed that Costello was singing about Lee Harvey Oswald. But the song is about Oswald Mosley. This reminds me of another song: Filter’s [Hey Man, Nice Shot](http://youtu.be/o9mJ82x_l-E). When it first came out, everyone assumed it was abut Kurt Cobain’s suicide a year earlier, but the band confirmed that it was actually about R. Budd Dwyer (and his infamous suicide at a press conference). Eighteen years after the song came out, I still hear from fans of the song that it’s about Kurt Cobain. I guess the lyrics are vague enough that it’s understandable. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/123 "2013-01-23T14:40:53Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > **Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.** I often hear people say that 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. HGttG never claimed this. It clearly states that 42 is the answer to\* the ultimate question of\* life, the universe, and everything. A subtle but significant distinction. It took three books to find out exactly what that question was. I know a lot of people who think that _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ is only supposed to be a farce without any deeper meaning. It’s an existentialist novel presenting the author’s viewpoint that all of existence is pointless and that not type of endeavor can achieve anything worthwhile. It mocks philosophy, intellectualism, religion, science, technology, business, and government. I’ve also met a lot of people who don’t seem to get Terry Pratchett’s views towards academia. He uses the wizards/professors at the university as clowns constantly throughout almost all the Discworld novels. He does this to make a point about the academic world. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/124 "2013-01-23T16:49:35Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Huh? It is in no way impotent fury, since Kirk wasn’t impotent in the slightest. He knew he could beam out any time he wanted. He wanted Khan to think he was stranded, so he pretended to be enraged. I don’t see how it could be interpreted any other way. The bafflement is completely mutual. I recall that he _couldn’t_ beam out any time he wanted (“So you can’t even beam us back?”). Your interpretation, as best I can tell, completely destroys any drama the scene has and, to my knowledge, has never been advanced by Shatner, Meyer, Sowards or Bennett, so however you came to your interpretation, I don’t see the creative intent in that direction. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/125 "2013-01-26T03:48:24Z")
Thanks to Jurassic Park, we now think that veliociraptors are 5 foot high killing machines. One misconception is that raptor always refers to them, and not to birds of prey. But more to the point, real velociraptors are [about the size of a long beagle](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Vraptor-scale.png). The movie/book version are deinonychuses or utahraptors. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/126 "2013-01-26T04:05:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Thanks to Jurassic Park, we now think that veliociraptors are 5 foot high killing machines. One misconception is that raptor always refers to them, and not to birds of prey. But more to the point, real velociraptors are [about the size of a long beagle](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Vraptor-scale.png). The movie/book version are deinonychuses or utahraptors. I saw paleontologist [Bob Bakker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bakker) (who consulted on _Jurassic Park_) speak about ten years ago and he said that it was awfully lucky for Steven Spielberg that the Utahraptor was discovered between the publication of the novel _Jurassic Park_ and the release of the movie. He joked that Spielberg may have had the fossils created by his special effects folks and planted in Utah so he could have a bigger raptor dinosaur in the movie without straying _too_ far from “reality”. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/127 "2013-01-26T04:16:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The bafflement is completely mutual. I recall that he _couldn’t_ beam out any time he wanted (“So you can’t even beam us back?”). Your interpretation, as best I can tell, completely destroys any drama the scene has and, to my knowledge, has never been advanced by Shatner, Meyer, Sowards or Bennett, so however you came to your interpretation, I don’t see the creative intent in that direction. You know, as I was typing my response to this, I thought I vaguely remembered a thread I started about this very thing. Sure enough, I [did](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284913), **9** years ago. And we _both_ snarked at each other in it. Yikes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/128 "2013-01-26T05:28:06Z")
On a different note, the famous poem that is frequently mis-quoted - “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson - > [@](#): > > Theirs not to make reply, > Theirs not to reason why, > Theirs but to do and die: > Into the valley of Death >   Rode the six hundred. We have mal-adapted that into “do or die,” but that’s not the original line. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/129 "2013-01-26T05:34:50Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > You know, as I was typing my response to this, I thought I vaguely remembered a thread I started about this very thing. Sure enough, I [did](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284913), **9** years ago. And we _both_ snarked at each other in it. Yikes. 🙂 Thus proving that the Dope has lapped itself… ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/130 "2013-01-26T10:58:31Z")
I think Stephen Colbert is a misunderstood popular culture icon. There are far too many conservatives who do not realize that he is utterly and unrelentingly mocking them night after night. Of course, he mocks America in general, not just conservatism, but his entire persona is based on being a faux conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/131 "2013-01-26T11:45:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > And it isn’t open to interpretation in any other way. I saw an interview with Kathleen Kennedy(producer) years and years ago where she said she and Spielberg were stunned that anyone thought they were aliens and that their intention had only ever been for it to be clearly robots in the future. In that case they shouldn’t have made the “Robots” look so much like stereotypical sci-fi movie aliens - as has already been noted in the thread. And in relation to the OP: Tintin is referred to frequently as a “reporter” - despite the fact he never appears to have actually filed a news story. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/132 "2013-01-26T20:02:06Z")
That Meat Loaf was being vague about the one thing that he wouldn’t do for Love. He states very clearly what “that” is. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/133 "2013-01-26T20:05:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Wrong and wrong. The point is not that Rocky lost, or that Rocky was a nobody. The point is that Rocky won – not the fight, but the love of Adrien. Okay, “whole point” is perhaps a misphrasing. But it is essential to the finale of the movie that Rocky did not win the fight. Because he didn’t care that he lost, he won what mattered to him. If he had actually won the match, it would have weakened the part where he’s calling for Adrien and that’s all that matters to him. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/134 "2013-01-27T01:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] And it isn’t open to interpretation in any other way. I saw an interview with Kathleen Kennedy(producer) years and years ago where she said she and Spielberg were stunned that anyone thought they were aliens and that their intention had only ever been for it to be clearly robots in the future. [/QUOTE] > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > In that case they shouldn’t have made the “Robots” look so much like stereotypical sci-fi movie aliens - as has already been noted in the thread. What more could they have done? I got they were robots the second you saw their “ship” disassemble around them as they arrived at the archaeological site in ice age New York. Also, the fact they were walking around the site, which was dug out of the chunk of glacier, **without any type of clothing or cover to protect them from the cold** convinced me the beings were obviously not biological. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/135 "2013-01-27T02:47:18Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > What more could they have done? Not given them grey, translucent skin and an appearance reminiscent of stereotypical sci-fi aliens? Maybe not have them speaking (albeit with subtitles) in what sounded like an alien language? And not getting around in what appeared to be an alien spaceship? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/136 "2013-01-29T04:04:44Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > **Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.** I often hear people say that 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. HGttG never claimed this. It clearly states that 42 is the answer to\* the ultimate question of\* life, the universe, and everything. A subtle but significant distinction. It took three books to find out exactly what that question was. > [@Douglass Adams](#): > > “The Answer?” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to what?” > “Life!” urged Fook. > “The Universe!” said Lunkwill. > “Everything!” they said in chorus. > > \ > “Yes,” said Deep Thought. “Life, the Universe and Everything. There is an answer. But,” he added, “I’ll have to think about it.” > > \ > “All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question …” “Yes …!” “Of Life, the Universe and Everything …” said Deep Thought. It’s sometimes called the “great” question, sometimes called the “ultimate” question, and sometimes (and as originally asked) just called “Life! The Universe! Everything!”. I think you’re focusing on a distinction that isn’t really present in the text. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/137 "2013-01-29T13:46:59Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Except that you can see little wires and flashes of light in the A.I. robots. Not something usually seen in fleshy aliens. Not only that but the future robots matched the stylized robot on the logo of the robot making company almost exactly, AND they pretty much refer to the kid robot as an ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/138 "2013-01-29T13:53:38Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Except that you can see little wires and flashes of light in the A.I. robots. Not something usually seen in fleshy aliens. Are you kidding, in Spielberg movies even _dinosaurs_ produce flashes of light. (I’m not sure about the wires): [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-ukQjbJtJhn7b/jurassic\_park\_1993\_opening\_scene\_part\_2/](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-ukQjbJtJhn7b/jurassic_park_1993_opening_scene_part_2/) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/139 "2013-01-29T14:03:22Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Or playing **Every Breath You Take** at your wedding. In the early 70s some friends of mine who were getting married asked me to sing “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” at their wedding.:eek: “The couples cling and claw, and drown in love’s debris.” I talked them out of it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417/140 "2013-01-29T16:05:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Are you kidding, in Spielberg movies even _dinosaurs_ produce flashes of light. (I’m not sure about the wires): Not sure if I’m being whooshed, but I’m pretty sure those flashes are from the weapons of the men trying to subdue the dinosaur. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspects-of-pop-culture-people-seem-to-misunderstand/647417.md?page=8)