# Barton Fink - what was in the box? (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840 "2005-11-26T21:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/1 "2005-11-26T21:31:56Z")
I can’t believe this hasn’t been discussed here before, but I couldn’t find anything by searching, so here goes. What was in that damn box anyway? From the moment we found out who Charlie really was, I thought it was Audrey’s head, but that should have started to… get olfactorily noticeable pretty quickly in the Californian climate. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/2 "2005-11-26T22:22:52Z")
There are certainly enough indicators that it’s a head, and no hint that it might be something else, specifically. Maybe it’s packed in salt. Or maybe it’s Marcellus Wallace’s _soul_. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/3 "2005-11-26T22:32:34Z")
Yes, it was a head, but oddly enough, turns out it belonged to Gwyneth Paltrow. ---
**Author:** ![John\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@John\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_F)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/4 "2005-11-26T22:39:47Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Or maybe it’s Marcellus Wallace’s _soul_. Jewels said it was his dirty laundry. 😕 I forget the name for it but didn’t Alfred Hitchcock come up with this idea for not revealing what’s in the box, bag etc… Leaving the viewer to decide what may be in there? ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/5 "2005-11-26T22:53:05Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > There are certainly enough indicators that it’s a head, and no hint that it might be something else, specifically. Maybe it’s packed in salt. > > Or maybe it’s Marcellus Wallace’s _soul_. Damn! Beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/6 "2005-11-26T22:54:32Z")
I thought it was kind of obvious. She was the only one who knew how to write. She disappeared, leaving a pool of blood where she’d been. Without her, he couldn’t write. But when he set the box on his desk, he suddenly wrote up a storm. When he shook the box, the clunky sound from inside seemed consistent with an object the size and weight of a head rattling inside a box. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/7 "2005-11-26T22:59:48Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I thought it was kind of obvious. She was the only one who knew how to write. She disappeared, leaving a pool of blood where she’d been. Without her, he couldn’t write. But when he set the box on his desk, he suddenly wrote up a storm. When he shook the box, the clunky sound from inside seemed consistent with an object the size and weight of a head rattling inside a box. I agree. And that you seem to have a basis for comparison frightens me 😉 ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/8 "2005-11-26T23:05:47Z")
> [@John F](#): > > Jewels said it was his dirty laundry. 😕 > > I forget the name for it but didn’t Alfred Hitchcock come up with this idea for not revealing what’s in the box, bag etc… Leaving the viewer to decide what may be in there? MacGuffin. But it was pretty obviously a head in this movie. I don’t think the time frame of the movie was long enough that it necessarily would have gotten stinky. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/9 "2005-11-26T23:05:48Z")
It was his sled. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/10 "2005-11-26T23:42:06Z")
The box should have gotten somewhat stinky after the hotel got really hot when Charlie returns and kills the police officers. The whole floor is on fire and the wallpaper all peels off. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/11 "2005-11-26T23:58:12Z")
> [@AugestWest](#): > > Damn! Beat me to it! You _both_ beat me to it. I swear, it was just too easy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/12 "2005-11-27T00:02:13Z")
Head gets my vote. Great movie. Great roles for both Turturro and Goodman. ---
**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 29, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/13 "2005-11-29T05:52:28Z")
The top-secret Death Star plans, of course. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/14 "2005-11-29T06:56:06Z")
It was full of the stuff that dreams are made of. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/15 "2005-11-29T07:00:31Z")
It was the point of the movie. That’s why it couldn’t be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/16 "2005-11-29T15:26:04Z")
> [@John F](#): > > Jewels said it was his dirty laundry. 😕 [nitpick]Actually, Jules said it was his boss’s dirty laundry.[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/17 "2005-11-29T16:12:05Z")
It was the same thing that was in trunk in Repo-man, and in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. MacGuffin’s golden head. You can also catch a glimpse of it for a second in the monolith at the end of 2000, a Space Odyssey. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/18 "2005-11-29T17:31:42Z")
Was it Jerry Seinfeld that said…“I used to think the brain was the most importaint organ in the human body. Then I realized who was telling me that.” ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/19 "2005-11-29T17:34:02Z")
And just how the heck did that end up here? Crap. Meant for the brain thread over in the pit. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840/20 "2005-11-29T17:40:01Z")
Oh yes. It was me in the box, by the way. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barton-fink-what-was-in-the-box-spoilers/332840.md?page=2)