# Creative things that are funnier in retrospect. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856 "2019-09-26T16:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/1 "2019-09-26T16:18:17Z")
I watched the movie version of Singing in the Rain yesterday. There’s a scene where the Linda Lamont is filming her first ever talking movie scene, and the microphone is hidden in a bush on the set. She flubs it every time, and the director tells her to talk to the bush as if she’s making love to it. She replies in a very angry voice “I cannot make love to a bush.” Who knew in 1952 how funny that line would be 45 years later? The MAD magazine parody of The Incredible Hulk brings up that they changed Bruce Banner’s first name to David because “Bruce is associate with homosexuals.” The TV set then announces how Bruce Jenner is the best Olympic athlete today. Okay, maybe not so much today as Caitlyn Jenner. And then there’s my favorite in the 1993 first Chicken Soul for the Soul book about how the little boy growing up in poverty waited outside the Chicago football stadium to talk to his hero, Jim Brown. Brown asks him “What’s your name, kid?” He replies “Orenthal James. My friends call me O.J.” A year later, that line would be hysterically funny. He’s really a source of inspiration today. Got any others? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/2 "2019-09-26T16:33:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And then there’s my favorite in the 1993 first Chicken Soul for the Soul book about how the little boy growing up in poverty waited outside the Chicago football stadium to talk to his hero, Jim Brown. Brown asks him “What’s your name, kid?” He replies “Orenthal James. My friends call me O.J.” > > A year later, that line would be hysterically funny. He’s really a source of inspiration today. > > Got any others? Speaking of OJ Simpson in regards to first the Terminator film-----"The studio suggested O. J. Simpson for the role, but Cameron did not feel that Simpson, at the time, would be believable as a killer. " > **[The Terminator | Development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator#Development)** > > In Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), director Cameron fell ill and had a dream about a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion. Inspired by director John Carpenter, who had made the slasher film Halloween (1978) on a low budget, Cameron used the dream as a "launching pad" to write a slasher-style film. Cameron's agent disliked the early concept of the horror film and requested that he work on something else. After this, Camer Camer... [https://ew.com/article/2014/07/17/oj-simpson-terminator-james-cameron/](https://ew.com/article/2014/07/17/oj-simpson-terminator-james-cameron/) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/3 "2019-09-26T17:21:33Z")
There was also a Seinfeld episode where Elaine was dating a guy who had the same name as a serial killer and wanted to change his name. Elaine is going through a list of potential new names with him and suggests “O.J.” ETA link: [The Masseuse (Seinfeld) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masseuse_(Seinfeld)) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/4 "2019-09-26T18:20:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > She replies in a very angry voice “I cannot make love to a bush.” Who knew in 1952 how funny that line would be 45 years later? Why is that funnier now than then? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/5 "2019-09-26T18:34:07Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why is that funnier now than then? And why _45_ years (1997)? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/6 "2019-09-26T22:00:44Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why is that funnier now than then? I’m guessing the implication of sleeping with a member of the Bush family. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/7 "2019-09-26T22:59:37Z")
Seriously? You don’t know what “bush” is slang for? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/8 "2019-09-27T00:28:55Z")
Tom Lehrer recorded a song in 1965 about George Murphy, who was a movie-musical actor who became a U.S. Senator: _Hollywood’s often tried to mix Show business with politics From Helen Gahagan To… Ronald Reagan? But Mr. Murphy is the star Who’s done the best by far_ I don’t think Tom knew how funny the Ronald Reagan line would become in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/9 "2019-09-27T00:39:38Z")
**Brabantio:** Thou art a villain. **Iago:** You are – a senator. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/10 "2019-09-27T00:48:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Seriously? You don’t know what “bush” is slang for? It was slang for the same thing in 1952. In fact, it was slang for the same thing in 1749, when John Cleland wrote[Fanny Hill](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25305/25305-h/25305-h.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/11 "2019-09-27T13:13:48Z")
I was thinking about how much Barbara, Laura and a bunch of other Texan women used the line. Sheesh. The first of comedy is “If you have to explain it, it’s not funny.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/12 "2019-09-27T13:27:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I was thinking about how much Barbara, Laura and a bunch of other Texan women used the line. Barbara and Laura used the line “I cannot make love to a bush”? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/13 "2019-09-27T13:40:47Z")
Yes, talking about George H.W. and George W. I’m sure they’ve both heard the line at least once. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/14 "2019-09-28T13:49:45Z")
There was an episode of The Big Valley where the madame of a whorehouse was named “Amy Carter.” Try watching that rerun during the Carter presidency and not cracking up (his young daughter was named “Amy.”) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/15 "2019-09-28T17:14:29Z")
For the British of course, but for Americans also, the Fast Show creation, politician Sir Geoffrey Norman, MP, must seem awfully prescient these days. See what I mean [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZYUppkYHtM). j ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/16 "2019-09-28T17:19:06Z")
Idiocracy almost seems quaint compared to the anti-intellectual, anti-democracy, white nationalist society we find ourselves in now. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-things-that-are-funnier-in-retrospect/840856/17 "2019-09-28T23:09:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Seriously? You don’t know what “bush” is slang for? > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > It was slang for the same thing in 1952. > > In fact, it was slang for the same thing in 1749, when John Cleland wrote[Fanny Hill](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25305/25305-h/25305-h.htm). The retrospective humor comes from the fact the screenwriter[managed to get that line past the censors](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GettingCrapPastTheRadar).