# Embarrassing epiphanies about movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966 "2006-02-04T05:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/1 "2006-02-04T05:14:25Z")
What I’m talking about is something a character said or did in a movie that made you scratch your head, wondering what the heck it meant, and twenty years later it hits you. You slap yourself in the head and wonder how you missed what they meant. My personal moment came in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I probably watched the movie a hundred times over the last twenty-five years, and I never had a clue why the French knights were calling king Arthur a Knigut :smack: . It just never occurred to me they were mispronouncing knight. As a matter of fact, I didn’t realize it, I had to be told by someone, and I still had to sit and think about it before I got it. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/2 "2006-02-04T05:40:52Z")
I remember loudly proclaiming on these message boards not too long ago that I thought the Russian ambassador secretly but deliberately set off the Doomsday Device at the end of _Doctor Strangelove_ after the crisis was averted. Folks here not-so politely pointed out that was just his spy camera. I :smack:'ed my :smack: on my :smack: many a time after that… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/3 "2006-02-04T06:45:56Z")
Once again, I’ll admit that I somehow managed to watch _Pulp Fiction_ at least three times without figuring out that Marvin set up the rest of the gang. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/4 "2006-02-04T17:54:28Z")
> [@mike1dog](#): > > I never had a clue why the French knights were calling king Arthur a Knigut :smack: . It just never occurred to me they were mispronouncing knight. Actually, I think you got meta-whooshed regarding the word; I believe that the pronunciation in the film is actually more historically correct than our modern pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/5 "2006-02-04T18:06:32Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Once again, I’ll admit that I somehow managed to watch _Pulp Fiction_ at least three times without figuring out that Marvin set up the rest of the gang. Explain please! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/6 "2006-02-04T18:10:00Z")
I’ll post one for Mr. S that still cracks me up. _Tootsie_ is one of our favorite movies, and one of our favorite scenes is the one where Michael (Dustin Hoffman), an actor who’s working as a waiter to pay the bills, is arguing with his agent, George (Sidney Pollack) about not getting sent up for a part that was given to Terry Bishop, a soap star (dialogue approximate): GEORGE: Look, if Stewart Pressman wants a “name,” that’s his affair. MICHAEL: Oh, so Terry Bishop is a “name.” GEORGE: No, Michael Dorsey is a name. **If you want to send a steak back, Michael Dorsey is a name.** \ GEORGE: Wait, wait, wait, that was a rotten thing to say and I know it. Let me start over . . . Mr. S didn’t get, until about the hundredth time we watched that scene, that George was insulting Michael’s waiter status. Hilarious line, and he totally missed it! ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/7 "2006-02-04T18:13:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Explain please! The gang in this context would be Brett, “Flock of Seagulls,” and the dude that burst out of the bathroom with the hand-cannon. Marvin was Vincent and Jules’ inside man when they came to get the briefcase back. ---
**Author:** ![AThingWithFeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@AThingWithFeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AThingWithFeathers)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/8 "2006-02-04T18:16:14Z")
It took me until the third time I watched it to realize that they were smoking pot and not just cigarettes in The Breakfast Club. I attribute it to the fact the first two times were after midnight though. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/9 "2006-02-04T18:31:39Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > The gang in this context would be Brett, “Flock of Seagulls,” and the dude that burst out of the bathroom with the hand-cannon. Marvin was Vincent and Jules’ inside man when they came to get the briefcase back. Was Marvin the name of the guy in the car who caused the need to visit Tarantino’s House? ---
**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:** [February 4, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/10 "2006-02-04T18:36:24Z")
The significance of that death-rattle kick of Jimmy Durante at the beginning of _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World_ escaped me for nigh on to 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/11 "2006-02-04T18:43:51Z")
It was rather embarassing for me to discover that the words of the Sermon on the Mount in _Life of Brian_ were actually from the NEB, and not intended as a joke. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/12 "2006-02-04T18:45:03Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > The gang in this context would be Brett, “Flock of Seagulls,” and the dude that burst out of the bathroom with the hand-cannon. Marvin was Vincent and Jules’ inside man when they came to get the briefcase back. How do we know that Marvin was their inside man and set the others up? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/13 "2006-02-04T18:45:19Z")
Aside from “cannigit” in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ (which you’ll find is a pretty common one)… …I completely missed the penis joke that is the title of the movie _South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut_. :smack: ---
**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:** [February 4, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/14 "2006-02-04T19:12:20Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Actually, I think you got meta-whooshed regarding the word; I believe that the pronunciation in the film is actually more historically correct than our modern pronunciation. Yep, all the consonants got pronounced in Middle English, as [Terry Jones](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0413691403/203-5368417-4099952) would certainly have been in a position to know. Clever touch, that. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/15 "2006-02-04T19:15:28Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > How do we know that Marvin was their inside man and set the others up? Vincent refers to him as “our guy” when he and Jules are discussing how many people are up there, and how they should have shotguns. He starts to tell them, at one point where the briefcase is, but Jules cuts him off with “I don’t remember asking you a Goddam thing!”. Also, they take him away with them, afterwards. Looks pretty good that Marvin was the inside man. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/16 "2006-02-04T19:18:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > How do we know that Marvin was their inside man and set the others up? It was a subtle exchange between Vincent and Jules [before they went in the apartment.](http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/pulp.shtml) VINCENT How many up there? JULES Three or four. VINCENT Counting our guy? JULES I’m not sure. Of course, when they killed everyone else in the apartment and Marvin left with them unharmed, it’s kind of obvious. Remember Marvin was shot by accident. /ON PREVIEW/ Goddammit, **Sonoran!** ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/17 "2006-02-04T19:24:57Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Of course, when they killed everyone else in the apartment and Marvin left with them unharmed, it’s kind of obvious. Remember Marvin was shot by accident. Though I also got that Marvin may have been double (or triple) crossing Jules and Vincent by not telling them about the guy in the bathroom with the hand cannon. J&V take out Brett & Flock of Seagulls, Handcannon takes out J&V (which by logic he should have) and he and Marvin take the suitcase and whatever-the-hell’s-in-it and run. I had to watch _Silence of the Lambs_ an embarassing number of times before I finally figured out how Jame Gumb fit in re: the first victim, the old woman’s house and Hannibal’s “don’t these seem a little _too_ random”\* clue. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/18 "2006-02-04T20:06:59Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > Aside from “cannigit” in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ (which you’ll find is a pretty common one)… > > …I completely missed the penis joke that is the title of the movie _South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut_. :smack: If Trey Parker and Matt Stone are to be believed (fimmakers often exaggerate, so who knows for sure!), the ratings board didn’t get the joke, either. Originally, the movie was to be titled “South Park: Kenny Goes to Hell.” Late in the ratings process, Parker and Stone were told they couldn’t use “Hell” in the title, if they wanted an R rating. Parker and Stone argued that “Hell” is part of many mainstream movie titles. What about “Hellraiser,” “Hellcats of the Navy,” et al.? Their arguments fell on deaf ears. So, they came up with the idea of a dick joke as part of the title. When they proposed “Bigger, Longer and Uncut” as the new title, the ratings board was satisfied, thinking thy’s cleaned up the title… when in fact, they’d gotten a much WORSE title. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/19 "2006-02-04T20:08:11Z")
[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086856/) For me it was the title, and I’m hispanic! In Spanish, a cowboy is a Vaquero, “Buckaroo” is the Anglo phonetic spelling of “vaquero.” English was my second langiuage, and thanks to the movie, “Buckaroo” came to mean something closer to a daredevil. Later I found a Buckaroo was a cowboy. :smack: And to top it off, I never conected the phonetic spelling as the source of the word until last year! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966/20 "2006-02-04T20:35:39Z")
After watching **The Usual Suspects** , I kept asking why no one figured out something was wrong with Verbal’s story after we see Kobayashi as a caucasian with a Pakistani accent and a Japanese surname. Wouldn’t someone at the FBI have picked up on that? Anyone at all? A fellow fan of the movie finally had to explain gently that: Kobayashi existed in this form only within Verbal’s mind. There might have really been a Kobayashi, but he certainly would not have looked or sounded like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-epiphanies-about-movies/342966.md?page=2)