# I don't get this joke from The Onion **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215 "2001-04-16T23:54:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/1 "2001-04-16T23:54:08Z")
More specifically, it’s from _Our Dumb Century_, page 47, from December 6, 1933. Other headlines include “18th Amendment Repealed: Could Alcohol Cure Nation’s Depression” and “Stalin Announces Five-Year ‘Everybody Dies’ Plan.” The headline I’m wondering about is a blurb in the lower left corner–"Hollywood Careers Destroyed Today: Bow, Clara, Brooks, Louise, Fitzgerald, F. Scott, Gilbert, John, Haines, William, Keaton, Buster (Continued on page 10, column 1). I recognize most of those names, but I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Ell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/2 "2001-04-16T23:57:40Z")
McCarthy UnAmerican hearings??? Maybe, idunno ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/3 "2001-04-17T00:10:50Z")
Talking films, maybe? Silent era stars who couldn’t survive with talkies? ---
**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:** [April 17, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/4 "2001-04-17T00:12:52Z")
Were they all gay? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/5 "2001-04-17T01:36:39Z")
I DO know that Clara Bow’s (I actually typed Kate Winslet…lol) career was ruined by “talkies” because everyone saw her as this petite little brunette-she actually had a very thick, heavy Brooklyn accent, spoiling the effect. ---
**Author:** ![Studi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Studi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Studi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/6 "2001-04-17T01:43:35Z")
I don’t think there’s any single joke to it. It’s just funny. Studi ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/7 "2001-04-17T01:52:43Z")
Now that it’s pointed out to me, I get the end of the silent era joke, and I think I get the William Haines one–he was gay, right? I guess what I really don’t get is the F. Scott Fitzgerald–his career as a Hollywood screenwriter, however pathetic and demeaning, took off in the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Creant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Miss\_Creant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Creant)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/8 "2001-04-17T03:25:48Z")
The person to ask about this is Eve. If anyone would know, it would be Eve. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/9 "2001-04-17T03:32:00Z")
Only thing I could find that seemed even remotely related is that was the day _Ulysses_ was found not to be obscene. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/10 "2001-04-17T14:32:53Z")
Whew! here just in time. Yes, inded, they were all silent stars whose careers ended with the talkies, but most of them had nothing to do with “bad voices.” Bow, Clara—private scandals and the fact that she was an instinctive actress who hated “sticking to a script” ended her career. Her Brooklyn voice was no worse than those of Mae West or Barbara Stanwyck. Brooks, Louise—Ruined her own career by walking out on her Paramount contract. She was notoriously unstable and uncooperative. Fitzgerald, F. Scott—This makes no sense at all; he never did scenarios for silent films. Gilbert, John—Feuded with Louis B. mayer. he actually had a perfectly servicable voice, but was put into lousy vehicles. Haines, William—Also put into lousy vehicles. He wasn’t outted as gay till 1938, by which time his acting career was long over anyway. Keaton, Buster—Drinking problem, amnd the end of “silent comedy.” Now, anyone for the Talmadge sisters? Pola Negri? ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-from-the-onion/62215/11 "2001-04-17T14:59:12Z")
Could it be a reference to the end of Prohibition? Certainly Fitzgerald wasted no time in drinking himself into oblivion.