# I wanted to start a thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591 "2010-07-13T20:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 14, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/21 "2010-07-14T01:35:50Z")
I don’t think the **Rand Rover** thread is a good example, since he was fairly obviously trolling (in my opinion, of course - mind you, the mods agreed with me). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/22 "2010-07-14T01:58:12Z")
It’s not a good example because you don’t like him or the topic. Pretend it wasn’t \*\*RR \*\*and the thread wasn’t about fat people. Let’s just say this was one of the other 100s of threads where the question is never answered because people have to whine about the hypothetical not being possible. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/23 "2010-07-14T02:32:51Z")
Hell yeah MOL. Yer damn right. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/24 "2010-07-14T03:50:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Poll. Which is more annoying: > > Derailing a thread entirely to beat the living shit out of an irrelevant nitpick > -_or_- > Posting to a thread to say nothing except, “Not to nitpick, but [insert asinine nitpick here].” > > Poll closes in 24 hours. I choose option 3: derailing a thread by posting totally unrelated poll questions. And I salute you. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/25 "2010-07-14T04:00:33Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > And before anyone says it, I don’t think it’s just me. Other people are getting this too. I just don’t appreciate it no matter who it’s aimed at. It’s not just you. I’ve started a couple threads where I asked a specific question, and got multiple responses answering an entirely different question that I never asked. When I say, “No really, I wanted an answer to the question I actually asked,” the shit hits the fan, the namecalling begins, and it turns into a dogpile. Because really, I shouldn’t want an answer to the question I asked. I am a horrible, ignorant person for wanting that. I should want the answers they gave, whether they’re actually relevant to what I’m working on or not. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/26 "2010-07-14T15:32:16Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Even if I [load my post with disclaimers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12679153&postcount=31), that doesn’t excuse being wrong. There is a huge difference between matters of pure opinion and those of fact. Heaps of ignorance is spread throughout the land in the disguise of opinion, commentary, or otherwise and disclaimers are often ineffective in moderating the potential impact of statements that fail to comport with fact. Your post was not just wrong, it was riddled with the kind of misconception (note, I didn’t say “deception”) that one might expect from a child and it had the potential of spreading ignorance to anyone who might not know better. The words I used were the nicest way I could think of to describe that. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/27 "2010-07-14T15:39:03Z")
Confirmation bias. _Fight Club_, _Pulp Fiction_ and plenty of other classic films are set in the present day, real world. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/28 "2010-07-14T16:30:24Z")
**Melon** : Not quite. I was looking for films that seemed to strike a chord with just about everyone, starting when they were new releases. A lot of people didn’t see **Fight Club** because of the subject matter, or **Pulp Fiction** ditto, especially if they’d heard about the needle scene. But, you’ve made me think of one that does qualify! **E.T.**! And in fact, I wasn’t trying to confirm a bias; I was looking for counter-examples. Now that you’ve given me one, I think I will start that thread. Later on today. **ascenray** : I think I see the problem, or at least part of it. I’m not a regular visitor to GQ. I found the scuttling thread through the RSS feed, and didn’t reallize at first that it was in GQ. I’m more of an IMHO kind of gal, and my usual pattern in that forum is to say “This is the situation as I understand it, but I also understand that my perception may not match everyone’s. so by all means correct me.” I just think it’s more efficient to say in effect, “This is where I’m starting from,” so other people don’t have to start from square one in explaining to me. And FTR, I’m aware of the incidence of premarital/underage sex and unplanned pregnancy in those days. I didn’t factor it into my post, but I also didn’t take into account what forum I was in. It would be no sacrifice for me to stay out of GQ from now on, so I will. Sorry I offended you so. BTW, the OP of that thread said “I believe she [HGB] said the woman was undressed until she was only wearing her underwear.” But I followed the link, and HGB said it was only the panties that were removed. Shame on **F.U. Shakespeare**? I won’t call for it; will you? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/29 "2010-07-14T16:31:43Z")
I didn’t say that you were trying to confirm bias, I said that you were falling prey to confirmation bias. And anyone who doesn’t think that _Pulp Fiction_ is a classic movie, regardless of whether they like it, doesn’t know much about film, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/30 "2010-07-14T16:34:27Z")
So fight my ignorance. And I was not saying that PF is not a good film, or doesn’t deserve longevity. I’m not sure “classic” is the term I want to use, either. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/31 "2010-07-14T16:42:24Z")
Whether either of us enjoys a particular movie is beside the point. _The Silence of the Lambs_, _The Matrix_, _Citizen Kane_, _American Beauty_, _American Psycho_, _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_, _The Dark Knight_, they all take place in the time and world in which they were filmed, more or less. But yes, I guess there is a trend that movies are often about fantastical worlds and the far past. But really, the current era is only a tiny slice of the time we’ve been here, so it isn’t at all surprising that many films wouldn’t be set on modern Earth. It’d be far more interesting if a trend for films to be set in a certain era was discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/32 "2010-07-14T16:46:36Z")
Eh, I can explain it better when I start the thread. But gimme a few hours; I have an eye exam and they’re going to dilate me. (My pupils.) ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/33 "2010-07-14T16:51:56Z")
First, I would like to admit that, without examples, we are all talking past each other a bit. That said, I would like to point out that some OP’s **should** be “derailed”. Suppose there is an OP like “why do men drive like this and women drive like that.” If I don’t think that men do drive like this (more than women do), then I sure as shit am not going to answer the question if I think the assumption it is based on is false. I’m going to challenge the assumption! But everyone else who buys into gender stereotypes is going to see it as threadshitting/nitpicking. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591/34 "2010-07-14T16:55:23Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > you’ve made me think of one that does qualify! **E.T.**! I can think of another from Spielberg- **JAWS**! The sea captain in that movie is pretty much the greatest human being evah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanted-to-start-a-thread/546591.md?page=1)