# Is there any movie analysis idea worse than "The main character was dead all along!"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115 "2022-11-01T05:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/21 "2022-11-01T14:24:08Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There is _[Dead Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man)_, by Jim Jarmush, where the plot is that the main character (Johnny Depp) dies at the beginning, and the rest is his soul travelling to the Eternal Hunting Grounds™. One of my favorite movies. The cast is really something. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/22 "2022-11-01T14:28:39Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > ‘The main character never existed’ trope is annoying. _“Bunny Lake is Missing”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf”_ produce some wrenching emotions without a pay off. When I see the trope unfolding on TV, I change the channel. I liked _Bunny Lake is Missing_, and disliked _Virginia Woolf_ for other reasons entirely, mainly the volume level. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/23 "2022-11-01T14:33:12Z")
Heh. Did anyone get to the end of Super Mario Brothers 2 and discovered that it WAS all a dream before someone previously told you that it is all a dream? I did. Wish I had that 3 hours of my life back. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/24 "2022-11-01T15:01:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Author and horror critic Kim Newman once pointed out that people reading _Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde_ today are experiencing the work differently than readers did back in 1886. The reveal that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person was written as a surprise twist ending. But now everyone starts reading the work already knowing that. And every movie adaptation shows him transforming early in the plot, which is a completely different story to the original. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/25 "2022-11-01T16:03:36Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Thanks a heap. I just got Harker’s journals out of the library (and they are not in good shape, from all the wear). Just wait until you see my post about _A Study in Scarlet_. You’re gonna be pissed. So are the Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/26 "2022-11-01T16:06:51Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Bunny Lake is Missing Wait! Bunny Lake really existed, and was missing, Her father took her. (at least in the 1965 film) What about films where it is generally possible and possibly deliberately true that the trope is correct? Minority Report: it’s quite possible that the entire last part of the film is all Anderton’s fantasy in prison. They even allude to that in earlier dialog. Total Recall: It is quite likely even that the entire movie is Quaid trapped in a Recall malfunction, There is even dialog and a brief flash of an image that supports this Jacob’s Ladder: is clearly Owlcreeking Sixth Sense: It’s canon X Files Field Trip: I think there is a case to be made they died. It would sure explain the final seasons! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/27 "2022-11-01T16:45:05Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Did anyone get to the end of Super Mario Brothers 2 and discovered that it WAS all a dream before someone previously told you that it is all a dream? I thought you were saying there was a second film, but I see you mean the game. That said, apparently they’re [making a new animated film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Super_Mario_Bros._Movie). (I don’t care what people say - I loved the live action Bob Hoskins/John Leguizamo one.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/28 "2022-11-01T17:01:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Minority Report: it’s quite possible that the entire last part of the film is all Anderton’s fantasy in prison. They even allude to that in earlier dialog. > Total Recall: It is quite likely even that the entire movie is Quaid trapped in a Recall malfunction, There is even dialog and a brief flash of an image that supports this I’d say those two are different, since as you say, there’s actual evidence from the movie itself to suggest the “it’s not real” interpretation. That’s kind of the point of both movies. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/29 "2022-11-01T17:12:50Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > X Files Field Trip: I think there is a case to be made they died. It would sure explain the final seasons! Reminds me of the theory that [Homer Simpson has been in a coma since 1993](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/simpsons-theory-shot-down_n_6681278). ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/30 "2022-11-01T18:10:30Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > > [@Quimby](#): > > > > Not to mention the Martians just all dying (but I give that one a pass). > > I didn’t see the movie, but FWIW that’s exactly how the original H.G. Well novel ends, the Martians all die because they can’t handle Earth microbes. I figured it went without saying I am familiar with the story of War of the Worlds, thus the pass. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/31 "2022-11-01T18:14:05Z")
Or indeed the whole [Tommy Westphall Universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Westphall#Tommy_Westphall_Universe_Hypothesis). ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/32 "2022-11-01T18:14:17Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > or how Blade Runner is about how the Blade Runner who got shot at the start of the movie is actually Deckard and the rest is his death dream. There’s a deleted scene where Holden (the Blade Runner who was shot by Leon) is recovering in the hospital and Deckard goes to visit him. I don’t know if deleted scenes are considered canon, but if so that would blow this theory right out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/33 "2022-11-01T19:12:12Z")
No you see that’s just Deckard INVENTING another Blade Runner in his head!!! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/34 "2022-11-01T19:14:27Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Either that, or you have to accept that an inflatable raft can save someone falling out of an airplane. Didn’t Mythbusters give that one the okay? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/35 "2022-11-01T19:21:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > > [@k9bfriender](#): > > > > Either that, or you have to accept that an inflatable raft can save someone falling out of an airplane. > > Didn’t Mythbusters give that one the okay? - Nope. > **[MythBusters Episode 37: Escape Slide Parachute](https://mythresults.com/episode37)** > > The MythBusters test if it is possible to use an inflatable life raft or escape slide as a parachute, if you can survive an airplane crash in the tail, and other airline myths. > It is possible to jump from a disabled airplane and use an \> inflatable life raft to safely return to earth (as in _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)_ > **BUSTED** > > Any attempt to use the raft failed due to the instability of the raft in free fall. It was possible to rig the raft as a parachute and land with minimal injuries, but this would not be possible to perform while jumping from a disabled aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/36 "2022-11-01T19:22:08Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Didn’t Mythbusters give that one the okay? No > **[MythBusters Episode 37: Escape Slide Parachute](https://mythresults.com/episode37#:~:text=It%20is%20possible%20to%20jump,and%20the%20Temple%20of%20Doom)** > > The MythBusters test if it is possible to use an inflatable life raft or escape slide as a parachute, if you can survive an airplane crash in the tail, and other airline myths. > [@](#): > > BUSTED > > Any attempt to use the raft failed due to the instability of the raft in free fall. It was possible to rig the raft as a parachute and land with minimal injuries, but this would not be possible to perform while jumping from a disabled aircraft. ETA: Ninja’d, but it wasn’t fair as I had to deal with a bunch of clients. 🙂 I had it written up and was just going over formatting. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/37 "2022-11-01T19:27:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Nope. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > No Thank you. I had a hazy memory of a final success, but it makes perfect sense that it wasn’t done in a way that could be done spontaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/38 "2022-11-01T19:33:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Author and horror critic Kim Newman once pointed out that people reading _Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde_ today are experiencing the work differently than readers did back in 1886. The reveal that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person was written as a surprise twist ending. But now everyone starts reading the work already knowing that. When I read Frankenstein back in college, I noticed a similar thing. If you don’t go into it knowing that the monster is real, it reads like the novel of a guy having a psychotic breakdown and killing a couple people, then dissociating by inventing a “monster” to blame for the killings. The framing device, where Dr. Frankenstein is telling his story on his death bed, only for the monster to appear to confirm that his creator is truly deceased, works really well as a twist reveal that Frankenstein was right all along, and wasn’t a crazed murderer after all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/39 "2022-11-01T19:41:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Sixth Sense: It’s canon But there are clues in Sixth Sense. I figured it out before the reveal ( not very long, to be fair). However it isn’t so bad when the film makes it clear- what is exceptionally stupid is when fanboys and self-proclaimed “critics” insist they know better than the writers. I include there the little added on twist at the very end. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Not Raiders, but Temple of Doom, it actually makes more sense that the movie was a fever dream brought on by the poison in the first act than any of the events in it actually happening. Either that, or you have to accept that an inflatable raft can save someone falling out of an airplane. Well, sure not just landing on concrete- but landing on many, many feet of soft snow? Why not, Indy has incredible luck, almost supernatural levels of it at times. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115/40 "2022-11-01T19:58:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > However it isn’t so bad when the film makes it clear- what is exceptionally stupid is when fanboys and self-proclaimed “critics” insist they know better than the writers. I’d say that there is a difference between declaring definitively that the narrator is dead/dying and this is their death dream, and deciding that coming from that perspective allows one to enjoy the movie/show without being bothered by inconsistencies in physics and logic. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Why not, Indy has incredible luck, almost supernatural levels of it at times. Yeah, I can fly in my dreams, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-movie-analysis-idea-worse-than-the-main-character-was-dead-all-along/974115.md?page=3)