# "Leave the world behind" (produced by the Obamas) is freaking out the CT'ers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** netflix, movies\ **Created:** [December 14, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619 "2023-12-14T22:23:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/1 "2023-12-14T22:23:58Z")
This movie is currently playing on Netflix. It’s an apocalyptic type show we’re in the United States gets shut down through cyber attacks. The show itself is packed full of symbolism and Easter eggs. (Which I liked). But now the CT’ers are going crazy because it was produced by the Obamas and they seem to think this isn’t really a movie and is more of a foretelling. Anyway just sharing because I’m curious if this is coming up on anyone else’s social media. And also your thoughts on the movie. I enjoyed it but I’m not buying into the CT stuff. (Please excuse the typos I’m on my phone.) ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/2 "2023-12-14T22:36:23Z")
The only conspiracy-related Facebook meme I’ve seen about this points out three sixes appearing in a bedroom scene, the word ‘Baal’ being made from the actors’ names in the credits, and the ‘Obey NASA’ being spelt out by the kids wearing T-shirts with one of those words each. Frankly, the ‘Obey NASA’ when the kids stood together seemed so obvious as to be a deliberate wind-up for Flat-Earthers (not that I really believe in them). No mention of the Obamas that I’ve seen so far. On another note, does this film have the clunkiest Starbucks product placement ever, or was there some subtext to that weird, inconsequential name-drop? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/3 "2023-12-14T22:38:33Z")
I saw the Starbucks thing as a joke. These guys were complaining about the city and wanting to get out of it. And as soon as they do the first thing they do is go to Starbucks. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/4 "2023-12-14T22:58:30Z")
Thoughts on the movie: I have only read the wiki plot summary, and it sounds stupid. Is it a techno-pocalypse, or is it a horror fantasy where Strange Forces are altering reality and making animals sentient agents of change? I’m relying on y’all, because I’m never going to watch it. I swear I saw the trailer in the theater. I couldn’t decide what to make of it. And it must be an IMPORTANT movie because it has Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/5 "2023-12-14T23:03:45Z")
It’s a bit of a mystery because they never directly say what’s causing all the weirdness. Is sort of left up to the viewer. Weird things are happening, but it’s not like it’s impossible type weird. If that makes sense. Only two weird things going on with the animals. More dear than normal or hanging around the house. And a flock of flamingos landed in their pool. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/6 "2023-12-14T23:07:32Z")
At first I figured the central falsehood of the CT was that the Obamas were behind it. Nope. That part is fact. Apparently their schtick is backing productions with uplifting & inclusive social commentary. Not clear to me how this film’s plot advances that agenda, but maybe they need a few ordinary commercial successes salted in to help pay for the more preachy stuff and this was one. Either that or it’s entirely a stick in the eye of the CTers. This reaction by the RW / Russian (but I repeat myself) professional CT-creation industry was utterly predictable. Whether the film is good or bad as entertainment, since I’m not a NetFlix subscriber I’ll never see it. But for that it sounds at least interesting enough for me to try. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/7 "2023-12-14T23:31:54Z")
I made it almost halfway through. I got their point that life is too short to waste on race-based mistrust. But it’s also too short to waste on preachy elitist vanity projects; so I watched Sisu instead, which had a lot of great Nazi-killing action scenes. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/8 "2023-12-14T23:33:23Z")
I was talking to a friend about this movie, and I had an idea for an alternate take. All the people in the world disappear, and chatroom and Facebook and Xitter continue on because a large chunk of the “people” are bots. So years after humanity dies, bots keep posting memes at each other. And the few survivors can’t tell the difference! Maybe…they think others are alive because they are connecting with other survivors on social media, but when they get told they are “pedos” for the fifteenth time, they begin to realize. I should contact the Obama! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/9 "2023-12-15T02:24:39Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > On another note, does this film have the clunkiest Starbucks product placement ever, or was there some subtext to that weird, inconsequential name-drop? I took it as them ignoring the signs that something was happening. They were just nearly killed by a rogue oil tanker (again, because they were ignoring it until the last minute) and their reaction was let’s get Starbucks! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/10 "2023-12-15T02:43:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I should contact the Obama! All hail the Obama! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/11 "2023-12-15T03:20:22Z")
Pointless remake of the Mist where the monsters are technology. Waiting for some twist at the end of this movie is a waste of time because there isn’t any. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/12 "2023-12-15T03:50:14Z")
I love the continual conspiracy idiocy of thinking that The Powers That Be put obvious references in their media giving away their entire playbook. Go back to sleep, you dummies - you need to sleep last night’s drugs off. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/13 "2023-12-15T05:48:23Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > All hail the Obama! They are one, one is all! AHO! HAO! ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/14 "2023-12-15T06:18:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > All the people in the world disappear, and chatroom and Facebook and Xitter continue on because a large chunk of the “people” are bots. So years after humanity dies, bots keep posting memes at each other. And the few survivors can’t tell the difference! Maybe…they think others are alive because they are connecting with other survivors on social media, but when they get told they are “pedos” for the fifteenth time, they begin to realize. > **[Dead Internet theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory)** > > The dead Internet theory is an online conspiracy theory that asserts that the Internet now consists mainly of bot activity and automatically generated content that is manipulated by algorithmic curation, marginalizing organic human activity. Proponents of the theory believe these bots are created intentionally to help manipulate algorithms and boost search results in order to ultimately manipulate consumers. Further, some proponents of the theory accuse government agencies of using The theory h... ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/15 "2023-12-15T15:18:44Z")
That sounds exactly like what a bot would say! optimized for the right mindset. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/16 "2023-12-15T15:39:54Z")
If you were there and listening closely, fans were singing “Take Me Out To The Baal Game” after Obama threw out the first pitch. [![](https://gdb.voanews.com/76242351-00A3-4050-A199-E35CF9F728FE_w250_r0_s.jpg) ](https://gdb.voanews.com/76242351-00A3-4050-A199-E35CF9F728FE_w250_r0_s.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/17 "2023-12-15T16:01:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > They are one, one is all! AHO! HAO! Shouldn’t that be “BHO!”? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/18 "2023-12-15T20:41:24Z")
I did consider that the Starbucks moment was an ironic device; a banal comfort in the face of adversity. But there are better ways to convey that. It’s one of the few films where the trailer trumps the film. It seemed to me like a buffet of possibilities with a thudding meat pie of a resolution. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/19 "2023-12-15T22:15:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Shouldn’t that be “BHO!”? It’s all. All Hail Obama Hail All Obamas! Barack HUSSEIN Obama! See? The universe is trying to tell us something, but,…what? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619/20 "2023-12-16T00:13:09Z")
If it includes the atomic number of fluorine at least we’ll have learned the recall code to stop the hack-bots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-the-world-behind-produced-by-the-obamas-is-freaking-out-the-cters/994619.md?page=2)