# Movie scenes / plots that you've never understood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517 "2010-12-27T15:09:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/101 "2010-12-29T23:31:16Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > Recall in the film when Kenobi and Vader are dueling, Kenobi says something to the effect of “…only a master of evil, Darth” as if Darth is his name. One of the [seemingly infinite] missed opportunities in the prequels that could have made them better would have been to have Obi-Wan mock Anakin’s new name as a Sith. “What, you’ve become a Sith now? Gonna make everybody call you Darth Something-or-other? Well, c’mon ‘Darth,’ show me what you’ve got.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/102 "2010-12-29T23:44:01Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > (I have always hated that movie for that, in my humble opinion, most women would be more practical, that’s more of a man “GERONIMO” thing to do). [Because women are calm, rational, and morally superior, while men are testosterone-driven and violence crazed, eh?](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CloserToEarth) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/103 "2010-12-30T01:44:06Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Mulholland Drive. > > The whole damn thing. The first half of the movie is a dream fantasy of the blond girl, the second half is what happened just before the fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/104 "2010-12-30T02:01:30Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Just as a matter of curiosity…what kind of ending would you have liked? They make to Mexico and presumably live out their lives robbing liquor stores? Would you rather they were caught and sent to prison for 20 years? Well, that they believed the cop that was on their side, that they got their day in court and that they didn’t have to serve too much time (I dunno how much, IANAL or C) 😃 You know, a HAPPY ending. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/105 "2010-12-30T02:02:37Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Ah, so what you’re saying is that Obi Wan spoke the truth…from a certain point of view? Heh! Yes, exactly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/106 "2010-12-30T02:04:48Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > [Because women are calm, rational, and morally superior, while men are testosterone-driven and violence crazed, eh?](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CloserToEarth) 🙂 Well DUH! (well, you know except for THAT time of month) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/107 "2010-12-30T02:31:02Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > The first half of the movie is a dream fantasy of the blond girl, the second half is what happened just before the fantasy. Not necessarily. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/108 "2010-12-30T02:56:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > One of the [seemingly infinite] missed opportunities in the prequels that could have made them better would have been to have Obi-Wan mock Anakin’s new name as a Sith. “What, you’ve become a Sith now? Gonna make everybody call you Darth Something-or-other? Well, c’mon ‘Darth,’ show me what you’ve got.” You know what would make a good name for a Sith? Darth Mirth. Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/109 "2010-12-30T03:41:21Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Mission Impossible. I saw it twice and have no idea what happened. IMF agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) has decided to sell out. Max (Vanessa Redgrave) is buying. Jim – alias “Job” – is looking to sell a big fine list of covert operatives; call it the NOC list. Jim’s team has been assigned to bust a guy looking to steal the NOC list; Jim sensibly decides to sabotage that mission, which ain’t hard: he knows exactly where each teammate will be at what time, and so can easily kill off three or four of 'em to make sure the heist goes off just fine. (Jim also knows a former agent who can help with the dirty work, but never mind that now.) Point is, that’s going to look like an inside job – and so Jim decides to fake his own death while killing the others and framing teammate #5, master-of-disguise Ethan (Tom Cruise). Problem is, the IMF _ **already** _ suspected that an insider was up to no good; the whole _“bust a guy looking to steal the NOC list”_ mission was just a set-up meant to snare the would-be sell-out! Hell, it wasn’t even the real NOC list! Max thus doesn’t have the desired NOC list. Ethan can now clear his name by catching “Job”. Max can arrange a meet with “Job”, and will do so if Ethan can deliver that NOC list. To help steal that list, Ethan calls on a couple of former agents: computer genius Luther (Ving Rhames) and brawny wheelman Krieger (Jean Reno). Krieger, unfortunately, is Jim’s aforementioned dirty-work pal. Max, upon receiving the list, directs Ethan to “Job”. “Job” knows he’s coming, beats the crap out of him, and starts making his escape with help from Krieger. Ethan promptly kills both and clears his name along the way; the agency promptly reinstates Ethan along with Luther. One other point gets settled in the process: Jim’s wife, agent Claire (Emmanuelle Béart) _ **also** _ survived the sabotaged mission and has been tagging along with – and _ **sleeping** _ with – Ethan ever since. Maybe she thinks Jim is dead, and had nothing to do with the sabotage? Maybe she was in on it with Jim from the beginning? Ethan wants to know, and soon enough cons her to find out: yep, she was in on it with Jim. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/110 "2010-12-31T00:51:35Z")
Okay, there are two minor plot ideas I’ve never quite understood. The first one is that Marty’s parents meet and fall in love in HS in 1955, and Marty is a senior in HS in 1985, that’s 30 years, so if Marty is 18 at the time of the whole DeLorean adventure, that means his parents didn’t have him until about 12 years after they met and got married, I’m guessing his brother and sister are approximately 2-4 years older than he is, so that means they waited about 8-10 years to have their first child. That’s not a true “huh?” moment in the plot, but it is sort of unusual for people of that generation to wait that long to have kids. The first little one usually came along a year or two after marriage back then. The second one is this… Okay so at the end of the 1st movie when Marty comes back and finds things somewhat changed. He sees his parents coming home from a tennis match. His family is obviously affluent and successful in contrast to before the adventure where his dad worked for Biff. So the postman (or FedEx) comes and someone (Lorraine?) exclaims “look it’s your first book”! And the book cover art is basically what Marty had looked like when he’d appeared as “Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan”. So what was the source of George McFly’s wealth and success, if not that he’d become a best selling SciFi writer shortly after he interacts with Marty in his altered past? I mean, unless he was getting some serious advances for the past 30 years before his book finally came out? I suppose it could be that it’s some sort of anniversary print or something. But I’ve wondered that since I first saw the darned thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/111 "2010-12-31T00:56:24Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > The first one is that Marty’s parents meet and fall in love in HS in 1955, and Marty is a senior in HS in 1985, that’s 30 years, so if Marty is 18 at the time of the whole DeLorean adventure, that means his parents didn’t have him until about 12 years after they met and got married, I’m guessing his brother and sister are approximately 2-4 years older than he is His brother was played by Marc McClure, born in 1957. His sister was played by Wendie Jo Sperber, born in 1958. ---
**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 31, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/112 "2010-12-31T01:01:16Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > So the postman (or FedEx) comes and someone (Lorraine?) exclaims “look it’s your first book”! And the book cover art is basically what Marty had looked like when he’d appeared as “Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan”. So what was the source of George McFly’s wealth and success, if not that he’d become a best selling SciFi writer shortly after he interacts with Marty in his altered past? I mean, unless he was getting some serious advances for the past 30 years before his book finally came out? I suppose it could be that it’s some sort of anniversary print or something. But I’ve wondered that since I first saw the darned thing. I’m pretty sure she said “It’s your first novel.” He was a successful writer, it was just the first time he wrote a full length novel. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/113 "2010-12-31T01:07:15Z")
I had always assumed that it was either an anniversary edition or a rare first print edition from 1958. ---
**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 31, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/114 "2010-12-31T01:09:02Z")
Here’s the full line: Biff Tannen: Mr. McFly! Mr. McFly, this just arrived. Oh, Hi, Marty. I think it’s your new book. Lorraine Baines: Oh, Honey. Your first novel! Biff says “your new book,” implying he’s writen a book before. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/115 "2010-12-31T01:11:16Z")
I always assumed that, in the altered future, Marty’s dad had Biff’s job from before Marty went back in time. Biff seems to be subservient to Marty’s dad in the same way Marty’s dad had been subservient to Biff before the timeline was changed. Presumably, the better job carries a better paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/116 "2010-12-31T01:12:35Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > So the postman (or FedEx) comes and someone (Lorraine?) exclaims “look it’s your first book”! And the book cover art is basically what Marty had looked like when he’d appeared as “Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan”. So what was the source of George McFly’s wealth and success, if not that he’d become a best selling SciFi writer shortly after he interacts with Marty in his altered past? In our world, there was a guy who got _ **plenty** _ rich by writing about Darth Vader. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/117 "2010-12-31T01:22:25Z")
Not really something I fail to understand plot-wise, but Biff to all appearances is still a ne’er-do-well \*and \* Lorraine’s would-be rapist. And they keep him around the house? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/118 "2010-12-31T01:28:40Z")
Back to the Future is on right now: Biff: Mr. Mcfly, it’s your new book! Wife: it’s your first novel! Sounds like he’s written before, but this was his first novel. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/119 "2010-12-31T01:29:34Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > His brother was played by Marc McClure, born in 1957. His sister was played by Wendie Jo Sperber, born in 1958. The brother and sister characters were supposed to have been born in 1957 and 1958, or the actors were? Even if it’s the characters, that still means there was quite a space of time between when the middle child was born and when Marty finally came along. Still kind of unusual for back then. > [@](#): > > Here’s the full line: > > Biff Tannen: Mr. McFly! Mr. McFly, this just arrived. Oh, Hi, Marty. I think it’s your new book. > Lorraine Baines: Oh, Honey. Your first novel! > > Biff says “your new book,” implying he’s writen a book before. Right, so which is it? His new book as Biff says? Or his FIRST one as Lorraine says? And did his wealth and success come from having been a writer for the previous 30 some odd years, or was it, as **Miller** explains that he’d been successful being in whatever company he and Biff work for, and has (we’re supposed to assume I guess) in the meantime also been writing his novel. If so, what took him so long? After all the Darth Vader incident had taken place 30 years before. Oh yeah, and I’ve watched this I don’t know how many times, but I just thought about another one (and this one is just me missing wherever it’s been shown in the movie), in the first movie, when Marty gets back to the mall, the name is the “Lone Pine” instead of Twin Pines mall. They never really explain it, but is it because Marty crashes through that farmer’s field? I’m assuming he hit the second tree and smashed it, but I don’t remember seeing where the original Twin Pines were supposed to have been. ---
**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 31, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517/120 "2010-12-31T01:36:22Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Right, so which is it? His new book as Biff says? Or his FIRST one as Lorraine says? First _novel,_ not his first book. I always imagined him writing non-fiction or books of short stories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-plots-that-youve-never-understood/565517.md?page=7)