# Movies with WTF?!? moments you still can't figure out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 15, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861 "2026-10-15T17:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/101 "2026-10-21T17:49:03Z")
I’m going to complain at some length about a scene that IMO slightly mars an otherwise flawless movie. It’s the scene in _Moonstruck_ when Cher comes home from her makeover to an empty house, and moons around trying on her purchases while sultry, smoky 80s saxophone music plays. It starts at about the 2:00 mark of this clip: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LMYry0ejxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LMYry0ejxk) This scene is fine, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t belong in this movie. Most jarringly, the music. If the brilliant composer Dick Hyman wrote this, I hope it was under protest, because literally every other piece of music in the movie is classic and timeless, and this one is fully bound in the 1980s. It might as well be _Baker Street_. Good song, but it’s not Dean Martin or _La Boheme_. In this context, it sounds like a commercial in the middle of an opera. It’s also (I think) literally the only solo scene by any character. This movie is obviously about family, and love. Solo scenes, especially as conspicuous as this one, just don’t fit into the theme. In a different movie I wouldn’t complain about it. It’s not a big deal. But _Moonstruck_ is unbelievably thematically tight. Every scene, every line, every bit of incidental music, it’s all seamlessly stitched. Cher by herself with smoky saxophone seems to belong in another movie, a perfectly fine movie no doubt, but not this one. Every time I come to it, it’s a WTF?!? moment for me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/102 "2026-10-21T18:41:25Z")
I;m surprised that no one’s brought up the surreal Boat Ride from the 1971 _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. Or maybe people today think the scene is normal, after all > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB401RfGMlM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB401RfGMlM) For my part I’m still puzzled about the scene in _Alien_ (1979) where Ashe tries to gag Ripley with a rolled-up magazine (not a spoon). I didn’t understand the scene back when it first came out and I’m still puzzled by it. Only now I wonder “Why the hell do they have a paper magazine in board a space ship?” Learning that Ashe is a robot/android doesn’t help explain it one bit. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syyXdBg9BIc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syyXdBg9BIc) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/103 "2026-10-21T18:57:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I;m surprised that no one’s brought up the surreal Boat Ride from the 1971 _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. Or maybe people today think the scene is normal, after all I don’t think it was any more WTF than the rest of the movie. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/104 "2026-10-21T18:59:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > where Ashe tries to gag Ripley with a rolled-up magazine (not a spoon). I didn’t understand the scene back when it first came out and I’m still puzzled by it. Indeed! When he could just strangle her, bash her head in, anything. It was so…weird. It probably wouldn’t even work. (it didn’t, actually…) Frankly, I think it is unresolved sexual hangups by Scott, possibly with rape fantasies. And deep seated misogyny. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/105 "2026-10-21T19:15:58Z")
Could it just add to the alien feeling of everything? What Ash is doing doesn’t make sense because he isn’t human. It would seem like a good idea to something that isn’t human. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/106 "2026-10-21T19:23:21Z")
I thought it was a reference/callback to the facehugger shoving its ovipositor down Kane’s throat. With the implication that Ash was closer to the Alien than he was to a human. And they had magazines on the ship because it was an SF movie from the early 80s, so they still had magazines. Hell, they were all smoking cigarettes on board too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/107 "2026-10-21T19:32:07Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid** - Fantastic film, I’ve seen it many times and still have no idea what the bike scene and musical number is all about. To show Sundance and Etty- along with Butch, had a life besides robbing trains and banks. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > For my part I’m still puzzled about the scene in _Alien_ (1979) where Ashe tries to gag Ripley with a rolled-up magazine (not a spoon). I didn’t understand the scene back when it first came out and I’m still puzzled by it. Only now I wonder “Why the hell do they have a paper magazine in board a space ship?” Because SF often assumes Humans in the future will do things like we do. Many SF books and stories from the 1950s etc assume everyone will smoke in space (and there was even a fairly recent TV series that showed that) even though polluting the air in a closed system is clearly ridiculous. (Even today, astronauts do not/rarely get beans to eat, for gassy reasons) The first commercial handheld e-readers did not come out until the late 1990s, but that reading by computer was obviously on the way. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/108 "2026-10-21T19:56:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Sitnam](#): > > > > **Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid** - Fantastic film, I’ve seen it many times and still have no idea what the bike scene and musical number is all about. > > To show Sundance and Etty- along with Butch, had a life besides robbing trains and banks. And as a symbol of creeping modernity coming for the Wild West outlaw lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/109 "2026-10-21T19:57:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I came into the middle of the film while my wife was watching it. Seemed like a regular old mystery police procedural with Cage looking for his daughter on some creepy island. Then like the last 30 minutes or so it goes completely off the rails. Cage roundhouse kicking Leelee Sobieski in the stomach. Cage punching a woman in a bear suit. Cage in a bear suit punching women. Cage brandishing his service pistol stealing bicycles. And Cage finally meeting his end with THE BEES!!! NOO!! NOT THE BEES!!! You must not be familiar with Nicholas Cage 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/110 "2026-10-21T19:59:34Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > And as a symbol of creeping modernity coming for the Wild West outlaw lifestyle. I can buy that. Showing that robbing trains as a lifestyle is going away also. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/111 "2026-10-21T20:04:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Who is that and what is that from? OK this is a WTF moment for me. You don’t recognize Michael Jackson / Thriller ?!? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/112 "2026-10-21T20:07:41Z")
It was about trying to win an Oscar for best song. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/113 "2026-10-21T20:31:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@CalMeacham](#): > > > > I;m surprised that no one’s brought up the surreal Boat Ride from the 1971 _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. Or maybe people today think the scene is normal, after all > > I don’t think it was any more WTF than the rest of the movie. Disagree. It’s definitely a WTF moment, even in comparison to the rest of the movie. I like that movie, expect for that scene. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/114 "2026-10-21T20:32:07Z")
In fairness to the filmmakers, that scene does appear in the book (unlike others I could name). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/115 "2026-10-21T20:54:44Z")
The Two Towers Frodo, in some sort of trance as a result of carrying the ring, offers it up to a Nazgul who is hovering above. Not long after this, Faramir agrees to release Frodo and Sam as they continue their quest on towards Mordor. Wait, isn’t Frodo a huge risk now? We know he’ll offer the rings up to the Nazgul, which is the same as handing them to Sauron himself. Why would Faramir let him go? Why does Sam not speak up at this point? Even Gollum/Smeagol should be worried at this point. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/116 "2026-10-21T22:26:46Z")
I think that’s a risk for anyone who holds the Ring. The Ring serves Sauron, and by extension the Nazgul. So I imagine anyone in possession of the Ring wouldn’t be able to resist handing it over if they were in close proximity. The main risk of the Ring and why only someone like Frodo could bear it was thinking that you could safely wield it, even in self defense or to do good. The more you use it, the more it would twist your intentions to serve Sauron. A perfect example is Daenerys Targaryen in GoT. Her “sudden” heel-change to madness in the final season wasn’t the WTF that people seem to believe it was. Between her family history of mental illness and her behavior in prior seasons, she is a perfect example of the sort of “I love peace with all my heart and don’t care how many people I have to kill to obtain it” behavior the Ring would induce in whoever wields it. A bigger LoTR WTF moment was Legolas’s Tony Hawk moves and gymnastics in the heat of battle. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/117 "2026-10-21T22:52:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A perfect example is Daenerys Targaryen in GoT. Her “sudden” heel-change to madness in the final season wasn’t the WTF that people seem to believe it was. Between her family history of mental illness and her behavior in prior seasons, she is a perfect example of the sort of “I love peace with all my heart and don’t care how many people I have to kill to obtain it” behavior the Ring would induce in whoever wields it. I don’t mind she was insane. I mind how quickly it happened. I think the books, which are never coming, would have this occur over a much longer timeframe/page-count. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/118 "2026-10-21T23:20:16Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid** - Fantastic film, I’ve seen it many times and still have no idea what the bike scene and musical number is all about. The first time I saw the movie that whole scene had been edit out for some reason so my WTF moment was was when they were departing for Bolivia Butch throws the bicycle aside with, “The future’s all yours, you lousy bicycles!” > [@DrDeth](#): > > Many SF books and stories from the 1950s etc assume everyone will smoke in space (and there was even a fairly recent TV series that showed that) even though polluting the air in a closed system is clearly ridiculous. In the manga and anime [_Planetes_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetes) one of the characters, Fee Carmichael, has a bad smoking habit. When the designated smoking rooms on the station are closed down due to terrorists planting a bomb in one she commandeers one of the hard shell space suits as her “smoker’s seat.” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/119 "2026-10-21T23:34:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > For my part I’m still puzzled about the scene in _Alien_ (1979) where Ashe tries to gag Ripley with a rolled-up magazine (not a spoon). I didn’t understand the scene back when it first came out and I’m still puzzled by it. The A2 models were always a bit…twitchy. I generally think of Ash’s choice of magazine stemming from a lack of programming for combat. But then there’s the Freudian subtext of trying to shove a phallic object down Ripley’s throat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/120 "2026-10-22T00:58:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because SF often assumes Humans in the future will do things like we do. Many SF books and stories from the 1950s etc assume everyone will smoke in space (and there was even a fairly recent TV series that showed that) even though polluting the air in a closed system is clearly ridiculous. Yeah, but we had examples of non-magazine futures, as in Star Trek. As for the cigarettes, the ship was a fereakin’ enormous ore-hauler with way too much oxygenated space. Befouling the air was the least of their worries. I note, by the way, that the astronauts in **It! The Terror from Beyond Space** – the movie **Alien** shamelessly ripped off – also smoked cigarettes ojn board. And they had a lot less air volume than the _Nostromo_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861.md?page=7)