# my own private IDAHO **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554 "2001-11-15T16:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WH1TE-T1GERESS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/48db29/32.png) [@WH1TE-T1GERESS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WH1TE-T1GERESS)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/1 "2001-11-15T16:41:59Z")
Has anyone seen this movie?? I watched it last night and thought it was brilliant ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/2 "2001-11-15T17:29:18Z")
**Moderator’s Notes:** This thread belongs in our Café Society forum. If you read the front page of the message board, you will see descriptions of proper content for each of our forums. The blurb for Café Society says “Our salon for art, drama, literature, movies, music – all the artistic disciplines – if it’s about art or entertainment, it goes here.” Couldn’t be clearer. Please familiarize yourself with the others. This is the second thread of yours in two days that I’ve had to move. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Mogwei22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mogwei22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogwei22)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/3 "2001-11-15T18:24:32Z")
“It looks like a fucked up face” “Four portions of french fries…very crisy” It’s loosely based on one of Shakespeare’s Henrys…ack…can’t remember which one. I miss River Phoenix. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/4 "2001-11-15T19:06:32Z")
Henry IV, Part I. The first time I saw this movie, I was flipping channels and hit upon the sex scene - just the blanket shaking. I was betting he was in there by himself. Then the scene went on, and I thought “Holy Shit, is that Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix?” The second time I saw it, my high school English teacher played one of the Henry parts for my class. It was quite an interesting contrast. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/5 "2002-05-12T17:41:18Z")
- - - Okay, I am reviving this thread because I asked once about the B-52’s song and nobody at the time even ventured a guess: what the hell does it mean to have “your own private Idaho”? ~ - I don’t know if I ever saw the movie or not, so I don’t know if there’s any obvious connection between the two… - DougC ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/6 "2002-05-12T17:46:10Z")
I always believed it meant a big open space all to yourself, with nobody else around. Kind of a back-to-nature privacy fantasy, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-own-private-idaho/93554/7 "2002-05-12T22:58:33Z")
Actually, I think being in “your own private idaho” is a euphemism for being in a “state” of depression/angst/loneliness. That’s what the lyrics seem to say, anyway. It starts out by saying “beware of the pool… blue bottomles pool…” The bottomless whirlpool is what’s trapping the person in their present “state.” > [@](#): > > You’re living in your own private Idaho > Where do I go from here to a better state than this? and > [@](#): > > Get out of the state! Get out of the state you’re in! Better beware… At least, that’s my interpretation. Kind of a pun on the word “state.”