# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 110
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2181 "2015-01-07T15:46:17Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > I don’t know that that’s… I mean there’s a resemblance, but I’m not sure it’s a thing. > > It’s at least as relevant that she was a GABBER. But I think they were just going for a general nonsense-y sort of connotation (jibber jabber, babbler, etc.) I meant that “Goober” was a (likely) spoof of “Gibbler,” not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2182 "2015-01-08T15:20:01Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > I meant that “Goober” was a (likely) spoof of “Gibbler,” not the other way around. Or it could be a reference to the Andy Griffith Show character. Why did they call him Goober anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2183 "2015-01-08T15:36:10Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Or it could be a reference to the Andy Griffith Show character. Why did they call him Goober anyway? “Goober” is Southern slang for “peanut.” How common it is as a nickname, I’m not sure. Was that supposed to be the character’s real name? His cousin was Gomer, so it’s not out of the question that the same family could name someone Goober. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2184 "2015-01-09T16:02:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Goober” is Southern slang for “peanut.” How common it is as a nickname, I’m not sure. Was that supposed to be the character’s real name? His cousin was Gomer, so it’s not out of the question that the same family could name someone Goober. Believe it or not Gomer is actually a Biblical name so it’s not totally beyond the realms of belief that somebody might name their kid that. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2185 "2015-01-09T16:21:09Z")
I always assumed that “Goober” was a nickname, possibly chosen _because_ his cousin was named “Gomer” (a real name, as pointed out). It should be noted that Goober replaced Gomer when the latter went off to his own TV series as a Marine. TV people like to keep names similar, so the audience (who they assume is of low intelligence) won’t be confused. In much the same way, Festus (Ken Curtis) essentially replaced Chester (Dennis Weaver) on **Gunsmoke** ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2186 "2015-01-09T23:27:49Z")
Heh. When my dad joined the Washington State Patrol in … 1969(?), he was promptly nicknamed “Gomer”, as he had just left the USMC. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2187 "2015-01-10T02:31:33Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Believe it or not Gomer is actually a Biblical name so it’s not totally beyond the realms of belief that somebody might name their kid that. I knew Gomer was a real name. Still wacky to name your kid that. If you want to go biblical, why not John or Mark? But Gomer? If he’d had a sister, I wonder if her name would have been Bathsheba. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2188 "2015-01-10T03:31:27Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > It just occurred to me that the “Rip” in Rip Van Winkle means “Rest In Peace”. Rip is a typical Dutch name of the period. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2189 "2015-01-10T06:33:31Z")
I kept hearing a song on the radio about getting drunk and I thought one of the lyrics was “I don’t care if you wear a condom” and as the singer is male I was like wow progressive but dangerous. The actual lyric is “I don’t care if I ever come down” :smack: In my defense the singers accent is thick as molasses. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2190 "2015-01-10T12:50:01Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Believe it or not Gomer is actually a Biblical name so it’s not totally beyond the realms of belief that somebody might name their kid that. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I knew Gomer was a real name. Still wacky to name your kid that. If you want to go biblical, why not John or Mark? But Gomer? If he’d had a sister, I wonder if her name would have been Bathsheba. People’s bestowing Biblical names on their kids can at times get very outlandish, in both fact and fiction – sometimes with unintended humour. I remember reading a thriller set in South Africa, where one of the black characters is a fellow called Shishak Twala (“Shack” to his friends). He explains his odd name thus: “My dad was a bible-puncher, and he gave all us kids names from the scriptures. When I came along, though, he got a bit mixed-up, and called me after King Shishak, who’s a bad guy in the Old Testament.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2191 "2015-01-10T13:09:21Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I enjoyed the music of Lou Reed and David Bowie for years before realizing that anything and everything is about heroin. Huh. I never knew that, but from that angle _Perfect Day_ makes more sense… and takes quite a darker meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2192 "2015-01-10T14:17:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Cracked just reported one I had missed. The title sequence of _Watchmen_ is a series of scenes showing the history of the superhero characters. And the first scene show the original Night Owl punching a mugger and saving the mugger’s intended victims. > > But I hadn’t realized that if you look at all of the little clues in the scene, you’ll realize the people being saved are Thomas and Martha Wayne - Bruce Wayne’s parents. And it was their death that inspired their son to become Batman. Another cute tidbit from that sequence : in the part where the Crimebusters are shown celebrating Sally Jupiter’s retirement & pregnancy, the table and guests are set in an obvious parallel of Da Vinci’s _Last Supper_… with The Comedia as Judas Iscariot. Which works on two levels : he betrayed Sally/Jesus’ trust on a personal level, \*and \*he sold out the masks to go and work for the Romans/the government ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2193 "2015-01-10T14:49:16Z")
An episode of Cold Case that revolved around a murder in a circus used music from the Doors’ album Strange Days. The one with [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Days#mediaviewer/File:AlbumStrangeDays.jpg) cover. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2194 "2015-01-10T14:54:23Z")
Judge Smails clerk in _Caddyshack_ was named Chuck Schick. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2195 "2015-01-10T15:02:38Z")
I just realized that Point Break was directed by Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow. For some reason I always assumed it was directed by Tony Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2196 "2015-01-10T19:41:03Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Which works on two levels : he betrayed Sally/Jesus’ trust on a personal level, \*and \*he sold out the masks to go and work for the Romans/the government The Comedian didn’t sell out anybody to go work for the government in Viet Nam. It was an option and he took it. Dr. Manhattan was there, too. Was that when the laws were enacted to make being a costumed vigilante illegal? I don’t think the Comedian had anything to do with that. He just took the paycheck available, the one that let him do what he wanted. He didn’t turn anybody in or anything. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2197 "2015-01-31T12:23:33Z")
**Short Version** When I first watched the film Mad Max I concluded, after initially suffering losses, Max fights the bad guys and, after killing them all, “wins" at the end of the film. Later I realised the film is more of the Greek Tragedy as it shows Max progressively losing everything. **Long Version** At the start of the film, Max has a wife and child. Max starts the film with a close friend, the Goose. Max is initially a respected Main Force Patrol (Police) officer who, within the admittedly lax legislature, upholds the law and protects the collapsing community. After his family and friends are murdered, after he has failed to protect his local community, after law abiding society appears to have totally collapsed, after his local MFP appears to have been disbanded (although by then he has already resigned) he does once more don his MFP leather uniform. He does climb into the V8 Pursuit Special and he does hunt down and kill the bad guys. Arguably, under the previously mentioned ‘loose’ standards of justice, quasi-legally albeit now as a civilian vigilante. However - **SPOILER ALERT** - when he captures Johnny the Boy, the final surviving bad guy, and basically tortures him to death Max has become nothing more than a cold blooded, sadistic murderer. He’s no better than, he’s no different to the feral scum he once devoted himself to fighting. That isn’t winning, that’s when he has lost everything he once held dear or was once important to him. Viewed that way it makes the follow up film, Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), a tale of redemption as he carries out an act of sacrifice for others. (Even though the sacrifice is partly a deception - he’s been duped as to the contents of the tanker he volunteers to drive.) The third film, Beyond the Thunderdome, is best left forgotten. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2198 "2015-01-31T13:06:34Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > Adam Ant…adamant :smack: [Adam Adamant Lives! - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Adamant_Lives)! ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2199 "2015-02-03T07:24:15Z")
I either never paid attention to, or forgot that the most well known groundhog checking its shadow was named Punxsutawney Phil. After hearing its name today, I finally got the [Conan O’Brien](https://www.google.com/webhp?complete=0&hl=en#q=Punxsutawney+dr+phil&safe=off&complete=0&hl=en&tbm=vid) skits. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2200 "2015-02-03T07:37:29Z")
It took me ages to realize that KITT stood for Knight Industries Two Thousand. Admittedly, I was only about eight at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=109) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=111)