# 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:** 149
**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:** [April 2, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2962 "2018-04-02T20:46:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Indeed he does: > [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/96/45/719645edf82b89a204411afe20e38931.jpg](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/96/45/719645edf82b89a204411afe20e38931.jpg) Are those his hands? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2963 "2018-04-02T21:55:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Are those his hands? :dubious: Seeing as he’s called the Suicide King, I would say yes. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2964 "2018-04-03T03:15:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The title of the anti-war movie _ **The King of Hearts** _ is a reference to the only king in a deck of cards who doesn’t hold a sword. Neither does the King of Diamonds ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2965 "2018-04-03T04:45:09Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Neither does the King of Diamonds Who holds a axe, instead. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2966 "2018-04-06T03:30:43Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’m not sure whether this counts, but I’m erring on the side of “yeah”. > > So: you know how a grocery store has meat and milk and fruits and bread? But if we’re talking about a truly colossal Wal-Mart, then it’s _also_ a sporting-goods store, with bats and balls and bullets and bicycles; and pharmacists work there, so it’s a fully-stocked drug store as well as a shoe store; and you can buy _televisions_ there, and you can buy _jewelry_ there, and you can buy _furniture_ there, and et cetera. Halloween costumes! Mystery novels! Power tools! Cell phones! Blue jeans! > > So I started hearing off-hand references in the media to The Internet Of Things… Our Walmart has a much bigger sporting goods, etc section than grocery. It’s only the really big stores that have full on fully stocked grocery sections including produce/meat counters, etc. This smaller one, closest to me, only has stuff like chips/snacks/drinks/some other pre-packaged stuff, and after a remodel a few years back frozen stuff and a TINY produce aisle (not even a full section). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2967 "2018-04-06T03:32:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Are those his hands? :dubious: Yes. Sometimes he’s called the suicidal king due to how he’s stabbing himself in the head. edit: sorry didn’t see it was already mentioned. My bad, my bad. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2968 "2018-04-10T13:19:19Z")
As I posted in the “Celebrities whose names join phonetically in the middle” thread: Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lechter both count. And their phonetic “S” and “L” form the initials of the most famous book written about them: Silence of the Lambs. I wonder if that was inadvertent or deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2969 "2018-04-10T18:10:29Z")
Sheldon Cooper, among his many character traits, sure is a braggart when it comes to his own skills and qualifications. I mean he brags like a stereotypical … well, that is a Texan stereotype. Huh. He’s Texan, and he brags, about his physics skills. Its not just his manifestation of Asperger’s. He grew up, surrounded by men bragging on their sports skills, or gun collection, or monster truck. He grew up believing this is how to behave. It has nothing to do with his anti-social tendencies, such male behavior is perfectly expected and acceptable in Texas – apparently even if you’re a physicist. Its Howard, Leonard and Raj who can’t behave in that way. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2970 "2018-04-11T02:10:21Z")
Something I never realized until fairly recently about this Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quote: > [@](#): > > “Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. > > The argument goes something like this: “I refuse to prove that I exist,'” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.” > > “But,” says Man, “The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.” > > “Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. > > “Oh, that was easy,” says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.” For literally decades I thought that was an absurdist humor scenario where the guy was run over by a herd of zebras. Only recently did I find out it’s a term originating in Britain for [a type of crosswalk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_crossing). I still think the “literally run over by zebras” idea is funnier, though. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2971 "2018-04-14T05:22:55Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Sheldon Cooper, among his many character traits, sure is a braggart when it comes to his own skills and qualifications. I mean he brags like a stereotypical … well, that is a Texan stereotype. > > Huh. He’s Texan, and he brags, about his physics skills. Its not just his manifestation of Asperger’s. He grew up, surrounded by men bragging on their sports skills, or gun collection, or monster truck. He grew up believing this is how to behave. It has nothing to do with his anti-social tendencies, such male behavior is perfectly expected and acceptable in Texas – apparently even if you’re a physicist. > > Its Howard, Leonard and Raj who can’t behave in that way. Nnnnnnnyyyeeah, well, I grew up in Texas, and while I saw plenty of troglodyte bragging, I never saw a nerd act like that. I think it’s his anti-social whatever-it-is. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2972 "2018-04-14T13:29:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Something I never realized until fairly recently about this Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quote: > > For literally decades I thought that was an absurdist humor scenario where the guy was run over by a herd of zebras. Only recently did I find out it’s a term originating in Britain for [a type of crosswalk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_crossing). Me, too! ---
**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:** [April 14, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2973 "2018-04-14T13:46:47Z")
EDIT: I think I misunderstood what you were getting at, so please disregard. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > As I posted in the “Celebrities whose names join phonetically in the middle” thread: > > Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lechter both count. And their phonetic “S” and “L” form the initials of the most famous book written about them: Silence of the Lambs. > > I wonder if that was inadvertent or deliberate. Hannibal Lechter was created for the book _Red Dragon_, so I’m guessing inadvertent. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2974 "2018-04-15T19:28:00Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Something I never realized until fairly recently about this Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quote: > > For literally decades I thought that was an absurdist humor scenario where the guy was run over by a herd of zebras. Only recently did I find out it’s a term originating in Britain for [a type of crosswalk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_crossing). > > I still think the “literally run over by zebras” idea is funnier, though. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > Me, too! Similar to Ford Prefect being the make and model of a car sold in Britain but not the US, another joke that most Brits understood but not most Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2975 "2018-04-15T19:38:44Z")
I suppose this falls under the heading of general movie errors, but I was watching _Goldeneye_ last night. At the very beginning, Bond bungee jumps off a dam to infiltrate a chemical weapons facility at its base. Later, when he’s escaping, the facility is high up on a mountainside and even has a runway that he rides a motorcycle off in order to board a plane in mid air. As he flies away the facility blows up, and there’s not a dam in sight. Furthermore, Bond meets up with 006 inside the factory. Why? If you’ve got a way to sneak in, have both agents use it. Having them take different routes to infiltrate the factory just doubles the chance of someone getting caught. Interesting movie; Brosnan’s first time as Bond, and some nice moments, but egregiously stupid sometimes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2976 "2018-04-15T22:03:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I suppose this falls under the heading of general movie errors, but I was watching _Goldeneye_ last night. At the very beginning, Bond bungee jumps off a dam to infiltrate a chemical weapons facility at its base. Later, when he’s escaping, the facility is high up on a mountainside and even has a runway that he rides a motorcycle off in order to board a plane in mid air. As he flies away the facility blows up, and there’s not a dam in sight. > > Furthermore, Bond meets up with 006 inside the factory. Why? If you’ve got a way to sneak in, have both agents use it. Having them take different routes to infiltrate the factory just doubles the chance of someone getting caught. > > Interesting movie; Brosnan’s first time as Bond, and some nice moments, but egregiously stupid sometimes, too. Perhaps the dumbest scene is the very final one. Bond and the girl are in a clearing in the woods/jungle and Joe Don Baker’s character (an American intelligence agent) walks in and talks to them. He shouts a command out and a bunch of Marines pop up all around them in the clearing, having been camouflaged and hiding in the grass. Okay, fine, whatever. But there are also three helicopters that drop immediately into sight. Apparently they were hovering just above the view of the camera, but were invisible (and inaudible!) to Bond and the girl until they descended an extra 10 feet toward the ground. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2977 "2018-04-15T22:20:33Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Similar to Ford Prefect being the make and model of a car sold in Britain but not the US, another joke that most Brits understood but not most Americans. I was unaware that too. Incidentally, what was the Ford Prefect’s reputation in the UK?" If it was a lemon like the infamous Ford Edsel, that would add another level of humor that most Americans wouldn’t get. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2978 "2018-04-15T23:17:39Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Perhaps the dumbest scene is the very final one. Bond and the girl are in a clearing in the woods/jungle and Joe Don Baker’s character (an American intelligence agent) walks in and talks to them. He shouts a command out and a bunch of Marines pop up all around them in the clearing, having been camouflaged and hiding in the grass. Okay, fine, whatever. But there are also three helicopters that drop immediately into sight. Apparently they were hovering just above the view of the camera, but were invisible (and inaudible!) to Bond and the girl until they descended an extra 10 feet toward the ground. I noticed that before, as well. The IMDb trivia pages for the Bond films have lists of the specific vehicles used in each movie. I went through them once and checked, and there were only two of the movies (I think) that didn’t have a helicopter in them at some point. For such a rare form of transportation it seems absolutely vital in the world of international espionage. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2979 "2018-04-16T19:09:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Similar to Ford Prefect being the make and model of a car sold in Britain but not the US, another joke that most Brits understood but not most Americans. Tom Baker’s Doctor rode around in a 1910 Stutz Bearcat. You would have to be a real auto enthusiast to recognize it. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2980 "2018-04-16T23:46:51Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I was unaware that too. Incidentally, what was the Ford Prefect’s reputation in the UK?" If it was a lemon like the infamous Ford Edsel, that would add another level of humor that most Americans wouldn’t get. No, it wasn’t really known as a lemon. You know that sort of small to mid-sized family car that was seen as pretty run-of-the-mill when it was launched, but over time develops a kind of nostalgic glow, and comes to epitomise a particular period? It wasn’t that either. The Ford Prefect was a dull car that appeared to have been designed to be adequate, and by the time Hitchhikers was first broadcast, the only people who remembered it had ever existed were those who’d owned one. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/2981 "2018-04-17T00:15:45Z")
That’s weird, I didn’t know what a Ford Prefect looked like (although I may have been vaguely aware that it was automobile-related), but looking at it on wikipedia it [_does_ seem to epitomize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect#/media/File:Ford_Prefect_ca_1948.jpg) 1940s and 50s England to me. For a moment I thought that it was that it may be a resemblance to a black cab, but up on looking at pictures of _those_, they seem more different from the image I had in mind, not more similar. I wonder if anyone knows why this looks so familiar? Were they perhaps in a lot of movies since they were cheap and recognizable? I tried again, google imaging for “1940s/1950s black car” to see if maybe there were a lot of cars that looked like the Prefect from around the globe, and they all look different too. [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=148) [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=150)