# 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:** 160
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3182 "2019-01-18T23:55:37Z")
DopeR MMM, not DopeD! :smack: Sorry, **MMM** ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3183 "2019-01-19T00:22:01Z")
^ Watch it; he always shouts out something obscene! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3184 "2019-01-19T03:06:39Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I just realized that the character of Olson Johnson in “Blazing Saddles” is a reference to the comedy team of [Olsen and Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsen_and_Johnson). And [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9P2B7NUPfM) has a reference to [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongo_Santamar%C3%ADa). (The scene also contains some NSFW offensive language.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3185 "2019-01-19T03:24:53Z")
I can’t say I realized this one but I just learned something about [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D8PAGelN8) from _The Wizard of Oz_ that I hadn’t known. As I think most people know, the early parts of the movie that were set in Kansas were filmed in sepia monochrome. The movie then switched to technicolor when Dorothy arrived in Oz. And there’s the shot where she opens the door of her house and reveals Oz in all its color. What I just learned is that they filmed that shot in technicolor. They decided it would be simpler than trying to combine the two color schemes into a single shot. So they created a special set with everything painted in shades in sepia so it would look like monochrome even though it was being filmed in full color. And how did they get Dorothy to go from sepia to technicolor in the single shot? They used two Dorothys. The Dorothy we see inside the house is Bobbie Koshay, Judy Garland’s stand-in. She was dressed in a sepia costume and done up in sepia make-up. Judy Garland was wearing her regular Dorothy costume and standing just behind Koshay off camera. When Koshay opened the door and the camera pulled in close, Garland stepped around Koshay and into the shot to walk outside. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3186 "2019-01-19T12:04:05Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I was listening to Abbey Road for the 1,435,277th time, and while the song “Mean Mister Mustard” played, I was thinking of our **Mean Mister Mustard** , and heard the line, “his sister Pam works in a shop…” I was idly wondering if the Doped MMM has a sister named Pam, when the album sequed to the next song, “Polythene Pam.” And for the first time I realized that Polythene Pam is Mean Mister Mustard’s sister. Never made the connection before! I do have sisters, but no Pams. I \*have \*used [Pam](https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/pam-no-stick-cooking-spray/ID=prod367295-product) before, though. And I have never made the Polythene Pam connection either. 🙂 mmm ---
**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:** [January 19, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3187 "2019-01-19T13:16:55Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Speaking of _The Watchmen_, I was just re-watching the movie and noticed that Ozymandias had a damaged but complete version of the statue of Ramses II referenced in Percy Shelley’s poem. I’d always wondered about why Adrian Veidt selected the name Ozymandias; considering that the poem has as a theme how fleeting are the works of man, and Adrian’s ego and ambition seem not to recognize any limitation. > > I decided Adrian comes from an alternate universe where the statue of Ramses II was not destroyed as in our universe where no trace of it remains but survived. Now the name makes sense. The statue of Ramses II survived for more than 3,000 years. Not too shabby. I may have been missing something all this time, but: right here in the real world of our universe, wasn’t a shattered statue of that pharaoh right next to _another_ statue of the same guy, which survived in not-too-shabby fashion? ---
**Author:** ![Midnight\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Midnight\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Midnight_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3188 "2019-01-19T19:01:44Z")
During his ride in the helicopter at the beginning of the film, Dr. Grant can’t get his seatbelt to work. He has two “male” ends. He makes them work anyway, being creative and simply tying them together. And although I’ve seen the film many times, it never occurred to me that this was a reference to how later the all-female population of dinosaurs “find a way” (to breed). Somehow I just (no pun intended) never connected the two things. ---
**Author:** ![Midnight\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Midnight\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Midnight_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3189 "2019-01-19T19:04:18Z")
Also, in “The Social Network,” the character played by Justin Timberlake gets his female friend’s attention by telling her there’s a snake in the room. (This is one of his character’s first scenes in the film.) She runs in and he tells her he’s lying. But of course, he isn’t lying. HE is the snake, as the story later establishes. I never made the connection until someone pointed it out to me. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3190 "2019-01-20T17:20:08Z")
Also Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips” ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3191 "2019-01-20T19:11:23Z")
> [@Midnight\_Shadow](#): > > During his ride in the helicopter at the beginning of the film, Dr. Grant can’t get his seatbelt to work. He has two “male” ends. He makes them work anyway, being creative and simply tying them together. And although I’ve seen the film many times, it never occurred to me that this was a reference to how later the all-female population of dinosaurs “find a way” (to breed). Somehow I just (no pun intended) never connected the two things. It’s two “female” ends that Dr Grant ties together. You can check YouTube video to confirm this. From this thread, nearly one decade ago now, Post #343: > [@Rhodes](#): > > In \*Jurassic Park \*(the movie), Dr Grant struggles with the helicopter’s seat belt. When he realizes he has two female connectors, he ties them together. It took me a while to see that this was foreshadowing how the all-female dino population would find a way to hook up and breed. I never realized it myself until I read this same thread ten years ago. That’s why I still remember the post. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3192 "2019-01-21T02:57:26Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Also Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips” This one may not be as obvious as you seem to think it is. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3193 "2019-01-24T22:17:33Z")
Watched Carson semi-regularly from ca. 1974-ca. 1992. No idea how many times I’ve seen Carnac the Magnificent come out and trip over the step up to the desk. It was only recently that it occurred to me that this happens just after he’s introduced as “all-seeing.” ---
**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 25, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3194 "2019-01-25T01:14:36Z")
After seeing “The Chinese Woman” on _ **Seinfeld** _ for the umpteenth time, I realized that Noreen was contemplating suicide at the end because she was afraid she was pregnant with Kramer’s child. :eek: Why she was rescued by Frank Costanza’s lawyer of all people still escapes me. 😕 ---
**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 25, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3195 "2019-01-25T01:22:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > After seeing “The Chinese Woman” on _ **Seinfeld** _ for the umpteenth time, I realized that Noreen was contemplating suicide at the end because she was afraid she was pregnant with Kramer’s child. :eek: > > Why she was rescued by Frank Costanza’s lawyer of all people still escapes me. 😕 Is it because he was wearing a cape, like a superhero? The way Superman (i.e., George Reeves) got Lucy Ricardo off the ledge in _ **I Love Lucy** _? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3196 "2019-01-25T12:38:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What I just learned is that they filmed that shot in technicolor. They decided it would be simpler than trying to combine the two color schemes into a single shot. So they created a special set with everything painted in shades in sepia so it would look like monochrome even though it was being filmed in full color. > > And how did they get Dorothy to go from sepia to technicolor in the single shot? They used two Dorothys. Brilliant! Thanks. > [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Also Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips” Stevie Wonder has fingertips? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3197 "2019-01-25T20:25:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can’t say I realized this one but I just learned something about [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D8PAGelN8) from _The Wizard of Oz_ that I hadn’t known. As I think most people know, the early parts of the movie that were set in Kansas were filmed in sepia monochrome. The movie then switched to technicolor when Dorothy arrived in Oz. And there’s the shot where she opens the door of her house and reveals Oz in all its color. > > What I just learned is that they filmed that shot in technicolor. They decided it would be simpler than trying to combine the two color schemes into a single shot. So they created a special set with everything painted in shades in sepia so it would look like monochrome even though it was being filmed in full color. > > And how did they get Dorothy to go from sepia to technicolor in the single shot? They used two Dorothys. The Dorothy we see inside the house is Bobbie Koshay, Judy Garland’s stand-in. She was dressed in a sepia costume and done up in sepia make-up. Judy Garland was wearing her regular Dorothy costume and standing just behind Koshay off camera. When Koshay opened the door and the camera pulled in close, Garland stepped around Koshay and into the shot to walk outside. The funny thing is that trick never worked on TV until the movie finally came out on VHS. From 1949 until 1989, the first two reels were grayscale B&W in all prints and on TV. When I was a kid, I thought it looked strange when that shot comes up and she’s brown before going into the color world. When it came out on VHS for the 50th anniversary they updated the beginning to be sepia toned, as that was how it was when it came out. Once they did that, the trick was a much better effect. The Tingler from William Castle pulled a similar trick in one scene. The film is in B&W but for one scene they painted the set monochrome and slathered the actress in gray makeup so they could film a bathtub filled with red blood in full color. I was lucky enough to see the film projected in 35mm which made the effect apparent. The video (DVD and Blu-ray. that is. The laserdisc still has the original effect, but so low resolution it doesn’t look very good)) has been post-processed as a rotoscoped optical effect, so it no longer has the trick. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3198 "2019-01-25T21:57:57Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > The funny thing is that trick never worked on TV until the movie finally came out on VHS. From 1949 until 1989, the first two reels were grayscale B&W in all prints and on TV. When I was a kid, I thought it looked strange when that shot comes up and she’s brown before going into the color world. When it came out on VHS for the 50th anniversary they updated the beginning to be sepia toned, as that was how it was when it came out. Once they did that, the trick was a much better effect. Hey! I kinda remember that looking weird; I definitely first saw Wizard of Oz before 89 as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3199 "2019-01-27T17:15:35Z")
I just realized that in the song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, in the lyric “fa, a long long way to run”, that “fa” and “far” really are quite similar to a British person speaking in a non-rhotic dialect. It’s not just a vague similarity that’s used only because there’s no “real” word that sounds like “fa”. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3200 "2019-01-27T17:42:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Since this thread has been resurrected again: > > It recently occurred to me that Dylan’s album title “Blood on the Tracks” has nothing to do with trains. Me was also a dummy too, until reading your post. The two female seatbelts from Jurassic Park was inspired and I loved reading about it. (Although I wouldn’t call it “obvious”.) ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3201 "2019-01-31T06:33:38Z")
I was indulging in some free association that went something like this… Someone called me “Red” tonight (because of my hair color). I think I prefer the English “ginger” to the American “red”. How would I like to be called “Ginger”?. There aren’t too many characters I can think of called Ginger. There was Ginger from Gilligan’s Island, who had … red … hair… DUH! [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=159) [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=161)