# 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:** 170
**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:** [October 12, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3382 "2019-10-12T01:50:29Z")
But did you get \*Knockturn Alley \*yet? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3383 "2019-10-12T02:03:46Z")
I caught a still of the very first episode of _Doctor Who_ and the junkyard where the TARDIS was first revealed. The name on the yard was I.M. Foreman = I am for man. Which pretty much sums up the Doctor. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3384 "2019-10-12T02:09:19Z")
The Kinks song Long Distance was a favorite of mine in college, but I never quite understood one line “Three days to kill and my \ getting low” - I could never quite figure out what that word was (this was in the 1980s - no Google and I didn’t have the liner notes). Then I graduated and got a job, and eventually played that album again - and realized of course that the word was “per diem” which makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3385 "2019-10-12T02:17:11Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > But did you get \*Knockturn Alley \*yet? :smack: (Kidding. I actually got that one immediately. I don’t know why Diagon Alley eluded me for so long.) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3386 "2019-10-16T17:13:55Z")
My guilty reading pleasure is cozy mysteries. Over the past few days, I read Leslie Meier’s four Luy Stone Halloween murder mysteries in order: Trick or Treat Murder, Wicked Witch Murder, Candy Corn Murder and Haunted House Murder. I noted the titles all had two word alliterative phrase and thought T, W, C, H." Then my brain transposed the "W’ to the front of the line, making W\_T\_C\_H. If that’s not a coincidence, I don’t know what two word phrase associated with Halloween and beginning with I.I. can be used to complete it. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3387 "2019-10-16T18:14:06Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I don’t know how often or how long I’ve stared at the waistband of my Haines underwear :o but I just noticed that the name and the colors of the logo are printed in reverse on the inside of the waistband. They’re not printed, they’re woven, which is why they’re reversed. Also, it’s Hanes, not Haines. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3388 "2019-10-17T04:34:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by TBG View Post > The A stands for Audi. At least that’s all I can figure. > > > [@Telperion](#): > > > > Aluminium, I think. The A-line was introduced when they replaced the steel platform with an all-aluminium space frame, which was reportedly the first implementation of one in a mass-market car. This thread is from 2009 but currently the answer is the A in Audi models means “Audi.” [I’m so sorry.](https://carbiketech.com/audi-nomenclature/) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3389 "2019-10-17T16:04:24Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > This thread is from 2009 but currently the answer is the A in Audi models means “Audi.” [I’m so sorry.](https://carbiketech.com/audi-nomenclature/) Upon further [inspection](https://carbiketech.com/audi-nomenclature/), it could be that Audi nomenclature uses the letter “A” for the Sedan / Hatchback body shape. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3390 "2019-10-17T22:23:41Z")
I only recently realized the Paul McCartney is putting on an American accent at the beginning of Rocky Raccoon. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3391 "2019-10-18T02:04:55Z")
And it’s the wrong accent. It sounds like an exaggerated Southern accent. The song takes place in Dakota. It doesn’t say whether it’s North or South Dakota. They don’t talk like that there. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3392 "2019-10-18T02:07:20Z")
In another recording of the song, it says that it takes place in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3393 "2019-10-18T04:10:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > And it’s the wrong accent. It sounds like an exaggerated Southern accent. The song takes place in Dakota. It doesn’t say whether it’s North or South Dakota. They don’t talk like that there. I always thought it was intentional. “Black Mountain Hills of Dakota” and so forth. Just Paul having fun being faux American. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3394 "2019-10-20T01:37:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > And it’s the wrong accent. It sounds like an exaggerated Southern accent. The song takes place in Dakota. It doesn’t say whether it’s North or South Dakota. They don’t talk like that there. If it’s a southern accent, must be South Dakota. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3395 "2019-10-20T04:51:40Z")
Having watched Full Metal Jacket umpteen times, I just noticed something the other day watching it on cable. Starting with the second half of the film that takes place in Vietnam, Joker’s (Mathew Modine) exposure to the death and violence of the Vietnam War gets more personal and intimate as the film progresses: -Joker’s first “kills” on film are while manning the M60, defending the Marine base at Da Nang. He is basically shooting at distant shapes from a fortified position, surrounded by his friends from his unit. -Next, Joker and Rafterman are embedded in a large Marine operation during the Battle of Hue, where they come across a mass grave of civilians killed by the NVA. -During the same operation, joins his friend Cowboy and the “Lusthog Squad”. He then witnesses the platoon commander “Touchdown” get killed by a mortar attack. -There is a firefight where another marine is killed and later some Viet Cong, but it’s still action taking place at relatively long distances. -The “Lusthog Squad” is detached from the main force and their squad leader is killed by a booby trap. -Joker’s friend Cowboy is now squad leader and two members of the squad are taken out by a sniper. -Cowboy is killed by the sniper. -Joker comes face to face with the sniper and is nearly killed when his M16 misfires. -Joker executes / mercy kills the mortally wounded sniper at point blank range with his sidearm. Generally speaking, it transitions from Joker surrounded by people he knows and trusts, fighting the war at arms length in relative safety, to being around strangers, watching people he knows getting killed and ultimately facing and dealing death himself. Another reason why I think Full Metal Jacket is one of the greatest war movies ever. The contributions of Joker, Cowboy and the Lusthog Squad are relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of the Battle of Hue, let alone the Vietnam War. But that doesn’t lesson Joker’s journey from detached smartass to hard core warrior. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3396 "2019-10-20T19:29:35Z")
**Titanic** : Jack, to Rose: “The boat’s gonna suck us down…Do not! Let go! Of my hand!” He’s saying that for his sake, not hers! She’s wearing a life jacket and he’s not, so he’s counting on her to pull him up with her. [Please, please, I beg of you all, don’t bring up the debris (not door) and who could have been on it. Enough already.] ---
**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:** [October 22, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3397 "2019-10-22T15:41:19Z")
And wasn’t it a grand time when Mary Poppins had her merry pop-in? Only took me over 50 years to come up with that one! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3398 "2019-10-22T20:58:17Z")
So I’m listening to Fleetwood Mac’s _Gypsy_ from the ol’ memory card on the automobile stereo this morning and I get to my favorite line: “And a memory is all that’s left of you now” And it’s wait a gol-darned second there. Did I just hear “And a memory is all that’s left for you now” Um. That changes things. I like my version better. But … **FtG** : Mishearing song lyrics since 1982 (and earlier). ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3399 "2019-10-22T22:42:58Z")
Last night I started watching this Netflix movie called “The Outsider” with Jared Leto in a very “minimal dialogue” role. The movie takes place in 1954 Japan, and is about this american joining a Yakuza family in post-war Japan. At one point, he is invited to join the family and it is explained that once he accepts, he is now a “brother” with the rest of the “gang” with allegiance to the one “father” (think Vito Corleone). When you join the family, you become a “brother” - kind of like marines. It then hits me that this 2000 movie “Brother” was being clever with the dual use of the term. That story is about “Beat” Takeshi, a Yakuza member, being sent to live with his (biological ?) brother in Los Angeles as part of a settlement for this feud. Once in LA, Takeshi grows his brother’s gang into a major organization. All this time, I thought the title referred to Takeshi being a (biological) brother to the guy in LA. But it was in reference to him being a “brother” in the Yakuza as well. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3400 "2019-10-23T14:17:21Z")
As this thread is still going, I thought I would share. My first theater experience was going to see Fiddler on the Roof. I remember being very frightened by the cemetery scene, where the dead rise from their graves and criticize people’s marriage choices. (I was five). Growing up saw the movie several times and listened to mom play the soundtrack uncounted times. Hadn’t seen/heard it since moving away from home, so several decades. Recently the movie was on my local PBS station and I watched for old times. Noticed two things I hadn’t before. The opening song is “Tradition”. A large number of traditions are named, and by the end of the story nearly ever one had been broken. The second, and really slap you in the face obvious thing is that cemetery scene. There was no dream. Her ancestors didn’t rise and insist on the tailor. It was all a lie to make it his wife’s fault that he was going to break his promise to Laser Wolf “The Butcher”. (With a name like that, can you blame him for not wanting to get on his bad side?) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3401 "2019-11-01T16:39:24Z")
I’m not a big user of Reddit and didn’t know its history. So I was surprised to find out that the name is supposed to seen as “read it” because it started out as a place to post headlines and links to news articles and other stuff people wanted to share on the internet. [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=169) [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=171)