# 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:** 200
**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:** [February 3, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3984 "2021-02-03T22:49:41Z")
> [@Scarlax](#): > > Apparently his name is John Herbert According to the _Family Guy_ wiki, his full name is Jonathan Oppenheimer Herbert, which might be a reference to J. Robert Oppenheimer if you accept the similarity of the names Herbert and Robert. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3985 "2021-02-03T23:16:32Z")
> Mr. Herbert is a parody of the name of the main character in _Lolita_ , Humbert Humbert. As a big fan of Nabokov and McFarlane, I don’t see this at all. If they were going for this connection, I think he’d be named Herbert Herbert. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3986 "2021-02-08T00:32:01Z")
How the fuck is Rocky Balboa a heavyweight?? His bones must be made of steel. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3987 "2021-02-08T09:19:29Z")
Well, according to Google, he weighs 185 lbs. Heavyweights are 200+ , so it’s not unreasonable. He could have been a little heavier when shooting the film, or, they say, the camera adds a few pounds to your image. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3988 "2021-02-08T10:05:54Z")
Rocky Balboa is also a lot taller than Sylvester Stallone. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3989 "2021-02-08T10:36:06Z")
And he’s also not a real person. Or are you just yankin’ my chain? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3990 "2021-02-08T11:41:24Z")
I think the point is that Balboa and Stallone have the same proportions, but Balboa is taller, and therefore larger in girth as well, and so would be heavier. Whether they actually used any camera tricks to make him look taller, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3991 "2021-02-08T14:33:36Z")
Also according to Google, he only weighed 178 pounds while filming _Rocky_. He apparently did bulk up to 200 pounds for _Rocky II_, but was down to _163_ pounds for _Rocky III_. Multiple online sources put Carl Weathers’ weight at 220-225 pounds for _Rocky_ and _Rocky II_, pretty much Apollo Creed’s in-universe weigh-in weight of 221 pounds. I have no idea if they used any camera tricks to bulk up Rocky’s apparent weight, but the actors were clearly in different weight classes. Of course, that also feeds into the whole “Rocky as hopeless underdog” trope… ---
**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:** [February 9, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3992 "2021-02-09T13:48:16Z")
In 1976, when the movie was made, the heavyweight division started at 175 pounds, so Stallone was three pounds over the minimum and fit into that weight class. Note, too, that a boxer always was able to fight above his weight class. Henry Armstrong held world titles as a featherweight, welterweight, and lightweight simultaneously. Rocky could compete as a heavyweight even if he was under the standard weight. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3993 "2021-02-09T14:53:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note, too, that a boxer always was able to fight above his weight class. Hence the expression “punching above his weight,” _n’est-ce pas_? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3994 "2021-02-11T15:08:52Z")
A presumed typo by @Ann_Hedonia struck me with the similarity of Hooterville, the mythical setting of Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hooverville, a shantytown built by people left homeless by the Great Depression. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3995 "2021-02-17T10:45:59Z")
When Homer is on the phone and says “You’ll have to speak up, I’m wearing a towel” he is getting confused with women in old TV show’s answering the phone with a towel on their HEAD over their ears. It’s not just some random comment. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3996 "2021-02-20T05:07:10Z")
_Endless Love_ is a 1981 film which was part of a series of films loosely based upon Hollywood Producer’s desire to see Brooke Shields have sex before the age of 16. It was a different age. Go see _Pretty Baby_ if you don’t think this was a thing. Anyway, EL is about obsessive relationships, the most obvious being between Brooke and her boyfriend, but Brooke’s mom had the hots for Brooke’s boyfriend (and, in one creepy scene, lovingly watches her 15yo daughter get railed by this guy), etc. Weird movie. Anyway, so there was a song. You may have heard it, same name as the movie, was a monster hit in the day, featuring Diana Ross and Lionel Richie in a duet. #1 for like 9 weeks, it only lost out on being the biggest song of the year because of Kim Carnes and _Betty Davis Eyes_. Song begins, Lionel sings. Then Diana enters, her first three lines being: _My first love You’re every breath that I take Your every step I make_ :record scratching to a halt noise: Wait. That sounds fucking familiar. Let me research… 📖 So, two years later, another song about obsessive relationships comes out. It, too, shoots to #1, this time not having to fight off Kim Carnes ending up the #1 song of 1983. And the first two lines? _Every breath you take Every move you make_ Fucking Sting, stealing Lionel Richie lyrics. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3997 "2021-02-20T21:49:07Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Fucking Sting, stealing Lionel Richie lyrics. WTF? If Sting stole them, then he stole them from a thief. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RWF3Y2VEl2E/hqdefault.jpg "Gene Pitney - Every Breath I Take") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWF3Y2VEl2E) (lyrics by Carole King and Gerry Goffin) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3998 "2021-02-22T19:02:05Z")
In _Raiders of the Lost Ark_, after the Nazis stop Katanga’s ship and take the Ark, how do they get it on board their submarine? There’s a shot of them using a small hoist to lift it over the edge of the ship (presumably down to their rowboat), but then what? There’s no hoist on the submarine to lift the Ark out of the rowboat. And even if they could get it on to the deck of the submarine, the crate containing the Ark is bigger than any of the hatches in the submarine’s hull. Oh, and the sailor who sees Indy climbing aboard the submarine and points him out to Katanga was also Chocolate Mousse in _Top Secret_. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/3999 "2021-02-22T21:05:07Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ , after the Nazis stop Katanga’s ship and take the Ark, how do they get it on board their submarine? There’s a shot of them using a small hoist to lift it over the edge of the ship (presumably down to their rowboat), but then what? There’s no hoist on the submarine to lift the Ark out of the rowboat. And even if they could get it on to the deck of the submarine, the crate containing the Ark is bigger than any of the hatches in the submarine’s hull. Probably the same way the _Venture_ brought King Kong back to New York. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4000 "2021-02-22T21:57:09Z")
Maybe they took it out of the crate? The Ark itself isn’t that big, can be lifted by two people, and the poles are detachable. Just tie it up to keep it from opening, manhandle it out of the rowboat and shove it down the hatch. [![](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,h_1122,w_2000,x_0,y_141/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1582911761/shape/mentalfloss/618954-lucasfilm.jpg) ](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,h_1122,w_2000,x_0,y_141/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1582911761/shape/mentalfloss/618954-lucasfilm.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4001 "2021-02-22T22:03:41Z")
[The crate had similar poles on it](https://www.therpf.com/forums/attachments/1855124512_002-jpg.238645/): Between them lifting the ark out of the crate, and Indy palming the solid gold idol at the beginning of the film, it appears that gold in this universe weighs about as much as aluminum, so it wouldn’t be that hard to tie a rope around the crate and just brute-fore haul it up the side of the submarine. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4002 "2021-02-22T22:22:03Z")
Your image supports my theory - that’s not the same crate as the one on the freighter. The original crate had the swastika burned off. Also, there’s such a thing as gold leaf. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4003 "2021-02-22T22:31:27Z")
I think it’s the same crate - the photo is from the dig site in Egypt, right after they found the Ark. The swastika burned off when the Ark was in the hold of the freighter. [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=199) [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=201)