# 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:** 237
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4725 "2022-03-06T13:37:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > We’ve reached the point where more time has past between now and “Airplane” (42 years) than between “Airplane” and “The Wizard of Oz” (41 years) Last year, I kept pointing out when it came up that The Matrix is as old now as Star Wars was when it came out. Now, The Matrix is _older_ than Star Wars was. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4726 "2022-03-07T10:41:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Fritz Leiber’s gonzo story,“The Creature from Cleveland Depths,” from the December 1962 _Galaxy_ , has what are essentially smartphones be grafted to bodies so that humans are in such constant communication with one another that they form a collective mind. See also: > [@Gyrate](#): > > There was a point many years ago, when I was walking down the street holding my cellphone in my hand with earphones wired in (I did say “many years ago”) listening to music and reading something off the phone and had an epiphany: “Holy shit - I’m an Ood.” > > Remember the Ood? Aliens with a “second brain” they always carried around in one hand? A second brain that wirelessly linked to a “central brain” that allowed them all to communicate with each other in a “collective consciousness”? Seriously, that whole [Planet of the Ood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Ood) episode was just about the Doctor giving everyone back their WiFi access. > > I mean, I haven’t seen this theory elsewhere but it totally works. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4727 "2022-03-07T14:23:27Z")
Yesterday I noticed, for the first time, that Hot Wheels cars are packaged pointing to the right, and Matchbox are packaged pointing to the left. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4728 "2022-03-07T14:29:45Z")
This is about the credits and not the show itself, but I just discovered that the character Serena on **Bewitched** is credited as “Pandora Spocks”, even though Elizabeth Montgomery plays her. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4729 "2022-03-07T14:34:13Z")
And if you say it out loud, it’s “Pandora’s box.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4730 "2022-03-07T22:29:53Z")
There’s another thread in MPSIMS about [people whose name is the same as their job](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-as-job/960489/39). And that made me realize the father in _Mary Poppins_ is a banker, and the family’s surname is… Banks. 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4731 "2022-03-07T22:33:26Z")
I was bingeing _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_ with my daughter, and we were about halfway through the second season when I realized the show portrayed a family of witches named Spellman. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4732 "2022-03-08T01:29:04Z")
And their cannon-crazed neighbor just happens to have the surname Boom… ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4733 "2022-03-08T01:31:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s what used to be called black humor when black meant darkly satiric. That’s what it’s still called, FYI. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4734 "2022-03-08T04:28:58Z")
I haven’t seen it applied to contemporary humor in many years. According to Google Ngrams it peaked in 2004 and has been on a steep decline since. Realistically, the term is obsolete. A mainstream genre of humor could use the adjective “black” to mean the work of white humorists in the 50s and 60s simply because virtually no African-American humorists existed in the mainstream at that time. Black humor did not connote works by blacks or about blacks in that world. The phrase would overwhelmingly be thought of that way in our current world, however. Nor is their much use for the term. Wiktionary defines it as “A subgenre of comedy of comedy and satire that deals with subjects that are believed to be serious or controversial, such as death, divorce, drug abuse, etc.” Um, that’s basically all humor today. And who today would think that the example sentence is anything more than an everyday joke by anybody? > “Black humor is like food. Not everybody gets it.” Of course, to forestall inevitable nitpicking, there were jokes about those subjects earlier. The term dates back to 1935. And on and on. You can draw a parallel to the term New Journalism, which had plenty of antecedents but didn’t cohere until Tom Wolff used it to title an anthology in 1973, just as Bruce Jay Friedman titled a 1965 anthology Black Humor, a term preferable to the “sick humor” of Lenny Bruce. Nobody uses New Journalism today: too common, cliched, and dated. And nobody could put Black Humor straightfaced on an anthology of white writers today. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4735 "2022-03-08T12:00:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Black humor did not connote works by blacks or about blacks in that world. The phrase would overwhelmingly be thought of that way in our current world, however. Do people call those kinds of slightly macabre jokes “dark humor” then? I’m genuinely asking because I’ve still heard it called “black.” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4736 "2022-03-08T12:18:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The phrase would overwhelmingly be thought of that way in our current world, however. I disagree, certainly for the UK. “Black Humour” or “Dark Humour” or “Black Comedy” is a common enough term that has nothing to do with skin colour. “In Bruges” was one that came to mind immediately, “The Death of Stalin” is another. [Here’s a mainstream article from a mainstream site](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/black-comedies-ranked/) that uses the term without any problem and doesn’t feel the need to explain what is meant. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4737 "2022-03-08T12:39:20Z")
i took a college course in 1970s entitled Black Humor, and my future mother in law said, “I don’t see what’s so funny about those people.” ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4738 "2022-03-08T17:05:40Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > [Here’s a mainstream article from a mainstream site](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/black-comedies-ranked/) that uses the term without any problem and doesn’t feel the need to explain what is meant. No, it uses the term “black comedy.” That term - also on the wane according to Ngrams - began replacing “black humor” after around 1980. For a time it was more acceptable, but that time also is fading. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4739 "2022-03-08T17:29:17Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Do people call those kinds of slightly macabre jokes “dark humor” then? I’m genuinely asking because I’ve still heard it called “black.” Same here. Not that it’s a phrase or topic that comes up often, but I certainly still hear it. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4740 "2022-03-08T18:47:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I haven’t seen it applied to contemporary humor in many years. According to Google Ngrams it peaked in 2004 and has been on a steep decline since. “Not as common as it used to be” isn’t the same as “obscure” or “obsolete.” > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Realistically, the term is obsolete. A mainstream genre of humor could use the adjective “black” to mean the work of white humorists in the 50s and 60s simply because virtually no African-American humorists existed in the mainstream at that time. Black humor did not connote works by blacks or about blacks in that world. The phrase would overwhelmingly be thought of that way in our current world, however. If I Google the phrase “black humor,” I don’t get a hit that’s using the term in a racial sense until the third page of results. Of course, search engine results vary from person to person, so that’s certainly not a definitive cite, but I very much doubt your assertion that the phrase would “overwhelmingly” be understood to refer to Black humorists. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No, it uses the term “black comedy.” That’s an utterly meaningless distinction in this context. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4741 "2022-03-08T19:21:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No, it uses the term “black comedy.” That term - also on the wane according to Ngrams - began replacing “black humor” after around 1980. For a time it was more acceptable, but that time also is fading. I’m not sure why you are making that distinction. If I were asked what style of film “the death of Stalin” was, I’d say “Black Comedy”. If you asked what style of comedy Jerry Sadowitz performed I’d say “black humour”. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4742 "2022-03-10T15:01:43Z")
Another **Friends** contribution: **The One with the Bullies** - Chandler and Joey have a run-in with two bullies who steal Chandler’s hat. Admittedly, it’s one of my least favorite eps so I don’t think I’ve actively watched it since I saw it first run, but I happened to be paying attention yesterday and realized it’s a Grinch hat. I love the Grinch and have had several item given to me that have that very same Grinch patch, including _that hat_ (mine is green, though). You can see it at the 2:50 mark. . . [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MAnvn25URvc/maxresdefault.jpg "Friends: Chandler and Ross Befriend Their Bullies (Season 2 Clip) | TBS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAnvn25URvc) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4743 "2022-03-10T18:01:35Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > “In Bruges” was one that came to mind immediately, “The Death of Stalin” is another. Blackadder goes Forth, is another. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4744 "2022-03-11T16:46:49Z")
Maybe this has been mentioned before, but brought to mind by a recent thread about accidentally launching a nuclear missile: in the climax to War Games, the software is trying to match the 10-character launch code. It is supposed to be trying millions of combinations of characters to find the right one. How is it finding one character at a time? Either a code works or it doesn’t. If you get one character wrong, it’s just as wrong as if you have them all wrong, viz. computer passwords. [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=236) [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=238)