# 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:** 354
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7067 "2026-05-21T20:48:39Z")
> [@Past\_Paper](#): > > At the end of the movie Shyamalan is replaying some audio from the earlier “I see dead people” scene, but he edits out the word “dead” this time because I’m guessing he doesn’t want the audience to figure out the twist that’s just moments away. I was suspicious about two thirds of the way thru the film. I wasnt shocked by the twist, but still, it was a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7068 "2026-05-22T17:54:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Past\_Paper](#): > > > > At the end of the movie Shyamalan is replaying some audio from the earlier “I see dead people” scene, but he edits out the word “dead” this time because I’m guessing he doesn’t want the audience to figure out the twist that’s just moments away. > > I was suspicious about two thirds of the way thru the film. I wasnt shocked by the twist, but still, it was a good one. I’m curious, did you first see the film on tv or in the theater? I went into the movie hearing there was a twist but nothing else. I was convinced that I would be able to spot the twist from far away and was ready to look for it from the beginning. What actually happened was the theater experience drew me in so well that I completely forgot to try and figure out the twist. I believe that if I was watching on tv I would have remembered and figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7069 "2026-05-22T17:56:53Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m curious, did you first see the film on tv or in the theater? Theater. But note- I was just thinking "something is off here " with Bruce Willis’s character. “Could be also be a ghost, or something else?” ---
**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:** [May 23, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7070 "2026-05-23T16:44:06Z")
I was ten years old when The Flintstones appeared on TV. It’s taken me 65 years (this morning at 4am) to realize the theme song contains a howling error. “Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they’re a modern Stone Age family” So far, so good. “Modern Stone Age” seems self-contradictory but to a Stone Age person it would _be_ modern times, so I’m willing to be reasonable. But then…“…From the town of Bedrock, they’re a page **right out of history**.” Wrong!! The correct statement should be “they’re a page out of **prehistory**.” But since “prehistory” means “before written records were kept”, prehistory by definition can’t have pages at all. Discuss amongst yourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7071 "2026-05-23T16:51:30Z")
The Flintstones read and write. Like modern Stone Age family, it’s all relative. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7072 "2026-05-23T17:07:36Z")
Plus the line flows better as is. Singing “a page out of prehistory” sounds odd and clunky. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7073 "2026-05-23T17:42:01Z")
Ah, but how could we depict their actions if there wasn’t some historical record? (It’s based on a true story, right?) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7074 "2026-05-23T18:30:48Z")
I always heard it as “From the town of Bedrock, They’re a _place_ right out of history”. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7075 "2026-05-23T18:57:49Z")
The Flintstones is set in a post-apocalyptic future, and is contemporary with The Jetsons. They have lost the technology to actually build things like vacuum cleaners, but have recreated them with trained animals. So, they are a page out of _future_ history. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7076 "2026-05-23T22:12:38Z")
They are the inhabitants of the ground, below those buildings in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7077 "2026-05-23T23:10:00Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > They are the inhabitants of the ground, below those buildings in the sky Sort of like the Eloi and the Morlocks. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7078 "2026-05-23T23:11:41Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The Flintstones is set in a post-apocalyptic future, and is contemporary with The Jetsons. Is it post-apocalyptic, or posthuman? I posit that they intentionally live in a world that looks superficially neolithic, but is actually powered by advanced nanotech and by genetic engineering - the latter both of the “dinosaurs” and of the “human” inhabitants themselves, which is what makes them strong enough to power a car with their own inhuman feet. The people in the sky are the traditionalists, who refuse to adapt their bodies and environment to life on the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7079 "2026-05-24T00:37:54Z")
As remarked, since the Flintstones have inscribed stone tablets they have history. That’s the least of the paradoxes presented by the Flintstones. What I’d like to know is how they can have television. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7080 "2026-05-24T01:10:01Z")
I know a prehistoric rabbit was involved. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7081 "2026-05-24T01:11:01Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > That’s the least of the paradoxes presented by the Flintstones. I’m still figuring out how a show that takes place in the years B.C. could have a Christmas special. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7082 "2026-05-24T01:17:52Z")
A wizard did it. [![](https://hanna-barberawiki.s3.us-east-va.io.cloud.ovh.us/thumb/a/ac/Great_Gazoo.png/800px-Great_Gazoo.png) ](https://hanna-barberawiki.s3.us-east-va.io.cloud.ovh.us/thumb/a/ac/Great_Gazoo.png/800px-Great_Gazoo.png) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7083 "2026-05-24T01:21:45Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I’m still figuring out how a show that takes place in the years B.C. could have a Christmas special. That was the issue with the BC comics, by Hart. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7084 "2026-05-24T04:08:40Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > “Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they’re a modern Stone Age family” > So far, so good. “Modern Stone Age” seems self-contradictory but to a Stone Age person it would _be_ modern times, so I’m willing to be reasonable. That’s kind of the joke. They are presented with anachronistic “modern” culture but interpreted in stone (or animal) by Stone Age people. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2026, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7085 "2026-05-24T06:38:31Z")
_That’s_ your problem with **The Flintstones** , not them riding dinosaurs that died out 66million years before them? ---
**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:** [May 24, 2026, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7086 "2026-05-24T08:08:10Z")
That is actually a glitch in Fred’s neural implants. Any objective effects he has on the physical world are actually manifestations of Fred’s latent metapsychic abilities. [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=353) [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=355)