# 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:** 363
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7247 "2026-08-21T17:41:31Z")
I’ve known this for decades, but it just came into my head again when _The Exorcist_ was mentioned in another thread. _The Exorcist_ (the movie) is actually mistitled. It should be called _The Exorci **sed** _, because it’s mostly about Regan, not Father Karras. In other words, the movie is about a little girl who undergoes an exorcism performed by a priest who’s going through a crisis of faith. _The Exorcist_ (the book) is actually about the, you know, exorcist. Father Karras is the main character, not Regan. In other words, the book is about a priest who’s experiencing a crisis of faith, who performs an exorcism on a little girl. I think there’s room for debate about the degree to which the film favors Regan as the main character over Father Karras, but in my head canon the movie is about Regan, not Father Karras. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7248 "2026-08-21T19:25:14Z")
Even more so because the exorcist is Father Merrin and we don’t really know squat about him except he and Pazuzu are old buddies. I mean, Karras is just the wingman in case Paz has a friend. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7249 "2026-08-21T19:31:43Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I’ve known this for decades, but it just came into my head again when _The Exorcist_ was mentioned in another thread. > > _The Exorcist_ (the movie) is actually mistitled. It should be called _The Exorci **sed** _, because it’s mostly about Regan, not Father Karras. In other words, the movie is about a little girl who undergoes an exorcism performed by a priest who’s going through a crisis of faith. Similarly, the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has Charlie as the main character, while the later Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has Willy Wonka as the main character. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7250 "2026-08-21T21:26:01Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > _The Exorcist_ (the movie) For me, the interesting thing about the movie _The Exorcist_ is that I’ve a few times walked or driven past the house where all the exterior scenes were filmed. (The interior scenes were filmed in a movie set.) It’s easy to figure out where the house is in Washington, D.C. You should have no problem doing a little research and finding that our yourself. I’m going to avoid mentioning the address myself because it is and always was a private house. I’m afraid someone will decide to visit the house and pound on the door and demand to be shown around the house, and then I’ll get blamed for invading their privacy. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7251 "2026-08-23T15:58:27Z")
I used to live a couple of miles away from the St. Louis house where “Roland Doe” stayed during the “real” exorcism that The Exorcist was inspired by. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7252 "2026-08-23T17:32:54Z")
Just yesterday I learned that the Carolina Panthers logo was designed to mimic the combined shape of the Carolinas. I had no idea. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55482039387_b8bc35b156_z.jpg "Wheelz 04") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/195486993@N02/) ---
**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:** [August 23, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7253 "2026-08-23T17:39:47Z")
Seems iffy, to me. You need some pretty extreme distortions to the state shapes to get that match, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen similar artwork of the head-and-shoulders of other (non-Carolina) predators. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7254 "2026-08-23T18:01:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Seems iffy, to me. Some quick research shows that you were right to be skeptical. > To clear up a common misconception, the shape of the panther’s head and neck is not supposed to resemble the two states together, though many people have claimed it does. Any resemblance to the geographical boundaries of the Carolinas is merely coincidental, as nice of a thought as it would be. > **[The History Of The Carolina Panthers Logo - Logo Design Magazine](https://www.logodesign.org/the-history-of-the-carolina-panthers-logo)** > > The History Of The Carolina Panthers Logo ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7255 "2026-08-23T18:12:03Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I have my doubts about the _Epic of Gilgamesh_ to be honest… If they had to specify that it was about Gilgamesh, you know they cribbed most of it from something that was just called “_Epic_”. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7256 "2026-08-23T19:40:57Z")
Google tell me that “The initial occurrences took place in Cottage City, Maryland, before the family moved briefly to St. Louis, Missouri, where the final Catholic rites of exorcism were performed by Jesuit priests at the former Alexian Brothers Hospital.” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7257 "2026-08-24T02:35:55Z")
The exorcism didn’t take place there, but the house they stayed in when they went to St. Louis is in Bel Nor, not too far from where I used to live in Overland. I also teach at SLU, with which at least one of the priests was affiliated, and which ran the hospital in question. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7258 "2026-08-24T18:31:19Z")
Under “Obscure things about a creative work”: I was kind of amused that the whole thing started in Maryland, since I live in Maryland ---
**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:** [August 24, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7259 "2026-08-24T19:34:03Z")
Since the exterior scenes for the movie are in D.C., it’s not surprising to me that it should be in Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7260 "2026-08-24T22:07:26Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > _The Exorcist_ (the movie) is actually mistitled. It should be called _The Exorci **sed** _, because it’s mostly about Regan, not Father Karras. Interesting. I saw it for the first time a few years ago and I don’t remember it being the girl’s story at all. It was framed at the start as a tale about the horror of having something wrong with your kid and you don’t know what it is and you’re powerless to stop it. Which is very affecting as a parent. And then it’s about this priest. But mostly I just remembered the parent part. I honestly don’t remember - were we let into the girl’s world at all? I recall for the most part she was just a plot device. I am notorious for forgetting movies moments after I’ve watched them. Like the time I watched _A Beautiful Mind_ for the second time and was surprised by the big plot twist both times. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7261 "2026-08-25T00:26:45Z")
I recently complained on Twitter that _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty_ (2013) - the Ben Stiller joint - was mistitled as well as he spent most of the movie on a bunch of adventures. Walter Mitty is meant to sit at a desk and dream about adventures not actually go on them. It should have been called _The **Exciting** Life of Walter Mitty_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7262 "2026-08-25T00:34:37Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I recently complained on Twitter that _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty_ (2013) - the Ben Stiller joint - That was not at all like the great OG- > **[The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Walter_Mitty_(1947_film))** > > The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 1947 American Technicolor adventure comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod from a screenplay by Ken Englund, Everett Freeman, and Philip Rapp (uncredited), loosely based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber. The film stars Danny Kaye as a young daydreaming proofreader for a magazine publishing firm and Virginia Mayo as the woman of his dreams. Walter Mitty is a kind but mild man, henpecked and harassed by his overbearing mother, his idea-stealing boss ... - with the late great Danny Kaye, for whom Stiller is barely competent to hold Kaye’s coat. . ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7263 "2026-08-25T03:17:19Z")
Now that I think about it, the true main character is Chris MacNeil (Regan’s) mom. Discounting the expository opening seen in the Middle East, she’s the first character we get invested in. It’s she who deals with the police detective, she arranges for Father Karras to meet with Regan, etc. _The Exorcised’s Mom_ ---
**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:** [August 31, 2026, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7264 "2026-08-31T19:42:36Z")
In _This is Spinal Tap_, when they talk about the band’s early days when they were called The Originals (and then The New Originals and then back to The Originals), we see clips in which the band looks very much like The Beatles. It just hit me that simply copying The Beatles’ look and sound wasn’t very original, was it? I assume that was an intentional joke. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7265 "2026-08-31T19:49:18Z")
The New Originals might just be the greatest rock name ever. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/7266 "2026-08-31T19:57:11Z")
I don’t know whether this counts as a creative work or as a millionth time, but today I suddenly saw the extraordinary resemblance between H.P. Lovecraft [![](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/2K6OOJIH4FH5BBIGTY43GJBHB4.jpg?auth=24a2ee461b15df7c2e9a4793d811bcc437e12109c32637d94a4949b3c015b10d&width=1960) ](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/2K6OOJIH4FH5BBIGTY43GJBHB4.jpg?auth=24a2ee461b15df7c2e9a4793d811bcc437e12109c32637d94a4949b3c015b10d&width=1960) and Mark Zuckerberg [![](https://static.digit.in/Meta-CEO-Mark-Zuckerberg-1.png) ](https://static.digit.in/Meta-CEO-Mark-Zuckerberg-1.png) May Cthulhu have mercy on my soul! [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=362) [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=364)