# 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:** 37
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/721 "2010-02-14T23:23:01Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > As I’ve mentioned on here before, it’s not totally clear even in _Nosferatu_ that sunlight ALONE will kill a vampire. Count Orlock is the first vampire to be killed by a ray of sunlight, but there’s all that business about the willing sacrifice of a pure-hearted woman too. Sunlight is arguably just one part of a sort of vampire-killing spell. Maybe if the Count had just happened to be caught out in the sunlight then he’d have been fine. Alternately, it could be that the opportunity to suck the blood of a pure-hearted woman is the only temptation great enough to make a vampire stay out past his bedtime…although if that were the case then it would seem that an _unwilling_ women would do equally well. Perhaps vampires prefer to be gentlemen about the whole neck-biting thing? Yes, I haven’t watched Nosferatu for a while but I didn’t she also have a stake that she did not use? Gentlemen vampires? Is that something like ninja wizards? Mind you, mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice would make an excellent gentlemen vampire (“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. Miss Elizabeth, you must allow me to bite you ardently to drink your blood.”). ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/722 "2010-02-15T01:53:50Z")
The lyrics of “Day-O” are the words of a banana harvester, and the “Tally man” is counting the bananas to determine the singer’s pay. DUH. ---
**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 15, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/723 "2010-02-15T02:46:50Z")
For some reason, I’m suddenly (after 15 pages) reminded of one of my roommates, my freshman year of college (1995): “Hey, did you know that _The Dukes of Hazzard_ was about moonshiners?”. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/724 "2010-02-15T03:14:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The lyrics of “Day-O” are the words of a banana harvester, and the “Tally man” is counting the bananas to determine the singer’s pay. > > DUH. This is referenced in the World of Warcraft game: one of the foods you can eat is the [Tel’Abim Banana](http://www.wowhead.com/?item=4537) (sort of a mixed up “tally me banana” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/725 "2010-02-15T14:48:58Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > This is referenced in the World of Warcraft game: one of the foods you can eat is the [Tel’Abim Banana](http://www.wowhead.com/?item=4537) (sort of a mixed up “tally me banana” 😛 i love all the references that WoW makes to pop culture. The thing that always kills me is when it’s a pop culture reference I don’t know - and then I see the movie or film and go - oh my! that’s what that’s about! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/726 "2010-02-15T23:40:44Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Gentlemen vampires? Is that something like ninja wizards? Mind you, mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice would make an excellent gentlemen vampire (“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. Miss Elizabeth, you must allow me to bite you ardently to drink your blood.”). It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single vampire in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a pure-hearted woman…to bite. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/727 "2010-02-16T01:13:48Z")
Oh! I remembered another: Beyonce quotes one of Buzz Lightyear’s most famous quotes from Toy Story in “Single Ladies”- “To infinity and beyond!” I didn’t notice that for months. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/728 "2010-02-16T05:58:11Z")
Dunno if this counts but the Pepridge Farm cookies are all named after cities in Europe. Milano Veneza Brussels I think there are more but I can’t remember. Also Chessmen need not apply ---
**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:** [February 16, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/729 "2010-02-16T14:13:49Z")
I watched the Big Bang Theory for a while before I realized the opening starts in black & white, then goes to sepia and the last few seconds are in color. A cool way of portraying the timeline. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/730 "2010-02-16T14:38:43Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single vampire in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a pure-hearted woman…to bite. You know, we should continue this. If there is room for P&P&Zombies, then there certainly is room for P&P&The Undead. - Obviously lady Catherine is an age old vampire bat. - Mr. Collins is to her as Renfield is to Dracula, a spineless ghoul - Darcy is a vampire who restrains from drinking human blood because he respects human life, but he finds Elizabeth Bennett too enchanting to resist. I’m not sure about Wickham and mr. Bingley. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/731 "2010-02-16T22:21:29Z")
Mr. Wickham is a vampire, but either lies about it or lies about his feeding habits. The Darcy family underestimated the risk he posed until he bit Georgiana. (Was she actually Darcy’s sister, or a great-niece? Or was he mortal at the time too, but deliberately became a vampire to better gain vengeance on Wickham?) He later gets his fangs into Lydia Bennett, who thinks vampires are cool. Mr. Bingley is a human and not strong-willed enough to resist the psychic influence of vampires. Mr. Darcy tries not to exploit his friend’s weakness and would deny that Bingley is his Renfield, but he’s aware that Bingley will usually go along with his plans. A charming and respectable mortal gentleman is a very useful friend for a vampire to have; someone needs to help with the moving of crates of earth, arranging for passage over running water, etc. ---
**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 16, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/732 "2010-02-16T23:18:05Z")
Joke that has been sitting in the popular consciousness for 35 years, waiting to smack me in the head: Andy Kaufman did what some consider the best Elvis impersonation of all time. I’ve heard it said that most modern Elvis impersonators are in fact impersonating Kaufman impersonating Elvis. But this wasn’t the schtick Kaufman rode to fame. Kaufman’s signature (for many) routine was his “little foreign man” bit, which eventually became his Latka Gravas character. This character’s catch phrase was “thank you veddy much.” So, here’s how it worked when Andy first did Elvis on Saturday Night Live: He came out as “little foreign man” and did a couple of impersonations in that character, badly, then announced that he wanted to do Elvis. Applause. Laughter. “Thank you veddy much.” Costume change as “Also sprach Zarathustra” music plays, building to Kaufman turning around to face the audience in full Elvis mode. Applause. Laughter. “Thankyou veruh much.” Same line, different characters. Comedy genius. That I never connected until just last night. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/733 "2010-02-18T08:45:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Mr. Wickham is a vampire, but either lies about it or lies about his feeding habits. The Darcy family underestimated the risk he posed until he bit Georgiana. (Was she actually Darcy’s sister, or a great-niece? Or was he mortal at the time too, but deliberately became a vampire to better gain vengeance on Wickham?) He later gets his fangs into Lydia Bennett, who thinks vampires are cool. > > Mr. Bingley is a human and not strong-willed enough to resist the psychic influence of vampires. Mr. Darcy tries not to exploit his friend’s weakness and would deny that Bingley is his Renfield, but he’s aware that Bingley will usually go along with his plans. A charming and respectable mortal gentleman is a very useful friend for a vampire to have; someone needs to help with the moving of crates of earth, arranging for passage over running water, etc. What about Bingley’s sisters? Or perhaps Wickham is really a vampire hunter looking to stake Darcy. But we must be careful not sell the rights to the movie too early and too cheap. And get 50% from all merchandise profit. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/734 "2010-02-19T20:05:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And even if the camera moved and the mirror were free-standing in the middle of the room, if they can move the camera precisely and in a replicable way, they could make one run through the scene without the actors, then put a green cover over the mirror, and do it again with the vampire actor (though I don’t know when the green-screen process was invented; probably some time after colored film, or at least after Technicolor). I was curious, so I [Wiki’d it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_key). > [@](#): > > Prior to the introduction of digital compositing, the process was a complex and time consuming one known as “travelling matte”. The blue screen and traveling matte method were developed in the 1930s at RKO Radio Pictures and other studios, and were used to create special effects for The Thief of Bagdad (1940). So \*Nosferatu \*was at least a decade too early for this particular technology. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/735 "2010-02-21T07:56:39Z")
The Queen song “We Are the Champions” is a waltz! Well, it’s in waltz time anyway - 3/4 rather than the usual 4/4 used for anthems. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/736 "2010-02-22T08:13:32Z")
Dave Brubeck’s Take Five is in 5/4 time. I found that out about 3 months ago while I was looking at sheet music for it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/737 "2010-02-22T22:22:56Z")
_The Blues Brothers_: in the “Shake a Tail Feather” sequence is a woman in a red shirt and a very flimsy bra. ---
**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 22, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/738 "2010-02-22T22:28:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Dave Brubeck’s Take Five is in 5/4 time. I found that out about 3 months ago while I was looking at sheet music for it. Think bigger. None of the songs on that album are in “normal” time signatures. Of course, the album is titled _Time Out_. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/739 "2010-02-22T23:14:06Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > Wasn’t it in the early 90s when bands were trying to show how “old school” and “deep” they were by getting vinyl pressings of their albums released in addition to their tapes and CDs? > > Just thinking aloud. I remember the Fugees doing that - and thinking how pretentious that seemed to me. Pretty much all dance music intended for clubs and the like was released on vinyl in that time, usually in 12" format with 2 to 4 tracks on a disc or as a full album. Obscurer dance tracks were (and possibly still are) frequently vinyl only. Much easier to deal with as a DJ than CDs. To have the ease of handling of vinyl with all the benefits of digital recordings, there’s a number of options like [Final Scratch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Scratch) - and the first version of that was only released in 1998, when computers were just about fast enough to handle that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/740 "2010-02-22T23:27:35Z")
I watched the original Planet of the Apes several times before I picked up on the ‘See no evil, hear no evil’ bit. [http://www.mediacircus.net/pota.html](http://www.mediacircus.net/pota.html) [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=36) [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=38)