# 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:** 58
**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:** [July 19, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1141 "2011-07-19T16:41:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem with robbing houses on Christmas Eve is that the presents usually haven’t been handed out yet. They’re wrapped up in paper and hidden in closets. On Christmas itself, everything’s been brought out into the open and revealed. Exactly–everything’s been opened and used and played with and some of it’s been put away. I’m sure they’d much rather grab everything when it’s still new in its packaging and all stacked together in one spot. Wrapping paper isn’t exactly a bank vault–it only takes a second to rip it off and make sure you’re grabbing an iPod and not a My Little Pony–and there’s nothing that says that burglars can’t just grab everything and go through it later, tossing the stuff they don’t care about. (Kind of like a purse snatcher almost never cares about the purse and will pitch it after emptying out all the goodies.) ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1142 "2011-07-29T23:23:22Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I just rewatched the Buffy musical, “Once More With Feeling”, and didn’t realize until then that Spike literally saved Buffy’s life. Under the influence of the Demon Sweet, Buffy was going to dance, sing and spin herself to death until Spike intercepted her and stopped her from doing so. > > I never liked the Buffy & Spike are in love story line, but I feel so stupid for not realizing the above until now. I just noticed something else about that same episode. The very first theory was correct. It _was_ a dancing demon. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1143 "2011-07-29T23:47:29Z")
That’s always been my favourite gag from the episode. (Though Under Your Spell ending on ‘You make me com-’ thanks to a quick scene change, and a couple of the bits in Walk Through the Fire - Spike’s ‘I’m free if that bitch dies…I’d better help her out’, and Willow’s ‘I think this line’s mostly filler…’ - come close.) ---
**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:** [July 30, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1144 "2011-07-30T01:09:23Z")
Hey, you know the movie _The Philadelphia Experiment_? Kinda sounds like the Manhattan Project, doesn’t it. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1145 "2011-07-30T01:20:59Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Hey, you know the movie _The Philadelphia Experiment_? Kinda sounds like the Manhattan Project, doesn’t it. Duh. Except there really was a [Philadelphia Experiment](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/523/did-the-u-s-navy-teleport-ships-in-the-philadelphia-experiment), of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1146 "2011-08-05T02:11:00Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > I was watching Keeping Up Appearances, a Brit-com about a snobbish social climbing woman and her hen-pecked milquetoast husband and noticed something I hadn’t really connected before. The main character, Hyacinth Bucket insists that her last name is pronounced “Bouquet” (Boo-KAY) trying to make herself seem more sophisticated (her husband says he USED to be plain old Charlie Bucket before he married Hyacinth). Her sisters are Rose, Daisy and Violet. In nearly 15 years of watching the show, I never caught the underlying joke of her name. She and her sisters are all named for flowers and she insists her last name be pronounced as “Bouquet” (as in flowers). I have watched it religiously for the last 12 years, and it NEVER occured to me either…till now. hh ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1147 "2011-08-05T02:43:18Z")
Not exactly obvious, but only after the umpteenth viewing of James Cameron’s _Avatar_ did I notice that the native Na’vi have four fingers on each hand, and the human avatar bodies have five. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1148 "2011-08-09T19:07:07Z")
Billy Joel’s song, _Only the Good Die Young_: At first I thought it was a lighthearted song about having fun instead of being too serious, working too hard. Then there was the lines about the guy and his crowd that suggested there was an element of wrong side of the tracks, but maybe the reputation was undeserved. Eventually I pegged that the whole song is trying to convince the virgin girl she should have sex with him, with such wonderful logic as “you’re going to have sex sometime, it might as well be with me right now”. (Paraphrased to make the message more clear.) Not so much the fun song. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1149 "2011-08-10T00:21:32Z")
I had been hearing the Midnight Oil song “Beds are Burning” for many years when I realized that the lines “Holden wrecks and boiling diesels, Steam in forty five degrees” and “The western desert lives and breathes, In forty five degrees” were talking centigrade and describing a very hot place, not a cool 45 degree fahrenheit. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1150 "2011-08-10T02:13:44Z")
One that took me way too long to figure out. In _Yellow Submarine_, there’s a scene with a lever that shouldn’t be pulled. Ringo says, “I can’t help it. I’m a born lever puller.” He then pulls the lever to disastrous yet hilarious consequences. Now I saw _Yellow Submarine_ way back when it was playing in theatres. I’ve probably watched it at least a dozen times over the years. But it wasn’t until last year that I finally noticed Ringo’s line was a pun on him being a Liverpooler. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1151 "2011-08-10T02:32:57Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > For being something of a silly story about dragons, it’s also an amazing book about the redemption of human nature. Most of Pratchett’s books are like this. They are always worth a re-read. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1152 "2011-10-19T00:52:45Z")
Might as well revive this once again. I wouldn’t have thought I’d realize something new about Monty Python and the Holy Grail; hell, I practically have the thing memorized and assumed I’d spotted all the little jokes and oddities (the monk who stumbles after smacking his head, Bedivere holding a swallow tied to a coconut, the fake Sir Robin in the cave scene, etc.) I was thinking today about the Jackie Kennedy doc (shut up) and the Camelot musical that was one of her favorites. And started musing about the scene in Holy Grail. _Camelot…_ _Camelot…_ _Camelot… It’s only a model. Shhh._ Then they jump to an absurdly funny song with dancing knights and lots of singing. _Oh, we’re Knights of the Round Table We dance when e’er we’re able_ Kind of an odd scene, I’ve always thought. It’s kind of plopped in there, with even less connection to the plot than most scenes in that movie, and the plot is tenuous at best. _We do routines and parlour scenes With footwork impecc-able_ I mean, it’s _funny,_ but aside from Sir Robin’s minstrels (who are an integral part of the humor of the scene they’re in) it’s the only song and dance number in the whole movie. _We’re knights of the round table. Our shows are formid-able, But many times we’re given rhymes That are quite unsing-able_ :eek: :smack: Song and dance. Son of a gun, they were poking fun at the musical. The movie version only came out a few years before Holy Grail. That’s why that scene is in there. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1153 "2011-10-19T02:54:52Z")
I knew that House is essentially Sherlock Holmes in a medical setting instead of a crime setting. What I did not realize until today is the pun in the name: Holmes=Homes=House. Face. Palm. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1154 "2011-10-19T04:03:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One that took me way too long to figure out. > > In _Yellow Submarine_, there’s a scene with a lever that shouldn’t be pulled. Ringo says, “I can’t help it. I’m a born lever puller.” He then pulls the lever to disastrous yet hilarious consequences. > > Now I saw _Yellow Submarine_ way back when it was playing in theatres. I’ve probably watched it at least a dozen times over the years. But it wasn’t until last year that I finally noticed Ringo’s line was a pun on him being a Liverpooler. That feels like you’re stretching a little - not least of which the correct term is Liverpudlian… BUT, being immature and all that, I would have thought a reference to masturbation would be more likely there - I can’t help myself, I’m just a born pudding puller. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1155 "2011-10-19T04:43:00Z")
_Young Frankenstein:_ When Frau Blucher (neeeiiigghh) picks up the candelabra, says “Follow me, please,” and leads the others upstairs. Halfway up, she suddenly spins around and says “Stay close to the candles! The staircase…can be treacherous.” Dr. Fronk-en-steen does a take _(Okay that was weird)_ but continues after her without comment. It may have been twenty or thirty times viewing that movie before it finally hit me: The Candles. Are Not. Lit. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1156 "2011-10-19T06:24:59Z")
I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1157 "2011-10-19T06:36:29Z")
The candles aren’t lit, so the light is coming from some other source, so they don’t need to stay close to the candles to see where they’re walking. Or, to put a slightly more meta spin on it, they’re filming a scene where the candles are supposed to be the only source of light, but ‘forgot’ to light them. Never been able to sit through more than the first little bit of that movie, so I don’t know which is the joke they were more likely going for. (Though Frankenstein’s reaction suggests the former.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1158 "2011-10-19T07:52:41Z")
I only noticed a while back that the music at the end of Robot Chicken is [The Gonk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEBPmY_5L4k), originally used in Dawn of the Dead. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1159 "2011-10-19T09:05:42Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > One that took me way too long to figure out. > > > > In _Yellow Submarine_, there’s a scene with a lever that shouldn’t be pulled. Ringo says, “I can’t help it. I’m a born lever puller.” He then pulls the lever to disastrous yet hilarious consequences. > > > > Now I saw _Yellow Submarine_ way back when it was playing in theatres. I’ve probably watched it at least a dozen times over the years. But it wasn’t until last year that I finally noticed Ringo’s line was a pun on him being a Liverpooler. > > That feels like you’re stretching a little - not least of which the correct term is Liverpudlian… > > BUT, being immature and all that, I would have thought a reference to masturbation would be more likely there - I can’t help myself, I’m just a born pudding puller. In a movie filled with dozens of weak puns (“Blue Glass? It must be from Kentucky.” “I went out with his (Frankenstein’s) sister, Phyllis”.), you think that one is stretching? ---
**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:** [October 19, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1160 "2011-10-19T15:26:18Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > In case you’re still reading this thread…I caught this _[Home Alone reference]_ and laughed. > > Well played. Oh, yeah, I never stop checking threads like this (or the _Workplace Griping_ thread in The Pit… quite the cliff-hangering going on there). But my comment was really an attempt to interject some levity into a thread that had derailed into “The Secularization of Wizard Jesus’s Birthday” Pontification. Glad we’re back on track. [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=57) [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=59)