# Pop Culture Stuff Everyone Seems to Misunderstand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564 "2021-04-22T19:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/482 "2021-05-14T14:22:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If you didn’t think the small, classically cylindrical spaceship in It! didn’t have the claustrophobic feel attributed to **Alien** (which took place in a freakin’ HUGE ore-processing ship), then I think we were watching different films. Firstly - the _Nostromo_ wasn’t that big, the ore refinery was a separate vessel and none of the action happens there. Secondly: I don’t know _what_ this is (other than unintentionally funny. The continual moaning!), but “claustrophobic” it isn’t. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HM8ZYj7bNBY/maxresdefault.jpg "The Last Stand From It The Terror From Beyond Space") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8ZYj7bNBY) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/483 "2021-05-14T14:30:35Z")
So THIS is claustrophobic? > **[Hyper-Sleep Vault – Alien 1979 | Zouch Magazine](https://zouchmagazine.com/building-better-worlds-the-production-design-of-alien/deadlymovies_alien1/#.YJ6JCqhKiUk)** > > Stoking the independent spirit of artists and writers since 2010. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NWnlrhB7nho/maxresdefault.jpg "Alien: Isolation - Nostromo Ambience (Hypersleep Chamber)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWnlrhB7nho) ![1,871 votes and 43 comments so far on Reddit](https://preview.redd.it/ai8a6o42tar31.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=68a6f72072816865764b56458f40ca777ecab112) > **[r/ThingsCutInHalfPorn - USCSS Nostromo \[1920x924\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThingsCutInHalfPorn/comments/9lex1z/uscss_nostromo_1920x924/)** > > 38 votes and 5 comments so far on Reddit …and a lot of the time they WERE wandering around through the Ore Processing part (that’s where the Alien grabs Harry Dean Stanton’s character) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/484 "2021-05-14T14:37:18Z")
Too late to edit: > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Starlog** and **Cinefantastique** and other fantasy film magazines at the time were pretyty unanimous in drawing the comparisons. **Cinefantastique** devoted many pages to it, in fact. So why did you link to a blog post that shows that has things like: > “There’s a whole roster of similarities between what I wrote and [_Alien_],” he continued. “They’re both about a small group of people trapped aboard a spacecraft with an inimical creature out to get them and which, in fact, knocks them off one by one. **No problem there; that’s a pretty general plot outline.** […]And at the end of both stories, they’re dispatched by suffocation” My emphasis - way to undercut your own stance there, again. Although, Bixby makes the same mistake you did as to how the xenomorph in _Alien_ is dispatched. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/485 "2021-05-14T14:38:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > More importantly, while _Alien_ isn’t by any stretch an “idiot plot” as RC claims, nobody raves about the movie because of its brilliantly intricate plotting. The plot is serviceable but not really memorable: after having seen it twice, I don’t remember much of the details. We’re not talking _Sixth Sense_ or _Usual Suspects_ or _Gone Girl_ or some other movie where the plot’s the star of the show. I’m going to step in and defend the characters in _Alien_ as I think they’re one of the reasons the movie is so well thought of. The fact that most of the cast wasn’t made up of young people (I think Cartwright and Weaver were the youngest at 29-30) helped lend the movie a bit of credibility, they were all good actors, and the dialogue was pretty good. Brett and Parker bitching about their shares, Ripley chewing Ash out for overriding her orders and breaking quarantine, and Parker jokingly saying to Kane “the food’s not that bad” before realizing there’s a serious problem all really contributed to the setting and mood. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/486 "2021-05-14T14:46:47Z")
Brett is grabbed in the landing leg chamber. Which is part of _Nostromo_-proper. And the claustrophobia isn’t in the bare set designs, it’s in how its filmed - but ask an actual claustrophobe how they’d feel about those pods, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/487 "2021-05-14T15:01:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > My emphasis - way to undercut your own stance there, again Not everything on the site contradicts my argument. I cited it for the other reasons > [@](#): > > And the claustrophobia isn’t in the bare set designs, it’s in how its filmed - Really lit up is how it was filmed. While the scene you linked to is noticeably dark and the room far more cramped. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/488 "2021-05-14T15:13:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Brett is grabbed in the landing leg chamber. Which is part of _Nostromo_ -proper. Really? The Landing Leg compartment is filled with hanging and rattling chains and huge open areas? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/489 "2021-05-14T15:32:06Z")
Why is a thorough knowledge of SF movie history required to properly judge whether _Alien_ is a good movie? It scared the piss out of me and my brothers when we saw it in the theater when it first came out. I later picked up the graphic novel (drawn by Walt Simonson) which included scenes that weren’t in the movie, and it filled in some continuity gaps. For example, there was a scene where the women discussed Ash and his indifference to women. There was also a scene where Ripley told Dallas she didn’t trust Ash. He replied “He was a last minute replacement. So were you.” So the crew did have reservations about Ash, but still never suspected what he really was. In addition, I was exposed to the nightmarish artistic genius that is HR Giger. It exposed me to another dimension of visual design and I like to believe I benefited from the movie experience. I fully understand no movie is universally liked, and those reasons can be truly profound. I don’t think it’s case of “misunderstanding” in the case of _Alien_. If it can provoke this level of deep think, the art did its job, whether it intended to or not. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/490 "2021-05-14T15:53:30Z")
It’s also [conspicuously filled](https://youtu.be/M7wQb9_x7i0?t=22) with the actual, you know, landing legs. But my, how “really lit up” it all is. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/491 "2021-05-14T16:00:09Z")
[More on the Claw Room](http://alienexplorations.blogspot.com/2013/07/claw-room-temple-environment.html), as Scott called it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/492 "2021-05-14T16:14:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Starlog** and **Cinefantastique** and other fantasy film magazines at the time were pretyty unanimous in drawing the comparisons. I pulled out my contemporary issues. By Sept 1979 issue, no actual article mentions any comparison to _It!_, at all. But there is one letter to the editor: > [@Tony Grey of Toronto](#): > > However, I wonder about the originality of the story itself. It seems to be a combination of several old SF pictures: (1) _Night of the Blood Beast_ - in which an alien uses the body of a living being to incubate its young; (2) _It! The Terror From Beyond Space_…; and (3) _Planet of the Vampires_ - in which a spaceship’s crew crew discovers a derelict starship and the giagantic skeletal remains of its occupants. He goes on, however, to note “Nonetheless, _Alien_ is a superior SF thriller and I am looking forward to seeing it again.” In addition, no action takes place in the refinery. The Nostromo is just the tug. The linked floor plan only covers one deck of the Nostromo. There were three. But really, I think we need to talk about the bonus situation. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/493 "2021-05-14T17:03:20Z")
From the perspective of the viewer, _Alien_ is notable for its brilliant production design, strong female lead, complete lack of a romantic subplot and the superlative performance of Bolaji Badejo. The first part of the story has an efficient set-up (not sure what the issue with it is), great atmosphere on the planet and icky alien action. John Hurt getting too close to the egg is arguably stupid, but a common enough trope in sci-fi. Following the chest-buster scene and the puppet alien’s taunting squeal (my favorite line of dialogue in the film), the movie devolves into a slasher film in space whose primary aesthetic is killing off its cast in ways maximizing tension and culminating in shock. As in all slasher films, this makes for a repetitive and predictable structure necessitating characters to act against logic so they can be killed. _Alien_ was released between _Halloween_ and _Friday the 13th_, the two films that launched a wave of slasher movies in the U.S. and which trace their lineage primarily to the heinous legacy of _Psycho_ (1960). Such movies – I call them “Cinema of the Victim” - tend to be remembered for the sensational nature of a few scenes while their general dreariness gets neglected. For many viewers, they ultimately add up to less than the sum of their parts. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/494 "2021-05-14T19:12:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But by far the bulk of the plot comes from **It!** This utterly bewildered me and then I had the sudden insight that you must not be talking about the Stephen King novel. ETA: Alien is one of the best movies ever made and you can trust me on this. I’m always right about this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/495 "2021-05-14T20:11:38Z")
So… should we just go ahead and change the title to ~~Pop Culture~~ _Alien_ Stuff Everyone Seems to Misunderstand ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/496 "2021-05-14T20:52:59Z")
Thread over. Thread over, man! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/497 "2021-05-14T21:35:57Z")
They cut the power to the thread! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/498 "2021-05-14T22:03:14Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > So… should we just go ahead and change the title to > ~~Pop Culture~~ _Alien_ Stuff Everyone Seems to Misunderstand I keep checking the thread on the off chance that someone has something to say about something other than _Alien_. I may give up soon, though. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/499 "2021-05-14T22:25:32Z")
What elevates _Alien_ above the disposable pulp fiction it’s being spuriously compared to is precisely the fact that it does not exist solely to pile plot events upon themselves in as much intricacy and quantity as possible, which its detractors are so indoctrinated into believing is the sole conceivable purpose of fiction that they don’t even realize they are operating under it as a premise, or that another view is possible. Creating an atmosphere, evoking an emotional response in an audience, and enacting an elaborate metaphor for sexual violence are perfectly valid goals of moviemaking, and keeping the plot small enough to avoid getting in the way is exactly what’s called for here. Also, if the fact that the characters are acting like idiots is perfectly explained and acknowledged within the story, then it’s not an “idiot plot.” Arguing that “the characters panicked when faced with an unknown killing machine, therefore the movie is bad because I can link to a TV Tropes page” is really a kissing cousin to the wave of last year’s “The Shining ignores Jack’s abuse” critiques from low-functioning journalists. The movie doesn’t “rely on” the characters being idiots for no reason to proceed; the movie is _about_ the characters being idiots for reasons that are entirely justified within the film itself. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/500 "2021-05-14T23:30:11Z")
I don’t know if it’s everyone, but I’ve heard quite a few people opine that it doesn’t make sense that none of the characters in _The Blair Witch Project_ had a cell phone. While the movie was released in 1999, the conceit was that this was found footage from a project that was filmed in 1994 and I think a lot of people forget this. But even if it was set in 1999, only about 30% of the US population had cell phones at the time. I was in my early 20s at the time and I don’t think anyone in my circle of friends owned one. Cell plans back then were terrible with most users only have a few hours of air time each month and were charged an arm and a leg if they went over their time. And I think these were graduate students in the movie. Graduate students aren’t typically flush with cash. I suppose this misunderstanding is because of how quickly cell phones became ubiquitous. I’m a late adopter and when I got my first cell phone in 2005 I was one of the last people I knew to get one. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/501 "2021-05-15T00:00:39Z")
Not to mention the patchy network coverage. Even if they’d had a cell phone, how well would it have worked in the middle of a forest? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=26)