# 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:** 26
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/502 "2021-05-15T00:08:34Z")
Could Saving Private Ryan have been averted if everyone had a cell phone? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/503 "2021-05-15T00:41:22Z")
No, but _E.T._ might have been. ---
**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 15, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/504 "2021-05-15T01:08:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > 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? Not just a forest. An EVIL forest. The titular Witch was messing with them. That’s why they could walk all day in a straight line and end up back where they started. > [@Asuka](#): > > Could Saving Private Ryan have been averted if everyone had a cell phone? What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2021, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/505 "2021-05-15T01:48:39Z")
To be fair, given that Hollywood has fully bought in on the putting-famous-actors-in-CGI business model, the 1994 Best Picture win for _Forrest Gump_ over _Pulp Fiction_, an arty, talky film referencing French cinema no one except its creator really emulates anymore, was both prescient and correct. What?!? ---
**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 15, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/507 "2021-05-15T20:25:52Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Thread over. Thread over, man! Ha! I got it. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/508 "2021-05-16T12:08:47Z")
Once upon a time… About the only time people (including me) saw The Wizard of Oz was on black and white TVs. I didn’t get the “horse of a different color” line. ---
**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 16, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/509 "2021-05-16T14:03:04Z")
I was completely unaware that Kansas was B&W and Oz was color until I bought the Marvel and DC comics adaptation in the Seventies. [https://m.imgur.com/Ppy9fQf?r](https://m.imgur.com/Ppy9fQf?r) ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/510 "2021-05-16T15:14:26Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > The Joker and Harlie Quinn are not a couple to emulate. > He is a psychopathic mass murderer and she is a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Well, she’s a mass murderer, too, sometimes (continuity and depiction being quite inconsistent). I’d say she’s more like the women with Charles Manson, as she was wasn’t originally a hostage, and he didn’t (originally) have the kind of power over her that captors would have.Though that’s far from a perfect comparison, too, and it’s so different. Anyway, It was more psychological manipulation of a person who was free when he was was the prisoner. But yes, the relationship was toxic and abusive from the start. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/511 "2021-05-16T15:24:14Z")
Lots of people loathe the 1995 film _Judge Dredd_, starring Sylvester Stallone. Lots of people love the 2012 film _Dredd_, starring Karl Urban. I am one of them. The weird thing is, the 1995 film is more faithful to the original comic books. Judge Dredd is not an homage to hard-boiled detectives. He is a parody of them. ---
**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 16, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/512 "2021-05-16T17:02:46Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The weird thing is, the 1995 film is more faithful to the original comic books. > Judge Dredd is not an homage to hard-boiled detectives. > He is a parody of them. I dunno about that. Dredd was definitely conceived as a parody of violent cop movies like _Dirty Harry_, but neither film really seems to lean into that. Which is more forgivable in a film made in 2012, when a parody of late '70s/early '80s action tropes would just come across as dated. The '95 film not only doesn’t come across as parody, it doesn’t seem to realize that it’s the sort of movie that the Dredd comics were invented to make fun of - and it also doesn’t realize that in 1995, the action tropes it was unironically employing were already feeling dated. The first film does deserve some credit for trying to capture the comic book weirdness of Mega-City One, with flying cars and clones and whatnot, while the second film is basically South Central Los Angeles with bigger slums and fancier guns. I’m not sure that adds up, overall, to a more faithful adaptation, though. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/513 "2021-05-16T17:03:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Alien Monster gets aboard a spaceship and starts killing off people, moving about through the (ludicrously large) air ducts and picking them off one by one. The monster is too big and strong to attack directly, so they try various strategems to get rid of it. These fail, sometimes subverted by the crew itself (unintentionally, in the case of It!) Eventually the remaining members of the crew get rid of it by putting on space suits and opening the hatch. I always thought It! was about a killer clown terrorizing kids. 😆 ---
**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 16, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/514 "2021-05-16T17:29:46Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The weird thing is, the 1995 film is more faithful to the original comic books. I disagree, strongly, as a _Squaxx dek Thargo_ of some 40 years. It hews to some original plotlines, sure, but it didn’t have the feel. And to some it may seem like a picayune thing, but it broke the cardinal rule, and that’s an automatic red card. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/515 "2021-05-16T17:54:22Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > it broke the cardinal rule… Never read the comics, and I gave up after five minutes of the first movie, but I bet I know what that is: Dredd took his helmet off! (If I’m right, I owe it to the Mandolorian’s helmet rule, which made me think of Judge Dredd at the time… AND the film _“Inside Man”,_ where the protagonist doesn’t show his face. I heard a rumor that Denzel turned down the role for that reason) ---
**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 16, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/516 "2021-05-16T18:20:42Z")
Correct. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/517 "2021-05-17T00:14:23Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > He is a psychopathic mass murderer and she is a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. She’s been written a lot of different ways: “Do you see that too? I’ve been off my medication and I thought maybe…” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/518 "2021-05-17T00:22:04Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > was completely unaware that Kansas was B&W and Oz was color until I bought the Marvel and DC comics adaptation in the Seventies. I don’t think I was aware of it until I shared a house with a film-studies student. And he had been sitting up the back of a film-studies screening, feeling mellow – as film-studies students often did at the time – when the screen burst into technicolor, and he let out a loud whoop – to the amusement of his lecturer and those who already knew what was coming. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/519 "2021-05-17T02:36:09Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > I agree that the reinterpretation of 5 Little Piggies is forced. However, sometimes combinations are the best. I do think the first piggie goes to market of his own volition to engage in commerce. But since the third piggie procures roast beef and eats it, it’s presumptive that pork products and pigs are for sale at the market. A pig buying and selling other pigs at a market is far more insidious than an agencyless pig being sold for slaughter by an unnamed character. Maybe the big toe piggy went to market along with the little toe piggy, intending to exchange said piggy for currency (and knowing full well what would become of the little fella). But the little piggy, upon reaching the marketplace, realized what was up, bolted, and scampered back home as fast as he could, wee-wee-weeing in terror every step of the way. ---
**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 17, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/520 "2021-05-17T02:44:24Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > The weird thing is, the 1995 film is more faithful to the original comic books. > Judge Dredd is not an homage to hard-boiled detectives. > He is a parody of them. As a Dredd fan myself, the best thing about Stallone’s version is that they really got the aesthetic right. Urban’s version was much closer to Dredd’s comic book ethos. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/521 "2021-05-17T05:17:30Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I’d argue that nobody acts with intelligence when first faced with a situation they’ve never prepared for, but usually by the end of the movie, at least one person learned enough to combat the disaster. It’s a steep learning curve when an alien psychopath is on the loose. > > From what I recall of _Alien_, the stupid decisions made by the crew were understandable, considering how unprepared they were for that type of situation. > > They bring back Kane after he’s been attacked by an alien breeder. Ripley didn’t want to let them aboard, citing quarantine protocol. Ash overrides her decision. The rest of the crew thinks he’s doing it out of mercy, but he had his own agenda. > > When Ash tries to pull the creature off Kane’s face, it bleeds acid that eats through the floor and presents a hazard to the ship’s hull. That turned out to be a stupid decision, but they had no indication that kind of danger would result. They were trying to rescue their comrade. > > They find the dead creature, and Kane appears to be OK. They had been contemplating putting him back in the freezer before he revived. They should have done so anyway, but they had been through a traumatic experience and wanted to get back to their regular lives. Besides, Ash, the secret robot, kept silent about Kane’s condition, because he had orders to bring alien lifeforms back and the crew was considered expendable. > > A new creature tears out of Kane’s body and escapes. This blows their minds. They’re understandably shocked, and Ash prevents them from killing it. It gets away and they have no reason to think it would grow to such a massive size in such a short time. They learn of this new development when it kills Brett and hauls him away. > > After heated discussion, the crew can only draw on their own experiences in controlling large wild animals. None of them have had training to do this. They don’t want to risk damaging the hull with projectile weapons. They’re showing caution. Their next best weapon is a flame thrower. They don’t realize the creature is more intelligent than a wild animal. How could they? It’s only a few hours old. There goes Dallas. > > They discover the truth about Ash and how he’s been secretly aiding the alien. A fight ensues, they take out Ash after he taunts them. They realize they’ve been fucked from the word Go. They had been engaging in a lengthy boring mission and all the sudden their world has fallen apart and they decide they have to abandon ship. Was that stupid? They decided discretion is the better part of valor, and nothing they’ve done has been effective. Besides, they’re now down to three. Parker and Lambert are ambushed as they’re hurriedly loading supplies into the escape pod as Ripley prepares to launch. Were they stupid for hurrying? Parker wanted to incinerate the Alien, but Lambert was frozen in panic like a deer stuck in the headlights. He tried to save her but paid for it. Was he stupid for trying to rescue his friend? He had just lost his other crew members and couldn’t live with himself if he abandoned Lambert. > > I’m not sure where their actions could be considered idiotic. They were idiots to not get into EVA suits and decompress the whole boat. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/522 "2021-05-17T05:46:18Z")
The alien doesn’t need air to breathe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=27)