# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/583 "2021-05-21T22:48:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > This 1979 article from Cinefantastique makes a good case that Alien was largely knowingly copied from It! > > > > (unable to copy relevant portion – go to website) > > [https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Alien-The-8th-Passenger-1979-almost-has-the-same-plot-as-It-The-Terror-from-Beyond-Space-1958](https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Alien-The-8th-Passenger-1979-almost-has-the-same-plot-as-It-The-Terror-from-Beyond-Space-1958) Even if we assume your premise, so what? If _Alien_ is a remake of _It! The Terror From Beyond Space_, does that make it a bad film? _Westside Story_ is a remake of _Romeo and Juliet_ - is it thereby an inferior movie? Or _Bridget Jones’ Diary_, which is an updated _Pride and Prejudice_? There are a good number of movies and books that are reworkings of earlier stories - _Clueless_ is _Emma_, _Ten Things I Hate About You_ is _The Taming of the Shrew_, _Ran_ is _King Lear_. Stephen Fry wrote _Revenge_, which is such an unapologetic rewrite of _The Count of Monte Cristo_ that he even gave his characters names that were anagrams of their Dumas originals. Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, and you’re not saying that _Alien_ is bad because it’s a remake of _It._ ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/584 "2021-05-22T00:52:52Z")
When Star Wars first came out, the fact that it was deliberately derivative was considered a major strength of the movie. ---
**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 22, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/585 "2021-05-22T11:09:36Z")
I notice you’ve not corrected yourself on where Brett is grabbed. What makes you think your recollection of this article is any more accurate? ---
**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:** [May 22, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/586 "2021-05-22T18:13:07Z")
The fact that it was basically a modern version of the '40’s serials as well as science fiction adventure stories going all the way back to the 30’s was a genius move. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/587 "2021-05-23T16:25:36Z")
Took my now 91 year old mother to see Indiana Jones when it first came out. She was not overly impressed,she thought it was something she’d already seen in her youth. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/588 "2021-05-23T16:41:16Z")
My mom had a similar reaction to Star Wars in the 70s - she had seen Western serials in the 40s, and this was nothing new. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/589 "2021-05-24T00:50:24Z")
When _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ was being critized for being heavily derivative of the serials of the 30’s and 40’s, Lawrence Kasden invoked the following (I forget the actual derivation): _“If you steal from one source, it’s plagiarism. If you steal from ten sources, it’s research.”_ ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/590 "2021-05-24T06:28:14Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > . If I wrote a book and it became famous, someone would probably have a great time dissecting why I named the bad guy Jason, arguing that the meaning - healer - was an ironic this or connect it to the Golden Fleece or whatever when the simple truth is the character got named Jason after a bully at a job I had. Obviously you named the killer Jason after the Friday the 13th films. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=29)