# 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:** 5
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/81 "2021-04-23T14:30:24Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Of course the video has to feature the Boys themselves so it gets very meta and confusing. Exactly, and that’s where the White Hip-Hop Inception Fun begins… (I edited out a lot of my other meta-questions, which can really only be asked late at night with alcohol involved). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/82 "2021-04-23T14:35:17Z")
Yeah, I agree completely. I never thought that Vader’s offer was anything but sincere. As it turns out, Vader can’t actually betray the Emperor to take over the Empire - hence him stopping Luke from killing him in ROTJ - but he can betray the Emperor to save his son’s life. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/83 "2021-04-23T14:35:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t know of anyone who thought they were using Transparent Aluminum, As noted above, I did. And why not - they’re planning on taking umpty-thousand pounds of water and whales into space, through time and landing during a whale-probe induced extinction event in progress. The ship is surely going to undergo a lot of stress during this passage (remember Tomorrow is Yesterday?) You really think plexiglas is going to take those loads and not fail? Of course they’d use aluminum! I’m sure they’d rather have tri-titanium, but Scotty didn’t have time to mine the asteroids to get it. eta, and there’s no reason it has to be transparent anything. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/84 "2021-04-23T14:36:08Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Apparently, a lot of people got confused about all that, No kidding! > [@CalMeacham](#): > > and the first mention of cherubim in the Bible has them guarding the Garden of Eden. Guarding it from WHAT? (maybe keeping A&E in?) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/85 "2021-04-23T14:43:58Z")
Keeping them out. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/86 "2021-04-23T14:44:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The ship is surely going to undergo a lot of stress during this passage (remember Tomorrow is Yesterday?) You really think plexiglas is going to take those loads and not fail? Except they explicitly say the plexiglass can do just that. “What thickness would be required to withstand X pressure over a sheet of Y dimensions?” “That’s easy, 6 inches, we have stuff like that in stock.” That’s when Scotty brings up the transparent aluminum, which could do the job with 1 inch thickness. Then the deal is made. Hell, the guy even says it would take years to figure out the process to make the TA, and yet, they install the tank the next day. I mean, okay, yes, the movie is based on time-travel, but not like that! 😃 ---
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/87 "2021-04-23T14:48:49Z")
Rule of Cool. An opaque metal tank with a sticky note that says “Whales Inside”? Not cool. Transparent aluminum tank? Cool. Ignoring the time constraints and a few laws of physics? Also cool. … eta: A Star Trek movie that was a lot more fun than the one before and the one after? Very cool. (I told my kids when they were young: Watch the even-numbered films.) ---
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/88 "2021-04-23T14:52:40Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Guarding it from WHAT? (maybe keeping A&E in?) Keeping Adam and Eve _out_ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/89 "2021-04-23T14:52:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@CalMeacham](#): > > > > and the first mention of cherubim in the Bible has them guarding the Garden of Eden. > > Guarding it from WHAT? (maybe keeping A&E in?) From Adam and Eve or any of their descendants, so we humans can no longer eat from the Tree of Life and be immortal. The angels arrive after they get kicked out. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/90 "2021-04-23T14:56:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The angels arrive after they get kicked out. Ahhh! (to all that replied.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/91 "2021-04-23T15:02:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This is a real “fake geek girls” comment. Weird, haven’t seen one of those in years. If they were calling themselves geeks/comic fans or I gave a shit about the sanctity of geek culture, this would have a lot more merit. But, sure fine… it’s impossible for anyone to casually misread a pop culture thing and run with it because they think it’s cool and everyone glorfying Joker & Quinn’s relationship is really intentionally into super toxic relationships and Stockholm syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/92 "2021-04-23T15:23:26Z")
I find that Fans really overestimate the investment an average person puts into any pop culture image. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/93 "2021-04-23T15:32:28Z")
Exactly. It’s pop culture – most people just see an image (or sound, etc) they like and run with it. Pretty much by definition: If everyone recognizes something, most of those people aren’t spending a ton of time thinking about it past a superficial level. Myself included. And, honestly, when it comes down to the dark stuff, I’d say that “Just didn’t think about it too hard” is the most charitable explanation versus “Totally knew that this thing’s meaning is absolutely awful but glorifies it anyway” ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/94 "2021-04-23T15:40:41Z")
And, as the title of this thread is about Pop Culture misunderstandings, any objection that sounds like “This was addressed in ‘Tales of the Cosmic Corps’ issue 112 from August 1997” or “The liner notes on the band’s Obscura album” kind of misses the point. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/95 "2021-04-23T15:44:45Z")
Lost: I don’t think they died in the plane crash. Didn’t they all die when the little atomic bomb went off and the flash sideways happened after that? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/96 "2021-04-23T15:54:36Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > > [@Disheavel](#): > > > > I can’t believe I am the first to put out: Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. I mean the song is used as a national anthem of pride… but the lyrics and meaning are anti-war and effectively anti-US system. > > Another contender in a similar vein: “Little Pink Houses” by John Mellenkampf. The McCain campaign used it in 2008. Apparently they liked the chorus and didn’t listen to the rest of it: > > > "Cause they told me when I was younger, > > said, `Boy, you gonna be president.’ > > But just like everything else, those old crazy dreams > > just kind of came and went. > > To be bipartisan about this, I’ll say Bill Clinton’s use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow” did not bode well: > > > Though you wont’ believe that it’s true, > > I never meant any harm to you. > > What is _wrong_ with these people? CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son’ is yet another example. The first two lines are often used in a rah-rah, patriotic context: “Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they’re red, white and blue, yeah!” (full stop) When the song is actually a bitter indictment of hypocrisy among the conservative upper class. The song “There She Goes”, originally played by the La’s, written by La’s front man Lee Mavers, but more famously covered by Sixpence None the Richer, has a complicated story. On the surface the lyrics can be taken as a love song, but have also been widely interpreted as being about heroin use. The La’s denied it. Mavers admitted to trying heroin in 1990, but the song was written in 1988. So it could be a simple love song, or the band’s denial that it’s about heroin could be as believable as John Lennon’s claim that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds had nothing to do with LSD, heavens no! ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/97 "2021-04-23T15:56:28Z")
It seems the discussion has really been more about people having different interpretations of stuff than being wrong. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/98 "2021-04-23T15:57:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son’ is yet another example. The first two lines are often used in a rah-rah, patriotic context: And John Fogerty sent a cease-and-desist order to Donald Trump to keep him from using that song. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/99 "2021-04-23T16:02:17Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > And John Fogerty sent a cease-and-desist order to Donald Trump to keep him from using that song He had to get in a pretty long line! > **[23 artists who have spoken out against Donald Trump playing their music at...](https://www.businessinsider.com/artists-who-dont-want-trump-using-their-music-2018-11)** > > Here are all the musicians who have spoken out against Donald Trump using their music at his rallies — including Neil Young. The Smiths, Rihanna, ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564/100 "2021-04-23T16:04:49Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > Lost: I don’t think they died in the plane crash. Didn’t they all die when the little atomic bomb went off and the flash sideways happened after that? Nope. The blast just sent them back to the future. Everything that happened in the last season actually happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-stuff-everyone-seems-to-misunderstand/940564.md?page=6)