# "Princess Bride" nitpick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709 "2014-05-19T02:08:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/41 "2014-05-20T03:31:28Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > The very best part (for me) was the excruciatingly detailed instructions on creating iocane powder. Such an amazingly easy process. I was hoping for at least a montage in _the movie_. Now that it’s so widely known, though, it’s practically useless because its so easy to recognize. No other substance is so completely tasteless, odorless, colorless and dissolves so quickly in liquid. It’s a dead giveaway! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/42 "2014-05-20T03:33:38Z")
> [@MrSBaldrick](#): > > Westley finally worked up courage to say something other than “As you command”, which was “will you marry me?” She said “yes” - onto the kissing bits … > > Actually, sound a bit like the porn version?!! “As you wish.” Rather than As You Command. Much more romantic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/43 "2014-05-20T04:53:46Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > “As you wish.” Rather than As You Command. > > Much more romantic. 🙂 I thought so too… Until Raj said it to Howard on TBBT. 😉 ---
**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 20, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/44 "2014-05-20T05:04:41Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Now that it’s so widely known, though, it’s practically useless because its so easy to recognize. No other substance is so completely tasteless, odorless, colorless and dissolves so quickly in liquid. It’s a dead giveaway! I always loved that Humperdink smells the empty vial, and pronounces it as being iocane. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/45 "2014-05-20T14:20:06Z")
Interesting subtlety about the cry of ultimate anguish-- It’s made not because Wesley’s true love is getting married, but because he’s hooked up to The Machine. He was able to endure all manner of mundane torture by thinking of Buttercup, but The Machine is able to overwhelm that. The Machine, in other words, is actually stronger than his love. But how does Inigo recognize the sound as that of ultimate anguish? Because that’s the sound his heart made when the Six-Fingered Man killed his father. The most powerful and truest love in the movie is _not_ actually Wesley’s and Buttercup’s love for each other, but Inigo’s love for Domingo. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/46 "2014-05-20T16:43:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > He’d know about the wedding, since that would probably be big news in Florin. He wouldn’t know that the man in black was Buttercup’s true love. It didn’t come up the first time they met, nor when Westley fought with Fezzik. > > It’s interesting how Inigo does figure out that the man in black must have out-thought Vezzini, having beaten himself and Fezzik in their own specialties. Well, it does seem that Buttercup makes absolutely no bones about the fact that she loves another. She asks about Wesley’s arrival right in front of Humperdinck’s chief of the guard. So it would seem to be common knowledge among the palace staff, and Fezzik WAS in with the guards, so he’d probably have heard about it and maybe passed it on to Inigo. And funny you should mention Buttercup’s parents–they are, as you guys have said, in the book. But there’s a “Mother” and “Father” listed in the credits of TPB. It doesn’t seem to refer to the King and Queen (who are listed separately), or the boy’s mother (who, I believe, is also listed separately). So maybe Buttercup’s parents were originally filmed, but cut? ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/47 "2014-05-20T17:21:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > By the time Westley inherited the business from the Dread Pirate Roberts poser, they didn’t have to attack. From his reputation, they surrendered all their treasure immediately. Why does he offer Inigo the job then? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/48 "2014-05-20T17:29:01Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Why does he offer Inigo the job then? That was the idea- that the Dread Pirate Roberts position was passed from person to person, with the previous one living off the riches he’d accumulate. They’d remove all the crew, install the new Dread Pirate and bring on new crew who never knew he was a replacement captain. Inigo had no main purpose now that’d he killed the six-fingered man, so being the Dread Pirate would be good work. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/49 "2014-05-20T17:34:13Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Why does he offer Inigo the job then? Westley is going to settle down with Buttercup, Inigo is out of a job, “There’s not much money in the revenge business”, and Inigo would make a great Dread Pirate Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/50 "2014-05-21T01:22:57Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > And funny you should mention Buttercup’s parents–they are, as you guys have said, in the book. But there’s a “Mother” and “Father” listed in the credits of TPB. Is there? I don’t see a “Father” listed on the [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast) (there is a “Mother”, but that’s the Fred Savage character’s mother who’s seen briefly at the very beginning of the movie), and I don’t remember ever seeing one listed in credits of the movie itself. > [@](#): > > It doesn’t seem to refer to the King and Queen (who are listed separately), or the boy’s mother (who, I believe, is also listed separately). So maybe Buttercup’s parents were originally filmed, but cut? I think it’s unlikely that Buttercup’s parents were ever in the script at all. Not only are they very minor characters in the book, but because they’re a squabbling elderly couple they come across as basically just a less important/entertaining version of Miracle Max and Valerie. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/51 "2014-05-21T01:24:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Westley is going to settle down with Buttercup, Inigo is out of a job, “There’s not much money in the revenge business”, and Inigo would make a great Dread Pirate Roberts. But he’d have to live up to the reputation. Take no prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/52 "2014-05-21T01:57:12Z")
Buttercup’s parents wouldn’t be elderly, would they? Who are the King and Queen seen just before and during the wedding scene? Are those supposed to be Humperdink’s parents? Buttercup isn’t really a princess – she just looks like one. She’s a farm girl who bosses around the hired hand. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/53 "2014-05-21T02:00:56Z")
She is (or would be) a princess by virtue of marrying a prince, not by virtue of her own birth. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/54 "2014-05-21T02:32:52Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > But he’d have to live up to the reputation. Take no prisoners. Which of course he did - ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/55 "2014-05-21T02:57:30Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Buttercup’s parents wouldn’t be elderly, would they? That’s how they’re described in the book. > [@](#): > > Who are the King and Queen seen just before and during the wedding scene? Are those supposed to be Humperdink’s parents? Yes. This is made explicit in the book\*, but I thought it was pretty obvious in the movie. We’re told that Humperdink’s father the king is still alive, the king and queen at the wedding seem to be family rather than guests, and Buttercup’s conversation with the king after the wedding also indicates that she knows him personally. He’s certainly not _her_ father; she’s a commoner, and his reaction to her kiss would be pretty creepy if they were related. \*The king and queen are about as minor in the book as they are in the movie, but it is noted that the queen is actually Humperdink’s “evil” stepmother. She’s a perfectly nice woman, Humperdink just refers to her as his evil stepmother as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/56 "2014-05-21T03:10:51Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In Ye Olden Times Buttercup would not necessarily have been able to inherit the farm even if her parents did own it\*. Florinese women didn’t have much right of inheritance until legal reforms in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/57 "2014-05-21T07:08:02Z")
> [@MrSBaldrick](#): > > Westley finally worked up courage to say something other than “As you command”, which was “will you marry me?” She said “yes” - onto the kissing bits … > > Actually, sound a bit like the porn version?!! Plot? What plot? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/58 "2014-05-21T08:01:31Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > But he’d have to live up to the reputation. Take no prisoners. Well, yeah, but if you let everyone go, you didn’t take any prisoners, and it’s these non-prisoners that spread the tales. Jack Sparrow pointed this out in POTC when the same thing was said about the Black Pearl. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/59 "2014-05-22T23:55:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > She is (or would be) a princess by virtue of marrying a prince, not by virtue of her own birth. Prince Humperdink made her a princess. He wouldn’t otherwise have been able to marry a commoner. So he had his father carve out a weensy little area of their kingdom (Hammersmith) and made Buttercup the princess of it. That’s why she was announced as “The Princess… Buttercup!” at their engagement. (No, seriously! It was in the novel!) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709/60 "2014-05-23T00:08:53Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > But he’d have to live up to the reputation. Take no prisoners. Huh? Dread Pirates Roberts most certainly do take prisoners. Ryan, as the DPR, took Westley prisoner when he captured Westley’s ship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-bride-nitpick/688709.md?page=4)