# Quick Question about "Little Big Man" Spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948 "2010-03-02T02:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/21 "2010-03-03T16:05:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That’s one reason so many of us prefer to refer to our planet as Terra, rather than Earth. It seems likely that should we someday encounter beings from other worlds, many of them will also refer to their planet with a word that means, when translated, “this ball of mud and rock”. Of course, ‘terra’ simply means ‘earth’ or ‘land’. In other words, ‘this ball of mud and rock’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/22 "2010-03-03T17:53:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Of course, ‘terra’ simply means ‘earth’ or ‘land’. In other words, ‘this ball of mud and rock’. 😉 True, but since it comes from a dead language, a language we specifically reference often when naming the things on this planet, it would work. It’s not like some alien will ever land here and eventually encounter a native Latin speaker. OTOH, I’m open to new names for our planet. What do you guys think of “Claire”? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/23 "2010-03-03T17:58:07Z")
Earth can mean both the planet and the dirt at the same time. I think an alien culture that could travel millions of light years would be able to understand the concept that sometimes words have two meanings. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/24 "2010-03-03T18:16:00Z")
So when the ragtag fleet arrives, and asks “Is this Earth?” we should all respond “Oh no, this is Terra, this (pick up a handful of dirt) is earth.” and send them on their way. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/25 "2010-03-03T18:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by Equipoise View Post > I still think the makeup beats any other portrayal of an old person ever filmed. > Before Little Big Man, the makeup artist worked on the TV program Dark Shadows. Here’s what he did to Jonathan Frid. > > [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives...y\_barnabas.jpg](http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives...y_barnabas.jpg) That’s **Dick Smith** , makeup man _extraordinaire_. He did the same to David Bowie for **The Hunger** and F. Murray Abraham for **Amadeus**. His work has been in an unbelievable number of movies, and mostly passes under people’s radar, except when he does some spectacular things, like for **Altered States** or **Ghost Story** , or Katherine Ross’ amplified boobs at the conclusion of **The Stepford Wives** (He shouln’t be held responsible for the eyes, though – the director ignored his instructions for those) And, of course, he wrote **The Monster Makeup Handbook** , which corrupted a generation of film fans, myself included.. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/26 "2010-03-03T18:28:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > OTOH, I’m open to new names for our planet. What do you guys think of “Claire”? France. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/27 "2010-03-03T18:45:47Z")
I liked the fact that Jack spoke with a cracker accent when speaking English, and Dustin Hoffman’s normal accent when speaking Cheyenne. That was a nice touch. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/28 "2010-03-03T19:08:07Z")
I had read the book twice before the movie came out–it’s still one of my five favorite books of all time–so I was somewhat disappointed at the things that had been omitted or changed, but I still thought it was a good movie. My friend who had not read the book thought it was the best movie he’d ever seen. I’d actually like to see Little Big Man redone as a miniseries that was more faithful to the book. My other favorite novels–Shogun, Dune, Lord of the Rings–all worked as mini-series or multiple-part movies. The movie Dune with Kyle McLaughlin was awful, and I can’t imagine the others being any better if squeezed down to 2 hours. So LBM-the-movie was a pretty great achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948/29 "2010-03-03T19:59:20Z")
Yep, it’s a great movie. Fun and funny (OMG, it’s the Sarsparilla Kid!) and exciting, but with an undertone of sadness and regret that’s very potent. Back in the day my sister and I liked to quote Crabbe’s Scandinavian wife, rolling our eyes whenever someone was a stick in the mud and wouldn’t do something fun:" Ja, ja, de beels of de store!" If you liked the book, you should also read another great one by Thomas Berger, _Arthur Rex_, in which he does for Arthurian legend what he did for the Wild West in _Little Big Man_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-about-little-big-man-spoilers/530948.md?page=1)