# Rosemary's Baby (just saw for first time) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606 "2009-07-20T09:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 2, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/21 "2009-08-02T14:35:44Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Polanski’s masterpiece is _Chinatown_ IMHO. Still not worthy of overlooking a crime for, but I will watch the film again and again despite his criminal background. Agree. Rosemary’s Baby? Boring. Cat People? Stupid. Boring. Bad acting. Bad dialogue. Bad editing. Bad lighting. Cul-de-sac? Yawn. Tess? Yawn for 3 hours. Pirates? WTF? The Ninth Gate? Bad editing. Poor story. Unbelievably stupid ending. Frantic? Only to get out of the theatre. Death and the Maiden wasn’t horrible, tho. And The Pianist deserved every award it won. On the whole I put Polanski up there with Tim Burton for _Guys Who Don’t Deserve Their Reputation For Brilliance_. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/22 "2009-08-02T15:21:16Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Agree. > > The Pianist deserved every award it won. Leading me to think that the closer Polanski gets to home, the better he is. So I’d look forward to his version of The Painted Bird more than any other director’s. (Helter Skelter, of course, being too much to ask) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/23 "2009-08-02T19:14:17Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > The cinematography documentary [_Visions of Light_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105764/) references that exact shot. Maybe that’s what I’m thinking of. I saw that and loved it, but it’s been many many many years, since it was first released. The one thing that I really remember about it was when it pointed out that great shot in **In Cold Blood** , where Robert Blake’s character is standing at the window and it’s raining outside. There’s a closeup of Blake’s face as he’s talking about his tragic childhood, and the reflection of the window on his face makes it look like he’s crying, but it’s the raindrops on the window. I was in awe. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/24 "2009-08-02T21:03:55Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Leading me to think that the closer Polanski gets to home, the better he is. So I’d look forward to his version of The Painted Bird more than any other director’s. > > (Helter Skelter, of course, being too much to ask) IMO the quality of his scripts varies greatly, and that certainly doesn’t help a director. In particular, Polanski favors less dialogue rather than more, so when the dialogue is poorly written or delivered, it really stands out as bad. Another thing that affects his films is the # of quality actors. One good actor usually means that the poor parts overwhelm whatever strengths the actor brings to the endeavor, while films like Chinatown & Death of the Maiden have such strong casts that they overcome the weaker parts of the movie, sometimes (like in Chinatown) so much so that they slip past us unnoticed altogether. Just my $.02. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/25 "2009-08-03T00:03:13Z")
_Rosemary’s Baby_ is one of a handful of films that I’ll call flawless. Not the same as great; but for what it is it doesn’t put a single step wrong. Good thing for the OP though that mindless torture porn is the current style. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/26 "2009-08-03T00:21:03Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > _Rosemary’s Baby_ is one of a handful of films that I’ll call flawless. Not the same as great; but for what it is it doesn’t put a single step wrong. > > Good thing for the OP though that mindless torture porn is the current style. Why was it necessary to castigate the OP for his opinion? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/27 "2009-08-03T01:00:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Why was it necessary to castigate the OP for his opinion? Was it necessary to single me out when I’m hardly the only one to point this out? ---
**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:** [August 3, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/28 "2009-08-03T02:07:09Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Was it necessary to single me out when I’m hardly the only one to point this out? Why not? Maybe we’ll hear from the other guy later. Maybe not. I’m curious about your reason for doing this. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/29 "2009-08-03T02:16:27Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Why not? Maybe we’ll hear from the other guy later. Maybe not. I’m curious about your reason for doing this. :rolleyes: I’m curious about your reasons for the junior-mod hijack. So I guess we’re even. ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/30 "2009-08-03T02:53:54Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Agree. > > Rosemary’s Baby? Boring. > Cat People? Stupid. Boring. Bad acting. Bad dialogue. Bad editing. Bad lighting. > Cul-de-sac? Yawn. > Tess? Yawn for 3 hours. > Pirates? WTF? > The Ninth Gate? Bad editing. Poor story. Unbelievably stupid ending. > Frantic? Only to get out of the theatre. > > Death and the Maiden wasn’t horrible, tho. And The Pianist deserved every award it won. > > On the whole I put Polanski up there with Tim Burton for _Guys Who Don’t Deserve Their Reputation For Brilliance_. I liked the Ninth Gate but I know I’m in the minority. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/31 "2009-08-03T04:35:34Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > :rolleyes: > > I’m curious about your reasons for the junior-mod hijack. So I guess we’re even. Well, first, there was no junior modding. There wasn’t even amateur modding. Not even phantom modding. No WoW modding, hot rodding, or slow plodding. I asked because you seemingly popped in to say “RB is perfect, and since you don’t think so you are a mindless vile degenerate”. I was curious what made you think anything after “RB is perfect” was necessary for the purposes of this thread. I mean, really all I’m doing here is re-telling the events of the last few posts between us, and asking you again: Why was it necessary to castigate the OP for his opinion? You didn’t even bother spitting on his opinion, you went right after _him_. The only other poster who disagreed with the OP actually wrote a couple of paragraph about what he likes and sees in RB. Since you only posted 3 sentences comprising 44 words, your comment stood out more, and I thought I’d ask why you put that part in your post. So: Why was it necessary to castigate the OP for his opinion? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/32 "2009-08-03T11:26:04Z")
Creepiest movie Polanski ever did was _The Tenant_. And Polanski’s personal shortcomings shouldn’t affect an appreciation of his work at all. Some of the most despicable people who ever lived have created timeless masterpieces of art, literature and music. I love the operas of Wagner even though the guy was a rabid anti-Semitic creep. Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will is one of the greatest documentaries ever filmed despite her Nazi sympathies. And, descending from the sublime to the mundane, _Jeepers Creepers_ is a pretty good horror movie in spite of the director Victor Salva being a convicted pedophile. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/33 "2009-08-03T11:40:10Z")
_Rosemary’s Baby_ is one of my favorite films. I read the book too, but after I saw the movie. It still spooked me and gave me chills, and I will watch it every time I catch it on an unedited channel. Polanski, if we must go there, can be forgiven. There were far more guilty parties involved(I am not counting Samantha). Let’s just say some folks whore their kids out. And speaking of, I can give that psychotic lying bitch Farrow her due, yes she was excellent in the film, without actually wanting to stab her in the gut. Okay, wait, I still want to stab the bitch in the heart. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/34 "2009-08-03T12:38:56Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Polanski, if we must go there, can be forgiven. There were far more guilty parties involved(I am not counting Samantha). Let’s just say some folks whore their kids out. Not that this is relevant to the movie, but just because someone whores out their kids, why does that make them MORE guilty? He’s still ultimately the one doing the raping. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/35 "2009-08-03T12:41:43Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Not that this is relevant to the movie, but just because someone whores out their kids, why does that make them MORE guilty? He’s still ultimately the one doing the raping. Will you whore out your kid? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/36 "2009-08-03T12:42:32Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Will you whore out your kid? No, but I also won’t drug and rape anyone. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/37 "2009-08-03T13:13:01Z")
Creepiest Polanski movie for me is Repulsion, although in a minority I can find things to like in all his films. Also, in another thread someone was talking about the book Rosemary’s Baby and they said they had only just realised the title “Rose Mary’s Baby”. Can anyone please enlighten me the significance of this? “Mary’s Baby” [guessing it’s a religious / Jesus thing]. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/38 "2009-08-03T13:33:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > No, but I also won’t drug and rape anyone. And that’s a good thing, Can you back up the claim that Polanski drugged that girl? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/39 "2009-08-03T16:27:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Actually I think Rosemary still holds a lot of fears pertinent to women … no woman who was ever pregnant has avoided the self questioning of ‘is my baby healthy, will it be born perfect, am I doing everything I can to have a healthy baby’ there can be a lot of fear in a pregnancy even with all the spiffy tests. The spiffy tests are part of what make pregnancy scary; for me, anyway. But I enjoyed Rosemary’s Baby, though I found the protagonist a bit weak at certain times. I’ve definitely enjoyed the even older horror movies more. I have to agree with the comment upthread that Gaslight and Psycho were classics. I’m not generally a big fan of gore, regardless of how much work has been done to cultivate atmosphere. Seeing tons of blood and guts usually makes me write off a movie. My imagination is far scarier to me than most things created on screen, so seeing it all hanging out there diminishes the movie’s scare factor. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606/40 "2009-08-03T17:55:51Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > Creepiest Polanski movie for me is Repulsion, although in a minority I can find things to like in all his films. > > Also, in another thread someone was talking about the book Rosemary’s Baby and they said they had only just realised the title “Rose Mary’s Baby”. Can anyone please enlighten me the significance of this? “Mary’s Baby” [guessing it’s a religious / Jesus thing]. Thanks. Good guess. To put it in SAT terms, Rosemary is to Baby as Mary is to Jesus – mother of a supernatural/incarnated deity. I’m a fogey, and I think it still works just fine. A previous poster up thread thought that the film was lost in the wash of satanic movies released in the 60s, which gets the chronology wrong. This was the \*first \*satanic film. Audiences, up to the final scene, tended to think that the worst that would happen was that a coven of witches wanted Rosemary’s baby for some occult practice, probably a human sacrifice. The idea that he might be the devil’s offspring was new and startling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-just-saw-for-first-time/503606.md?page=3)