# The Most Misunderstood Book/Movie/Song Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2000, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486 "2000-06-25T19:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HalberMensch242](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HalberMensch242](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HalberMensch242)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/61 "2000-11-03T05:47:40Z")
Ok…it maybe just me, but i was dumbfounded to find out that Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode was about not talkin during sex… ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/62 "2000-11-03T10:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*From A Distance > by Julie Gold. > … > God is watching us, > God is watching us, > \*\*God is watching us _from a distance_ \*\* > > Yeah, if you stand off far enough everything on this big blue marble looks pretty hunky-dory. I’ve even heard this song sung in church. Is irony lost on EVERYBODY?!?!? \*\* I go to the irony-free Methodist Church, apparently. I cracked up when the choir (with my mom) sang this tune during the Gulf War to deomonstrate how God will show us the truth and light or something. Ummm ok. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/63 "2000-11-03T11:00:32Z")
I’ve just never been able to take Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ at face value. For a while I thought it a parody, then I thought it bitter and cynical and about the futility of optimism but no one else seems to read it in any other way except straight so I guess it’s me. Of course, that’s just an interpretation of an artists work and has no bearing on my personal experiences. Close the blinds as you leave, please nurse. ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/64 "2000-11-03T11:30:03Z")
Oooh, **LC** , I feel the exact same way about Perfect Day. Or, I felt that even if he had this one perfect day, he knows all along that it’s just an illusion and life sucks and love never lasts and it’s days like that one that just make it all the worse. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/65 "2000-11-03T11:34:16Z")
Perfect Day… Anyone see the Irony recently of a Childrens Charity using a song about drugs? 😉 lets see, Enigma’s “Sadeness” parts I and II. When this became a hit, people thought that the girl was saying “Sadness” in a french accent…wrong… The Song was about S&M. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/66 "2000-11-03T13:22:52Z")
Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women” (‘Everybody must get stoned’ to the uninitiated). Has nothing to do with drugs. Has everything to do with everything else. Heck, we can include most every B.D. song up until 1969. Then it gets sort of fuzzy. “New Morning” has some interesting tunes. Forget the Country phase (Nashville skyline, JWH, etc.) I could go on… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/67 "2000-11-03T13:56:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AtomicDog \* > “Contact”. > > Look, people, the movie isn’t about aliens, it’s about US. > > It’s about a scientist, Jodie Foster, having to ask the world to take her on faith that she actually met extraterrestrials when she has ABSOLULETLY NO PROOF that she has done so. > > I love this movie and the statements it makes, but most people I talk to just don’t get it. AtomicDog, if you liked the movie, you really should read the book. Normally, I hate reading the book afterwards, but this is one my only exceptions. There is SO much more in the book. In the end, she does get “proof”, or at least a VERY big sign that she’s correct. And its about much more than just us. I highly suggest it. Ludo, while there were a lot of overreactions to “Dogma”, I don’t think it was misunderstood. It was about criticism. And most Catholics just felt that it was too much criticism, and misdirected criticism as well. Personally, I disagree with that, but after watching it, I can definitely see where that’s coming from. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/68 "2000-11-03T15:06:26Z")
Back to REM for a moment… (is this the third song that’s made this list!?) A lot of people don’t get “Losing My Religion,” thinking it’s about atheism or something. No, Stipey himself has said it’s about having a crush on someone, dropping big hints all over the place but having no idea if any of them are actually working. Boy have I been there ☹ ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/69 "2000-11-03T15:44:04Z")
Hi **Taters** – yep, that’s exactly as I have read it. Course, he could also be talking about addiction but lets not go there. Glad someone else is equally challenged, someone new… **drewbert** A long time ago I read an interview with Stipe in which (I believe) he claimed ‘Losing My Religion’ was a euphemism for getting angry (losing his temper). Maybe things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/70 "2000-11-03T16:03:47Z")
**LC** , addiction, people, what’s the difference really? You know, I think I’m going to declare that my song for today…who knows…maybe The Official Theme Song of my life. Grrrrr. ---
**Author:** ![dustMagnate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/fbc32d/32.png) [@dustMagnate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dustMagnate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/71 "2000-11-03T16:18:27Z")
Book: The Jungle. Always hear about how it caused pure food and drug act formation because of the description of tubercular sputum (and other body parts) being packed into sausages. Frankly the meatpacking descriptions were all of two pages long and the rest of the book was kind of a plea for socialism. Read it a LONG time ago. Movie: The Shining. Even Steven King hated it. He must have missed his loping topiaries or something. I loved the alcoholic stupor-inducing ghost Jack Daniels. Was it all in his mind? Song: The English Beat “Save it For Later”. Jumpy positive love song? Inspection of the lyric sheet Save it Fellator indicates bitterness at being ditched by a ‘party girl’. Misunderstanding books and concepts: What is “the ugly American?” My understanding was the ugly American was the hero, the champion of the downtrodden, the alleviator of suffering, the hardworking diplomat (not handsome) trying to help in a corrupt system. Not the cheeseburgered touristy shouters refered to by anyone who uses the term. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/72 "2000-11-03T16:56:50Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Connor \* \*\* > [@](#): > > AtomicDog, if you liked the movie, you really should read the book. Normally, I hate reading the book afterwards, but this is one my only exceptions. There is SO much more in the book. In the end, she does get “proof”, or at least a VERY big sign that she’s correct. > \*\* I wondered about that. The idea that her experience should be equated with a religious experience troubled me–plus the throwaway line, “Prove that you loved your father.” That’s _so_ easy to refute–and I was very disappointed when this ordinarily spunky and quick-witted woman was utterly befuddled by it. Those things were so contrary to Sagan’s philosophies as expressed in his other books that I wonder where they were coming from–Ann Druyan, perhaps? Or Hollywood? I really should read the book. In the movie, there _was_ the evidence on the videotape. They whispered about it in the end and either didn’t seem to recognize the earth-shattering significance of it, or were willing to repress the truth in order to preserve the notion that she imagined the whole thing. I found that frustrating, as well. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/73 "2000-11-03T17:37:01Z")
**Connor,** > [@](#): > > And TomH, if “The Republic” isn’t about politics, what IS it about? As someone who had it assigned in every single college level government class I took (about 15 of them), I would have to disagree in part. It’s about the just man, as is made clear quite early on in the dialogue. If you think about it, the Republic described in _The Republic_ doesn’t posess any of the characteristics of justice which are set out in the early books. I’ll concede that it touches on some political questions obliquely (e.g. the role of the _gnomon pseudos_), but it’s really an extended metaphor for the condition of the just man, whose reason, spirit and desire are in balance. Socrates is trying to show that such a man is always happier than an unjust man even if the unjust man enjoys greater material posperity. **London Calling,** > [@](#): > > I’ve just never been able to take Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ at face value. I always assumed that it was about being strung out on heroin. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/74 "2000-11-03T19:46:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ricepad \* > \*\*Years ago, Sting used to bitch and moan that everybody misunderstood the meaning behind “Every Breath You Take”. Seems he had hoards of people thanking him for this moving love song that perfectly described their relationships, and he was thinking, “Hey, that’s a song about OBSESSION, not love!” I thought (still think) that if everybody was misinterpreting it, it couldn’t have been a very well-written song, could it? > \*\* On VH-1 the other day, I think it was on that “The List” show, this song was voted in the top 3 WEDDING SONGS!!! Maybe that’s why the divorce rate is so high…?? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/75 "2000-11-03T19:58:24Z")
TomH, I can’t argue with that. But Socrates goes through so many different channels to demonstrate this, many of them being very politically orientated. And in each of his sub-“stories”, he fully develops them, so I feel that they can be taken out of the story’s context without losing their individual meaning. Yes, the entire book is about the just man, but the parts that most people read are about a just society, which certainly is not a misunderstanding. But I do see your point. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/76 "2000-11-03T23:36:37Z")
_Trainspotting_, when it came out, everyone was saying that it glorified heroin use. I don’t see how any rational person could get that impression from it. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/77 "2000-11-04T00:17:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AzRaek \* > I go to the irony-free Methodist Church, apparently. I cracked up when the choir (with my mom) sang this tune during the Gulf War to deomonstrate how God will show us the truth and light or something. Ummm ok. \*\* Same here. Only we sang it as a congregation, and nobody but me and my family knew the tune. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/78 "2000-11-04T00:44:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > **drewbert** A long time ago I read an interview with Stipe in which (I believe) he claimed ‘Losing My Religion’ was a euphemism for getting angry (losing his temper). Maybe things have changed. > \*\* The video I saw of him explaining the song was on the VH-1 Storytellers show. I have the REM biographical book “_It Crawled From the South: An REM Companion_” (umm… did I mention I’m a fan?) Anyway, the book says it’s an old obscure southern term for being at wit’s end, or at the end of one’s tether. Which seems to fit with the rest of the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/79 "2000-11-04T03:12:18Z")
Okay, maybe I’M guilty of misunderstanding here, but… …how did we arrive at the conclusion that Extreme’s sappy “More Than Words” is about sex? I don’t say it isn’t- at SOME level, nearly EVERY love song is. But I HAVE heard all the lyrics, and don’t see any obvious sexual imagery. Hey, look, I figure almost EVERY love song that talks about “hold me tight” has at least a mild sexual undercurrent. But if you think it’s a flat-out sexual proposition, I’d like to hear why you think so. If members of Extreme SAID so in an interview somewhere, clue me in. Or if there are some subtle double-entendres in there (I had no idea until I was almost 30 that the "Rolling Stones’ “Lady Jane” was a D.H. Lawrence-esque tribute to the female genitalia), let me know where I’m missing them. Incidentally, according to “The Love You Make,” the Beatles’ “Please Please Me” was a thinly disguised request for oral sex. Wonder if any teenyboppers knew that back in 1964? ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486/80 "2000-11-04T08:19:30Z")
“DOOM”: As a huge fan of the video game “DOOM” (I still play it. I was playing it earlier today, in fact) I have to correct peoples’ misinterpretation that it promotes Satanism. _The whole point of the game is to KILL the demons!!!_ Does it promote violence? Possibly, but I’d say it probably does more to help (by letting people like me vent frustration) than to hurt. Does it promote Satanism? No way. If anything, it’s anti-Satanic. Also, just for the record, a lot of people do get the fact that “My Heart Will Go On” is about death. According to a semi-reliable source (Pop-Up Video…) that song is/was the most requested song in funerals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-misunderstood-book-movie-song-ever/23486.md?page=5)