# The most prescient words ever uttered in film or fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804 "2009-03-09T04:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/41 "2009-03-12T10:20:18Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > One that stuck with me was _Demolition Man_. In the shot of the prisoners in cryo-freeze is one named Scott Peterson. Not exactly earth-shattering, but it was a bit of a minor “hey!” I think it would be quite entertaining if this conversation from Demolition Man turned out to be prescient. > [@](#): > > Lenina Huxley: I have, in fact, perused some newsreels in the Schwarzenegger Library, and the time that you took that car… > JohnSpartan: Hold it. The Schwarzenegger Library? > Lenina Huxley: Yes. The Schwarzenegger Presidential Library. Wasn’t he an actor when you…? > JohnSpartan: Stop! He was President? > Lenina Huxley: Yes! Even though he was not born in this country, his popularity at the time caused the 61st Amendment which states… > JohnSpartan: I don’t wanna know. President… ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/42 "2009-03-12T11:57:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think most plastic is dangerous, except possibly for its near immortality, but recycling can solve much of that. – **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** Cafe Society isn’t exactly the place to discuss this thoroughly and we can argue endlessly about the definition of “most” and “dangerous”. However, bisphenol-A and BPA show effects that are .. troubling (though we still don’t know enough yet) and phthalates, used to make plastic flexible, are banned or restricted by more and more countries in Europe, with good reason. And most, pretty much all, studies released so far have failed to investigate the combined effects of plastics. The few ones I have read so far (mostly published by Danish and French researchers) all agree on one observation: doses, considered absolutely safe when animals are exposed to one plastic alone, show effects when combined with equally safe doses from other plastics. What it means for us is still unknown, but at least the hormone-altering effects are already known to be .. disadvantageous. ---
**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 12, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/43 "2009-03-12T13:29:12Z")
> [@Coil](#): > > I think it would be quite entertaining if this conversation from Demolition Man turned out to be prescient… The 61st Amendment? Jeez, we’d better get cracking if Ahnuld is ever going to be President. We only have 27 right now. ---
**Author:** ![IdahoMauleMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71c47a/32.png) [@IdahoMauleMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdahoMauleMan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/44 "2009-03-12T13:38:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A 1976 episode of All in the Family featured an argument between Archie and Mike. > > I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. Heavy stuff, indeed. > > They were arguing about politics and the election. Archie said that he voted for someone that Mike found completely ridiculous, and Mike stormed out. When Edith asked Archie if that was true, he said “Naw, I just told him that to make him mad. Actually I wrote in Ronald Reagan.” > > In a later fight, Archie yelled to Mike “You’re gonna get Reagan in '80, mister!” > > Hilarious, because at the time Reagan was such a ridiculous and unlikely candidate. Who would vote for such a clown? I was in a hotel room in Vegas, watching a rerun of ‘Maude’ (featuring the incomparable Bea Arthur) at about 3am in the morning. Don’t ask me why. Because I don’t know why. They were talking about the 1976 election. Her neighbor, or friend, or whomever the character was - it was the guy who played the father in Diff’rent Strokes - said he supported Ronald Reagan for President. The laugh track came on for about 3 full seconds. Great scene. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/45 "2009-03-12T13:40:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How about this headline in The Onion of January 17, 2001: [Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784) I sent the link to some friends and one of them thinks its a post-date edit, anyone know how I can prove it is a original piece? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/46 "2009-03-12T13:46:09Z")
In Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 )June 1938), the name of the murdered man is “Jack Kennedy.” In an episode of Bonanza, DeForest Kelly plays a drunk surgeon who says “What do you want me to do? I’m a drunk, not a surgeon.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/47 "2009-03-12T13:55:44Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > I sent the link to some friends and one of them thinks its a post-date edit, anyone know how I can prove it is a original piece? The Onion exists as an old-fashioned printed newspaper. So you might be able to find a paper copy in a library archive of that issue to show your friend. Although he may still believe it was made up after the fact and I don’t know how many libraries devote space to an archive of The Onion. Perhaps the publisher itself would sell you a back issue. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/48 "2009-03-12T14:04:27Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > “Florida wins the Penant” or something like that from one of the back to the future movies…when the movie came out Florida didnt even have a baseball team > [@Marley23](#): > > Back to the Future had Miami winning the Series, actually. Pretty close, but not quite. _Actually_, the headline had the _Cubs_ winning the 2015 Series by _beating_ Miami. That would place a team in the American League going by “Miami” and not “Florida.” (This is probably more likely to happen by 2015 than the Cubs winning the World Series…) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/49 "2009-03-12T17:56:26Z")
> [@tesseract](#): > > I have been thinking about plastic a lot recently, too. I used to wonder what the new asbestos and Thalidomide would be – what common, supposed-to-be-safe substances are we using nitpick: thalidomide is an FDA approved drug, currently in use, that has one famously bad side effect. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/50 "2009-03-12T18:08:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The Onion exists as an old-fashioned printed newspaper. So you might be able to find a paper copy in a library archive of that issue to show your friend. Although he may still believe it was made up after the fact and I don’t know how many libraries devote space to an archive of The Onion. Perhaps the publisher itself would sell you a back issue. [www.archive.org](http://www.archive.org) should have the archive from when it was published online. Or they could just ask around. I remember reading it the first time it was printed. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/51 "2009-03-12T18:27:47Z")
George Bailey’s friend Sam Wainright got into plastics on the ground floor, remember? In ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ 1946. Somewhat predates ‘The Graduate.’ ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/52 "2009-03-12T18:37:27Z")
From Videodrome: Max Renn: Do you know a show called ‘Videodrome’? Masha: Video what? Max Renn: Videodrome. Like video circus, video arena. Do you know it? Masha: No. Max Renn: It’s just torture and murder. No plot, no characters. Very, very realistic. I think it’s what’s next. Masha: Then God help us. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/53 "2009-03-12T23:05:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “Never get involved in a land war in Asia!” **Cal** wins. ---
**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 13, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/54 "2009-03-13T04:23:15Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > From Videodrome: > Max Renn: Do you know a show called ‘Videodrome’? > Masha: Video what? > Max Renn: Videodrome. Like video circus, video arena. Do you know it? > Masha: No. > Max Renn: It’s just torture and murder. No plot, no characters. Very, very realistic. I think it’s what’s next. > Masha: Then God help us. Coming this fall to Fox! ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/55 "2009-03-13T13:40:34Z")
[Beautiful Girls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115639/) Natalie Portman to Tim Hutton: "I’m going to be a babe when I grow up. I might just grow to be five-ten. I’ll be hot. " ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/56 "2009-03-13T14:31:38Z")
Both Tom Clancy and Dale Brown (I think it was Brown but I can’t remember which book) had commercial airliners used as weapons. Both had D.C. as the target. Clancy’s hit the Capitol Building and Brown’s was shot down just short of its target. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/57 "2009-03-13T14:34:59Z")
In the pilot of Fox’s Lone Gunmen show, a plane was supposed to crash into the World Trade Center. (Except it was supposed to be done by remote control, and nobody would ever be crazy enough to believe _that_.) Hitting a building with a plane isn’t a very hard idea to dream up. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/58 "2009-03-13T14:36:55Z")
Not uttered words as such, but the plot to **Escape from New York** includes terrorists steering hi-jacked planes into the WTC. The movie was filmed in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/59 "2009-03-13T14:37:57Z")
Interesting simul-post there. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804/60 "2009-03-13T16:50:54Z")
Not sure if it counts, but from Disney’s **Hercules** : “Indoor plumbing - It’s gonna be big.” One of my favoite lines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-prescient-words-ever-uttered-in-film-or-fiction/488804.md?page=4)