# 'The Princess Bride'- Satirical attack on paper money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704 "2001-08-02T22:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/1 "2001-08-02T22:24:42Z")
I just recieved William Goldman’s _The Princess Bride_ in the mail today from a certain online bookseller. I know it was made into a cult-hit movie starring Andre the Giant, among others, and I went on the internet looking for information on the book and film, when I stumbled onto [this.](http://www.notelrac.com/essays.dir/f_and_sf.dir/princess_bride_real_author.html) Now I know that S. Morgernstern doesn’t exist. But according to this, neither does William Goldman! Apparently, he’s really University of Chicago economics grad students. Now, I find this hard to believe, since that would mean a bunch of U of Chi students also wrote _Marathon Man_ and _Butch Cassidy_ (then again, it would explain the screenplay to _Jurassic Park III_. The main thing is that both the introduction and main story are an attack on paper money, saying we should stick to gold and silver. It also mentions _The Wizard of Oz_ was similar, saying we should change from gold to silver, and that Uncle Cece covered the Oz thing in one of his columns. Is this Tom Fitzgerald guy insane, or does William Goldman not really exist, and the story mean what he says it means? ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/2 "2001-08-02T22:28:39Z")
Hmm. Did a bunch of University of Chicago economics grad students go on stage to accept his Best Original Screenplay Oscar® for Butch Cassidy? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/3 "2001-08-02T22:40:37Z")
I should mention my own opinion: When I first read the thing, I thought that the whole idea was inconceivable, but that word may not mean what I think it means. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/4 "2001-08-02T22:44:29Z")
I think Tom Fitzgerald is being satirical. The Writers’ Guild would not look kindly upon a screenwriter allowing his name to be used as a credit for others. Having William Goldman listed as your screenwriter is fairly prestigious. I’m sure he made a nice sum of money on the film. Do you think he would have given any of it to some grad students in economics? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/5 "2001-08-02T22:51:15Z")
William Goldman came out with a new edition of the “Princess Bride” in 1998. As he told reviewers, the book is a satire on fairy tales. The new edition has one chapter of the sequel “Buttercup’s Baby” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/6 "2001-08-02T22:53:14Z")
I knew it was a satire on fairy tales. The 1998 edition is actually the one I bought (it’s from the eighth printing, I think) ---
**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/7 "2001-08-02T22:59:39Z")
William Goldman not exist??? Inconceivable!! ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/8 "2001-08-02T23:04:24Z")
[Buttercup] But Westly, what about the A.W.G.?[/Buttercup] [Westly] The Author William Goldman? I don’t believe he exists. [/Westly] Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/9 "2001-08-02T23:40:08Z")
It is worth noting that the William Goldman of the introduction to _The Princess Brinde_ dosen’t exisit–he is as much of a charecter as Morgernstern. The fact that he shares a name with the author of the book is just there to confuse you. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/10 "2001-08-03T02:42:21Z")
About the Wizard and the bimetallists, some people have spent lots of efforts looking for parallels to the populist silver movement of the late 1890s, but it’s just not believable that Baum would have written something like this. [AndCecil has a column on the subject.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_392.html) ---
**Author:** ![Studoggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@Studoggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Studoggie)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/11 "2001-08-03T04:18:43Z")
Actually, in my macroecomics class as a freshman a few years back, we actually watched the Princess Bride and wrote a report on it’s economic implications. I don’t think the movie was specially chosen, however, as the whole point was that anything can be tied to economics. Ahh, the eduction at North Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Philbuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9a140/32.png) [@Philbuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philbuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/12 "2001-08-03T04:25:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Studoggie \* > \*\*Actually, in my macroecomics class as a freshman a few years back, we actually watched the Princess Bride and wrote a report on it’s economic implications. I don’t think the movie was specially chosen, however, as the whole point was that anything can be tied to economics. > > Ahh, the eduction at North Texas. \*\* We never got to do anything like that when _I_ was at UNT. I’m going to go sulk now. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/13 "2001-08-03T04:58:21Z")
You know, I read somewhere that neither the University of Chicago or the field of Economics exist… Nah, I won’t go any further with this… ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/14 "2001-08-03T12:56:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > \*\*Now, I find this hard to believe, since that would mean a bunch of U of Chi students also wrote _Marathon Man_ and _Butch Cassidy_ (then again, it would explain the screenplay to _Jurassic Park III_. > \*\* Why would it have anything to do with a screenplay written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor? William Goldman was not involved with any of the _Jurassic Park_ movies in any capacity. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/15 "2001-08-03T19:33:37Z")
My mistake. I read in a Goldman bibliography that the wrote the screenplay or co-wrote to JPIII. I was just having a little fun- I actually liked the movie. ---
**Author:** ![JCThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dc4da7/32.png) [@JCThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-princess-bride-satirical-attack-on-paper-money/74704/16 "2001-08-03T22:38:40Z")
“Stop Rhyming. I mean it!” “Anybody want a peanut?” Sorry, couldn’t help it.