# Unanswerable questions and eternal mysteries of pop culture (SPOILERS). **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453 "2005-12-13T19:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/81 "2005-12-14T16:41:18Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > How do the 3 seashells work? (points, snickers) He doesn’t know how to use the three seashells! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/82 "2005-12-14T16:41:58Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Did Brawn die in Transformers the Movie? Yes. Early on, when the Decepticons attacked the shuttle, they killed Ratchet, Prowl, Brawn, and Ironhide. Later on, after the siege of Autobot City, we also saw the bodies of Wheeljack and Windcharger, who presumably perished off-camera. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/83 "2005-12-14T16:47:20Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Spiderman can stick to walls. OK, then how does he stick to walls through his gloves and boots? This was answered somewhere in the original run of comics. He isn’t wearing boots, he is wearing a thin layer of cloth over bare feet. The force that allows him to stick to walls is able to penetrate that thin layer of cloth. He has been seen climbing walls while wearing shoes, and when he had, the narrator explained he was pulling himself by his hands. ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/84 "2005-12-14T16:50:04Z")
Are you on the bus or off the bus? :dubious: ---
**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:** [December 14, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/85 "2005-12-14T16:58:45Z")
Do you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie? Why is a mouse when it spins? What was Ozzie Nelson’s occupation? And why wasn’t he ever at work? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/86 "2005-12-14T17:06:35Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > What was in the unopened package in “Cast Away.” > > It was jokingly answered in an egg on the DVD. The same joke was used in a Federal Express commercial that aired during a Super Bowl which parodied _Cast Away_. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/87 "2005-12-14T17:26:42Z")
What was whispered into John Wayne’s ear in the last scene of The Quiet Man ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/88 "2005-12-14T17:37:23Z")
Where does Barney Rubble work? We all know Fred Flintstone works for Mr. Slate at the rock quarry, but Barney’s job has never been made clear in any episode. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/89 "2005-12-14T17:43:39Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Where does Barney Rubble work? We all know Fred Flintstone works for Mr. Slate at the rock quarry, but Barney’s job has never been made clear in any episode. Perhaps I’m misremembering, but I recall Barney being shown working for the same company as Fred. Perhaps it was in one of the holiday specials or the Pebbles & Bam-Bam show. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/90 "2005-12-14T17:44:07Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Where does Barney Rubble work? We all know Fred Flintstone works for Mr. Slate at the rock quarry, but Barney’s job has never been made clear in any episode. Barney did work at the quarry in some episodes. The rest of the time I assumed he worked in the sewers like Norton. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/91 "2005-12-14T17:50:23Z")
This may be the place to wholeheartedly recommend a couple of books which I love reading (they are very good loo books), about puzzles and unanswered questions in 19th literature (British, mostly). Some are actual puzzles, some are more rhetorical questions ‘Can Jane Eyre be happy?’ but the questions, and the essays that attempt to explain them, are wonderful. [Is Heathcliff a Murderer?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0192834681/qid=1134582000/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9132242-4186402?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) [Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0192838849/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/002-9132242-4186402?%5Fencoding=UTF8) [Can Jane Eyre be Happy?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019283603X/qid=1134582253/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-9132242-4186402?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) My favourite question is ‘Is Daniel Deronda circumcised?’ which is a lot harder to answer than you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/92 "2005-12-14T18:01:59Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > No, not necessarily recognize. You have to read that question literally: Yes, the contents of the briefcase are what he thinks they are, literally: they’re whatever he thinks they are. If you looked in the briefcase, they’d be whatever YOU think they are. I’ve always found this explanation infuriating … saying that something is whatever a character wants/thinks it to be defeats the whole point of the debate; you might as well just admit it’s a MacGuffin and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/93 "2005-12-14T18:23:52Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Where does Barney Rubble work? We all know Fred Flintstone works for Mr. Slate at the rock quarry, but Barney’s job has never been made clear in any episode. He’s a man-whore. What happened to Preparations A through G? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/94 "2005-12-14T18:36:58Z")
Ross is the largest of the Friends, so why does he not just consume the others? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/95 "2005-12-14T18:39:20Z")
Does David Cassidy really have a surrealistically large penis? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/96 "2005-12-14T18:54:05Z")
> [@Vagus](#): > > Why does R2D2 have every gadget known to science built into him _except_ a radio receiver? Doesn’t he? I remember other characters calling R2 on walkie talkies. ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/97 "2005-12-14T19:00:21Z")
What happened to Preparations A through G? [/QUOTE] They don’t like to talk about that. I’ve seen pictures from the beta testing and the results are not pretty. You know how Prep H is sometimes used by women to tighten the sagging bags under their eyes? The results from Prep A through G were like that but thousands of times worse.\* \*and, no, I won’t provide a cite. They should be let alone in their pain. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/98 "2005-12-14T19:11:18Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Come to think of it, isn’t Kong just basically a really big monkey, so why couldn’t he simply climb over the wall? And c’mon! There can’t be jsut one Kong, I mean, he had to come from somwehre, there’s probably a whole family of giant apes. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/99 "2005-12-14T19:20:46Z")
Who was the Star Sapphire with the French accent in the **Secret Society of Supervillans** comic? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453/100 "2005-12-14T19:24:11Z")
Why is 42 the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswerable-questions-and-eternal-mysteries-of-pop-culture-spoilers/335453.md?page=6)