# Unanswered Questions about Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899 "2005-06-19T08:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/81 "2005-07-07T08:08:09Z")
> [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > In **The Shawshank Redemption** : > > How does Andy get the poster to stick to the wall after he climbs through the hole? It was only attached at the top. You can see by the way the Warden tears it down. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/82 "2005-07-07T08:16:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Peer pressure. > Write it how? With the ballpoint pen and notepad in the breast pocket of his armor? Angela Landsbury told him about the poison while he was already on the way to the joust. When would he have had time to find a quill, an inkwell and a piece of parchment to write anything down? I see your point. And at least Fonda’s character was immune to peer pressure… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/83 "2005-07-07T08:45:36Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > And at least Fonda’s character was immune to peer pressure… That was, IMHO, the whole point of the film. John Stuart Mill once said, “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” Fonda’s character was trying to prove that point. He was also showing us how hard it was to be that “one person.” Brilliant movie, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/84 "2005-07-07T10:53:19Z")
I have one. What was the glowing substance in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? And, what was in the trunk of the Nova in Repo Man? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/85 "2005-07-07T11:15:04Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > 1. In \*Rear Window,\*why didn’t anyone see Jimmy Stewart spying on them before Raymond Burr spotted him near the end? I think a harder question is: you’ve got Grace Kelly in the room. Why on earth are you looking out the window? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/86 "2005-07-07T11:17:52Z")
> [@DrMemory](#): > > I have one. What was the glowing substance in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? Marcellus Wallace’s soul. I think Tarantino even admitted this himself. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/87 "2005-07-07T12:28:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Miracle on 34th Street: If Sawyer was not really cold-cocked when Kringle socked him with his cane (that is, he was not knocked unconscious), why did he require medical treatment? So, this is the part of _Miracle on 34th Street_ that you find hard to swallow? There’s a broad spectrum of injury between “perfectly fine” and “cold-cocked”. It’s tricky to knock somebody out; people have received skull fractures without losing consciousness. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/88 "2005-07-07T15:20:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It was only attached at the top. You can see by the way the Warden tears it down. Then why did the chess piece the warden threw rip into it like it was tightly connected to the wall? I figured he used chewing gum or an adhesive to connect it at the bottom… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/89 "2005-07-07T15:52:14Z")
> [@DrMemory](#): > > I have one. What was the glowing substance in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? > > And, what was in the trunk of the Nova in Repo Man? Maguffins. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/90 "2005-07-07T16:00:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Marcellus Wallace’s soul. I think Tarantino even admitted this himself. He has? I understood that what was in the briefcase was a “McGuffin” – something that only for reasons of the movie’s plot is desirable and valuable. In the real world, it’s meaningless. The falcon in The Maltese Falcon supposedly is the same thing. Why do they want it? We don’t know. They just do, and that’s all we need to know. (I have not seen The Maltese Falcon; this is just what I’ve read.) Well [this explains it a bit more succinctly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/91 "2005-07-07T16:02:13Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/92 "2005-07-07T16:10:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Marcellus Wallace’s soul. I think Tarantino even admitted this himself. Tarantino has denied saying that. His standard answer to the question has been literal: a [baby brute](http://extranet.mole.com/public/index.cgi?cmd=view_item&parent=-1432-1660&id=18252). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/93 "2005-07-07T17:28:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Marcellus Wallace’s soul. I think Tarantino even admitted this himself. According to [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/pulp.htm), Tarantino never admitted the thing about Marcellus’ soul (although it makes a lot of sense thinking about it, regarding the 666 code to the briefcase locks) but he admitted that, originally, the briefcase had been supposed to contain diamonds. Then, according to a co-author, he found this idea boring, and the question of what was inside remained unsanswered, with the clear purpose of having people wonder about that. The one movie question I’ve been pondering for years: In practically every James Bond film, the villain’s army of nameless mercenaries, sooner or later, capture Bond and anaesthetize him. Instead of simply killing Bond while he’s asleep, the villain waits for him to wake up so he ca explain the details of his vicious plot, and then decides to get rid of Bond by some unnecessarily complicated means. Bond, of course, survives, escapes, saves the world and reunites with his Bond girl. I understand it’s because having Bond die in the first half of the picture would make it kind of boring, but it’s always the same, and never really satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/94 "2005-07-07T17:53:35Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > According to [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/pulp.htm) > The one movie question I’ve been pondering for years: > In practically every James Bond film, the villain’s army of nameless mercenaries, sooner or later, capture Bond and anaesthetize him. Instead of simply killing Bond while he’s asleep, the villain waits for him to wake up so he ca explain the details of his vicious plot, and then decides to get rid of Bond by some unnecessarily complicated means. Bond, of course, survives, escapes, saves the world and reunites with his Bond girl. > > I understand it’s because having Bond die in the first half of the picture would make it kind of boring, but it’s always the same, and never really satisfying. BEcause it’s a movie cliche and a way to create (artifical) tension. It’s also bad writing. But you’re right. Even when they have no reason to keep him alive, they always do and pay for it in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/95 "2005-07-07T17:55:30Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > Then why did the chess piece the warden threw rip into it like it was tightly connected to the wall? Yes - and also, if it were only attached at the bottom, wouldn’t any little pressure difference cause the poster to float away from the wall, blowing Andy’s cover (no pun intended)? > [@](#): > > I figured he used chewing gum or an adhesive to connect it at the bottom… That was my point - how would he attach the poster to the wall after he climbed through the hole? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/96 "2005-07-07T18:03:39Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > Then why did the chess piece the warden threw rip into it like it was tightly connected to the wall? Yes - and also, if it were only attached at the bottom, wouldn’t any little pressure difference cause the poster to float away from the wall, blowing Andy’s cover (no pun intended)? > [@](#): > > I figured he used chewing gum or an adhesive to connect it at the bottom… That was my point - how would he attach the poster to the wall after he climbed through the hole? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/97 "2005-07-07T18:41:37Z")
It all depends on how much the poster weighs. It was pretty big, and while I don’t know anything about the quality of paper used for posters back in the mid-60’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was significantly heavier than what you see today. If the poster was heavy enough, its own weight would hold it tight against the wall even if it was only connected at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/98 "2005-07-07T19:05:31Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > IIn _E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial_\*, our intrepid little alien gets left behind by about two seconds by his UFO. He stares forelornly at the ship rising into the air just about ten feet above him. > > Later on in the movie, E.T. telekinetically carries himself, Eliot, a bicycle, and (later still) a whole bunch of kids on their bikes miles through the air, way above the ground. > > So, when the UFO was departing in the first five minutes of the film, why didn’t E.T. just telekinetically float himself up to the ship??? Carrie, from the movie “Carrie”, wasn’t able to fly either. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/99 "2005-07-07T19:36:19Z")
> [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > Yes - and also, if it were only attached at the bottom, wouldn’t any little pressure difference cause the poster to float away from the wall, blowing Andy’s cover (no pun intended)? I agree. It seemed as if it were attached. > [@](#): > > That was my point - how would he attach the poster to the wall after he climbed through the hole? The only thing I could think of was that he tacked the top and thenplaced gum or adhesive on the bottom. When he got in, the poster settled and the adhesive caught the wall. It would be a light bond (due to lack of pressure), but it might be enough to keep it from blowing up. Or…a wizard did it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899/100 "2005-07-07T20:43:22Z")
How about “the Incredibles”? What happened to Mirage? Sure, she helped the family escape the island, but shouldn’t she have been charged with at least being an accomplice to the murders of scores of superheroes? (all the files of “Terminated” heroes that Mr. Incredible finds.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unanswered-questions-about-movies/308899.md?page=6)