# Unintentional Movie Ironies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794 "2010-10-29T17:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/41 "2010-10-31T01:11:00Z")
In the movie **Chloe** , Liam Neeson plays a guy who cheats on his wife with a prostitute. In one early scene, the wife finds evidence of the affair by secretly checking his cellphone text messages. The incriminating message is dated March 16, 2009 - the exact same day Neeson’s real-life wife, Natasha Richardson, was involved in a fatal skiing accident. She died two days later. I’m _guessing_ that was unintentional. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/42 "2010-10-31T04:26:01Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > I hated the “Heathers” line “Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?” even before Kim Walker, the poor actress who spoke it, died of one in real life ☹ And Jeremy Applegate (whose character Peter knelt beside her casket and prayed suicide never happened to him because he couldn’t handle it) shot himself. Both very sad. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/43 "2010-10-31T17:26:58Z")
In 1975 Tom Paxton wrote the song ["Crazy John"](http://www.mydfz.com/Paxton/lyrics/cj.htm)about Lennon > [@Tom Paxton](#): > > They never can hear you, John, they have no desire. > They’re beginning to fear you, John, and the hate’s getting higher. > > When you wade in the water, the people can’t see the old reflections. > When you stand in the road, the people can’t read the old directions. > When the people get lost, they start building a cross. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/44 "2010-10-31T17:32:54Z")
Not ironic, but I’ve always chuckled when, in _Shogun_, Richard Chamberlain shouts ‘Do you think I am a God-cursed Sodomite?’ ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/45 "2010-10-31T18:05:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In _Addams Family Values_ when Wednesday, Pugsley, and their friend won’t comply with the happy jolly facade of the summer camp they’re sent to “The Happy Hut”, a building filled with sickeningly sweet posters and movies (_Sound of Music_, _Annie_, dolls, stuffed animals, etc.). They look together at one wall and scream- it’s a poster of Michael Jackson. > > It was filmed before MJ’s child molestation trials, but premiered just after. The scream took on all new meaning. Oddly, he was supposed to do the theme song for that film, but the song in question (‘Is It Scary?’) was removed from association with the movie due to contract problems. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/46 "2010-11-01T00:24:12Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Everybody has probably seen this a dozen times or more: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXhaDXvFfc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXhaDXvFfc) > > Sort of double irony? I hadn’t seen that. That is…incredibly eerie. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/47 "2010-11-02T01:23:18Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > In that vein, there’s the famous SNL sketch from years back where John Belushi is visiting the graves of all the other original Not-Ready-For-Primetime players, and says that he’s the last surviving cast member from that group. In reality he was the first to die. > [@panamajack](#): > > Surely that wasn’t entirely unintentional. I get the impression most of them knew they couldn’t save him from himself, and Belushi just didn’t mind laughing at the Reaper. Well, in that film he does say “They always said I’d be the first one to go.” So I guess you could take it as either ironic or inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/48 "2010-11-03T14:10:04Z")
Here’s a spooky one I just noticed: In **Rosemary’s Baby** , a character commits suicide by leaping from a NYC apartment buillding, hitting a Volkswagon before landing on the sidewalk. The scene was shot outside the Dakota building, where John Lennon would be murdered in 1980. Therefore, the movie features a “bloody Beetle” next to a corpse in the very same spot where Lennon would be killed 13 years later! Yikes… ---
**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:** [November 3, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/49 "2010-11-03T14:35:37Z")
Giving credit where credit is due: Ira Levin wrote the scene 15 years before Lennon’s murder (though the building’s name in the book and movie was the Bramford). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/50 "2010-11-03T14:42:24Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Everybody has probably seen this a dozen times or more: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXhaDXvFfc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXhaDXvFfc) > > Sort of double irony? Could someone closed-caption this for the youtube-impaired? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/51 "2010-11-03T14:49:25Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Could someone closed-caption this for the youtube-impaired? James Dean’s PSA on Traffic Safety, interviewed by Gig Young not long before Dean’s fatal car crash. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/52 "2010-11-03T17:19:41Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Giving credit where credit is due: Ira Levin wrote the scene 15 years before Lennon’s murder (though the building’s name in the book and movie was the Bramford). But did Levin specify the type of car in the novel? I just think it’s creepy to see a ‘bloody Beetle’ next to a corpse in the exact same spot where John Lennon was later gunned down. By the way, there are a lot (well, a couple) of strange connections between **Rosemary’s Baby** and Lennon’s death, in addition to the Dakota location: ``` -the song "Dear Prudence," off the White Album, was written for Mia Farrow's sister; -the White Album also featured the song "Helter Skelter"; -Charles Manson was "inspired" by the song to order his minions to go on a ``` murderous rampage, during which Sharon Tate, Roman Polanksi’s wife, was killed I’m sure there are more, if anyone wants to help me out. ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/53 "2010-11-04T12:14:15Z")
In _The Ballad of John an Yoko_ he says “They’re gonna crucify me”. In know he wasn’t literally crucified, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/54 "2010-11-04T12:47:18Z")
He also wasn’t killed by any “they.” Just a sick, twisted kid who wanted attention, and was less a part of “they” than John was himself. There was no foreshadowing, and no irony. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/55 "2010-11-04T14:22:51Z")
Yes, Ira did say Volkswagon Beetle. Roman Polanski made sure the movie version was a faithful adaption of the book. He even called Levin to ask him which issue of The New Yorker had the shirt that Guy saw advertised. Levin had to admit that he hadn’t checked the magazine, but just assumed any issue would have an ad for a nice shirt. But it turned out the issue for that week didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/56 "2010-11-04T14:57:19Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > By the way, there are a lot (well, a couple) of strange connections between **Rosemary’s Baby** and Lennon’s death, in addition to the Dakota location: > > ``` > -the song "Dear Prudence," off the White Album, was written for Mia Farrow's sister; > -the White Album also featured the song "Helter Skelter"; > -Charles Manson was "inspired" by the song to order his minions to go on a > > ``` > > murderous rampage, during which Sharon Tate, Roman Polanksi’s wife, was > killed Just thought of another one: “Rocky Racoon,” from the _White Album_, features in its opening line, all all things, the word ‘Dakota,’ in a song in which the title character is shot! ---
**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:** [November 4, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/57 "2010-11-04T15:06:22Z")
[Lennon Murder Truth](http://www.lennonmurdertruth.com/) will keep you busy for hours. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/58 "2010-11-04T15:39:53Z")
I think Christopher Reeve’s last movie before he became paralyzed was the made-for-cable [Above Suspicion (1995)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109034/), in which he plays a murderer who fakes being paralyzed. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/59 "2010-11-04T15:43:04Z")
Reeve also played a gay paraplegic Vietnam veteran on stage in [Fifth of July](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_of_July) ---
**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:** [November 4, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794/60 "2010-11-04T16:40:46Z")
[Beyond the Valley of the Dolls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065466/) - A character who is a very thinly-veiled stand in for Phil Spector goes on a murderous rampage at his own beach-side estate, shooting a girl in the face. Adding to that irony, the Spector-esque character rips off his clothing to reveal a very “shocking” secret. Not quite the same thing as the real Spector taking off his wig, and showing off a scary look, but in the same vein. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-movie-ironies/558794.md?page=4)