# Why didn't Whoopi Goldberg kill herself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022 "2008-11-30T04:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/1 "2008-11-30T04:20:28Z")
Is there ever a reason for anyone, anywhere, to agree to star in a movie like _[Theodore Rex](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114658/)_? I mean, has there ever been a clearer sign that a career has fallen below rock bottom than a movie about a cop and her new partner, a cop also, but also a dinosaur (in red Chucks)? Seriously, at what point do you kill yourself? Shouldn’t that point be before you make a movie like _Theodore Rex?_ Wait, I’ll be right back, the dinosaur is doing a Scottish accent now. OK, I’m back. I will never be the same after that. Anyway. And what about _[Quigley](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0350022/)_? In which Gary Busey plays a little white dog, and spends much of the movie on his hands and knees wearing a black leather dog collar? Again, shouldn’t suicide be somewhere on the scale between _Point Break_ and _Quigley_? ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/2 "2008-11-30T04:24:50Z")
Since when is a poor career choice a reason for suicide? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/3 "2008-11-30T04:29:24Z")
Hey, there’s an alternate side to every coin. If she _had_ killed herself, we never would have been blessed with the genius that is _Sister Act 2_. ---
**Author:** ![Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f14d63/32.png) [@Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesus_Harold_Christ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/4 "2008-11-30T04:29:29Z")
How about right before they decide to work as a video store clerk? ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/5 "2008-11-30T04:30:25Z")
There was a contract issue IIRC for Whoopi in Theodore Rex. She didn’t want to do the movie but this was around the time another actress (Kim Basinger, I think) had gotten into hot water for breaking a contract. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/6 "2008-11-30T04:42:59Z")
Wasn’t there some sort of creepy Adam and Eve subplot involving Mr. Rex and a female of his species? I watched it as a teen and seem to recall some sort of gross insinuation of dino-sex. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/7 "2008-11-30T04:44:06Z")
> [@Jesus\_Harold\_Christ](#): > > How about right before they decide to work as a video store clerk? Wow, based on quite a few of your threads, what an utter surprise you’re upping your trolling and just coming right out to be a jerk. My, such an excellent way of making your stay here that much shorter. Not that it’s any great revelation, but the staff will be discussing your posting privileges. ETA: It was a short discussion. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/8 "2008-11-30T04:48:35Z")
The dinosaur just did, back to back, an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, and a Jack Nicholson impression. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/9 "2008-11-30T04:51:21Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > There was a contract issue IIRC for Whoopi in Theodore Rex. She didn’t want to do the movie but this was around the time another actress (Kim Basinger, I think) had gotten into hot water for breaking a contract. Kim Basinger’s career never recovered from her breaking the contract for ‘Boxing Helena’. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/10 "2008-11-30T05:10:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Kim Basinger’s career never recovered from her breaking the contract for ‘Boxing Helena’. Whoosh? ---
**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:** [November 30, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/11 "2008-11-30T05:18:08Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > There was a contract issue IIRC for Whoopi in Theodore Rex. She didn’t want to do the movie but this was around the time another actress (Kim Basinger, I think) had gotten into hot water for breaking a contract. Right. The production company claimed that she had entered into a verbal contract to do the film a few years before, and sued her for $20 mil. when she tried to back out. She ended up agreeing to do the movie in exchange for them dropping the lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/12 "2008-11-30T05:19:39Z")
_Theodore Rex_ is available on DVD. _The African Queen_ is not. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/13 "2008-11-30T05:39:36Z")
Nearly everything I wanted to say in this thread has already been said so I’ll just add that **Theodore Rex** has the dubious distinction of being by far the most expensive movie ever to go STV (straight-to-video). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/14 "2008-11-30T05:40:00Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > _The African Queen_ is not. It is in [Australia](http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=366268) if you want me to pick one up for you. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/15 "2008-11-30T05:51:45Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > a cop also, but also a dinosaur (in red Chucks) This gives me an excuse to comment on the fact that I thought I was the only one who ever noticed the “male character on a TV show/movie in red Chucks=wacky” code, but even _[The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31824)_ has poked fun at it. I’ve never seen _Theodore Rex_, but I have heard of it- and the whole premise sounds like something Homer Simpson would have thought up. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/16 "2008-11-30T05:59:12Z")
IMHO, the world would have been better off if Gary Busey (and Billy Zane) had committed suicide right before agreeing to do [Kurtlar vadisi - Irak](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493264/). For those of you _not_ familiar with the film (which was made in '06), let me just point you to what [Wikipedia says about it:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtlar_Vadisi_-_Irak) > [@](#): > > The film features a Jewish-American Army doctor (Gary Busey) who harvests fresh organs from injured Iraqi prisoners to sell to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv for transplantation. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/17 "2008-11-30T06:02:11Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > It is in [Australia](http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=366268) if you want me to pick one up for you. Wow. Thanks but no. I’m not a huge fan of the movie, but I’d love one for the store. Unfortunately most of our customers couldn’t play a Region 4 disc. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/18 "2008-11-30T09:30:11Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > This gives me an excuse to comment on the fact that I thought I was the only one who ever noticed the “male character on a TV show/movie in red Chucks=wacky” code, but even _[The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31824)_ has poked fun at it. Hey, The Doctor wears red Chucks and he’s not - oh, wait. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/19 "2008-11-30T14:40:33Z")
Re. the OP – what, and never taste Entenmann’s again? :dubious: I won’t [ever] be seeing _T. Rex_, but surely the thespish career limbo bar was set very low by Richard Pryor in _The Toy_… and by John Travolta in _Battlefield Earth_… ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022/20 "2008-11-30T15:42:11Z")
Ironically, the dinosaur was later found dead of a barbituate overdose, shortly after landing a walk-on role in _Star Trek: Nemesis_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-whoopi-goldberg-kill-herself/475022.md?page=2)