# Why no movies featuring xxxxx as a character? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863 "2007-07-23T17:51:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/81 "2007-07-24T02:19:26Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] Thanks for narrowing that right down. 😃 Cronenberg or Lynch? I’m guessing Cronenberg but IMDB isn’t being very helpful since I don’t know what to plug in. [/QUOTE] Cronenberg. [Dead Ringers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094964/). ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/82 "2007-07-24T02:27:29Z")
Is pharmacist still standing? There was some talk of it re: _One Hour Photo_, but I don’t think anyone crossed it off yet. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/83 "2007-07-24T02:30:57Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] How about an entomologist. You know, a bug doctor? [/QUOTE] Michael Caine as Dr. Brad Crane in the 1978 Irwin Allen crapfest _The Swarm._ ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/84 "2007-07-24T02:32:14Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Men’s clothing salesman. If you do see one, he’s probably a minor character and some kind of shlub. [/QUOTE] Ryan O’Neal in “So Fine” played a definitely non-shlubby men’s clothing salesmen. Admittedly he started out shlubby but he metamorphosed into a hottie (selling assless jeans). ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/85 "2007-07-24T02:33:53Z")
Notary public? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/86 "2007-07-24T02:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] Is pharmacist still standing? There was some talk of it re: _One Hour Photo_, but I don’t think anyone crossed it off yet. [/QUOTE] Does Billy Crystal in \*The Princess Bride \* count? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/87 "2007-07-24T02:43:13Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] We actuaries used to feel slighted, until _About Schmidt_. [/QUOTE] I remember that we even got a flyer from the Institute of Actuaries of Australia suggesting that members might like to see it. I didn’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/88 "2007-07-24T03:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Magazine copy editor. Not reporter, or publisher, or photographer – copy editor. Wasn’t Michael J. Fox’s character in _Bright Lights, Big City_ a copy editor? ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/89 "2007-07-24T04:03:11Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Men’s clothing salesman. If you do see one, he’s probably a minor character and some kind of shlub. [/QUOTE] Ben Affleck in Mallrats sold Men’s clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/90 "2007-07-24T04:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=jharvey963] What about Chasing Amy? Wasn’t the lead character a comic book animator? Or do I have that mixed up? J. [/QUOTE] That would be an illustrator. An animator is like cartoons and animated movies. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/91 "2007-07-24T04:30:03Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] Steve Martin played a dentist again in _Novocaine_, and there’s the obvious _The Secret Lives of Dentists_. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie with an animator as a character. Hell, game testers just got a movie, where’s mine? [/QUOTE] [_Allegro non Troppo_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074121/), an Italian . . . homage to _Fantasia_ features Maurizio Nichetti as The Animator who – reluctantly – draws animation for classical pieces. His performance is mute, though. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/92 "2007-07-24T04:53:49Z")
See how many damn movies I have to add to my NetFlix queue? Damn it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/93 "2007-07-24T05:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] See how many damn movies I have to add to my NetFlix queue? Damn it. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. Nobody’s actually recommending that you _watch_ most of these films! :eek: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/94 "2007-07-24T06:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Wasn’t Michael J. Fox’s character in _Bright Lights, Big City_ a copy editor? [/QUOTE] I read the book…I think he was a fact checker. So if the movie kept that the same, we’d have at least one fact checker character. ---
**Author:** ![Thrash\_the\_Almighty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@Thrash\_the\_Almighty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrash_the_Almighty)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/95 "2007-07-24T10:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=How about a historian?[/QUOTE] Nicolas Cage and others in National Treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/96 "2007-07-24T11:16:41Z")
OK, how about a movie starring any of the following: - Janitor - Electrician - Plumber - Garbage man (I could see great potential here) - Bellhop - Bus driver - Shoemaker - Glassblower - Health inspector - Airport baggage handler Some of these must have been done, but I can see several not getting any starring role… ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/97 "2007-07-24T11:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] Mechanic: Second banana in the Herbie movies was the mechanic/navigator. [/QUOTE] Also, the Oscar-winning female lead in MY COUSIN VINNIE. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/98 "2007-07-24T11:22:24Z")
[QUOTE=Windwalker] OK, how about a movie starring any of the following: … - Plumber [/QUOTE] I already mentioned [Kenny](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822389/), in which the title role is a very specialised kind of plumber. [QUOTE=OneCentStamp] No, no, no. Nobody’s actually recommending that you _watch_ most of these films! :eek: 😉 [/QUOTE] And **Kenny** is one that I do recommend watching, if you can find it. It’s a very funny mockumentary. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/99 "2007-07-24T11:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=Windwalker] OK, how about a movie starring any of the following: - Janitor - Electrician - Plumber - Garbage man (I could see great potential here) - Bellhop - Bus driver - Shoemaker - Glassblower - Health inspector - Airport baggage handler Some of these must have been done, but I can see several not getting any starring role… [/QUOTE] Janitor – Nightmare on Elm Street. Plumber – there was a Mario Bros movie. I think Captain Lou Albano was in it. Electrician – Cable Guy is sort of close. Garbage Men – There was a movie about garbage men with Charlie Sheen, right? Bellhop – Dunstan Checks In or something. Bus Driver – Speed. Shoemaker – Kinky Boots Glass Blower – Heart of Glass, the Werner Herzog movie was kind of about glass blowers. Health Inspector – Larry the Cable Guy, Health Inspector! Turns out there’s a WC Fields movie called _The Pharmacist_. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863/100 "2007-07-24T11:43:22Z")
Dupe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-movies-featuring-xxxxx-as-a-character/412863.md?page=6)