# Your unpopular interpretations of creative works \[Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194 "2009-08-03T18:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/121 "2009-08-12T02:21:09Z")
Enough! ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/122 "2009-08-12T07:29:00Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I mean, if you want to blast _The Incredibles_ as an Objectivist screed, at least have a passing familiarity with how an Objectivist would actually look at the thing I never said anything about Objectivism. The movie simply left a bad taste in my mouth. Syndrome’s specific actions are unimportant, since I felt he was mostly a straw man, a kind of “this is what happens when you try to rise above your station… you become a murdering baby-raper” deal. That is, he was unsympathetic because of course he’s unsympathetic! He’s not a super! It’s only natural that he tries to be a superhero and winds up a mass murderer instead! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/123 "2009-08-12T07:32:03Z")
LOL Syndrome wasn’t an overall lesson about not rising above your station, he was a lesson about being poisoned by jealousy. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/124 "2009-08-12T08:26:38Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > And in _Reign of Fire_, the dragons weren’t from Earth at all- they weren’t even biological. Naw, see **Reign Of Fire** was an allegory for the War On Terror. Europe turns out to be complacently harbouring a nascent threat within its own cities: when awakened, that domestic threat then emerges to bring down those cities in fiery ruin. The survivors respond by retreating into tiny enclaves which struggle to cling to bare existence, while they vainly seek succour in re-enacting fragments of dimly remembered American pop culture. Suddenly! The American military, in the form of a tattoed and cigar-chompin’ Matthew McComedy, arrive with tanks and helicopters: no more hidin’, no-siree-bob, they’s gonna open a can a whuppass on these godless turrists, I mean dragons, but first these pantywaist Limeys gotta learn who’s boss, see? Suitably chastened after having his “ass” “whupped” Christian Bale yields command to Matthew McWhupass: hurrah and huzzah, they take the fight to the goddamn Ay-rabs and the world is saved for Freedom and Democracy, but not before American McJesus dies for our sins. And I double-dare ya to challenge that interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/125 "2009-08-12T11:10:40Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > I never said anything about Objectivism. The movie simply left a bad taste in my mouth. Syndrome’s specific actions are unimportant, since I felt he was mostly a straw man, a kind of “this is what happens when you try to rise above your station… you become a murdering baby-raper” deal. That is, he was unsympathetic because of course he’s unsympathetic! He’s not a super! It’s only natural that he tries to be a superhero and winds up a mass murderer instead! Wow, you’re really reading a shitload of stuff into the movie that’s just not there. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/126 "2009-08-12T12:36:41Z")
Christ, I thought this thread was “your unpopular interpretations of creative works”. I thought it would be a given that any interpretations posted here would not be shared by a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/127 "2009-08-12T12:53:42Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > Christ, I thought this thread was “your unpopular interpretations of creative works”. I thought it would be a given that any interpretations posted here would not be shared by a lot of people. Fair point. I guess I was just wondering where you got this interpretation of Brad Byrd’s personal motives. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/128 "2009-08-12T13:34:16Z")
I read a magazine interview around when the movie was released where he basically repeated a lot of the things Bob Parr said in the film (or, since I watched the film after I read the interview, it appeared to me that Bob Parr was repeating Brad Bird). ---
**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:** [August 12, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/129 "2009-08-12T15:20:59Z")
I have to ask - do you feel the same way about _Ratatouille_? Thematically, it’s basically the same film. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/130 "2009-08-12T16:16:37Z")
Batman, in many of his incarnations, doesn’t choose not to kill because of moral qualms. It’s because he, at least subconsciously, wants to _prolong_ his fight against villainy. It’s what he’s based his identity on, and channeled his entire reason for being (and his own pain and rage) into. If he _won_, he’d have to _stop fighting_. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/131 "2009-08-12T16:18:52Z")
Oh, another one. I always thought the Bible story of Jacob and Esau was horrifically unfair. I’m supposed to believe that Jacob is _rewarded_ for being deceitful and opportunistic? But I’ve decided that the story works a lot better if I think of Esau as a big complainer, blaming all his problems on Jacob. Now Esau, did Jacob _really_ impersonate you by dressing up like a goat, or did you kind of exaggerate this story to explain why things didn’t go your way? I like picturing Esau complaining that he could have been really successful, only God liked Jacob _so_ much better, and God saying “yeah right, kid, you keep on believing that” and rolling his eyes. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/132 "2009-08-12T16:26:44Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > But I’ve decided that the story works a lot better if I think of Esau as a big complainer, blaming all his problems on Jacob. Now Esau, did Jacob _really_ impersonate you by dressing up like a goat, or did you kind of exaggerate this story to explain why things didn’t go your way? I like picturing Esau complaining that he could have been really successful, only God liked Jacob _so_ much better, and God saying “yeah right, kid, you keep on believing that” and rolling his eyes. Well, when you look at all the favoritism of siblings in real life that goes on, I don’t find it so hard to believe. You know, like the younger sibling who gets their own TV, computer, and away with murder when the older sibling can barely get anything? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/133 "2009-08-12T16:31:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I have to ask - do you feel the same way about _Ratatouille_? Thematically, it’s basically the same film. Alas, I’ve never seen it, so there’s no way to tell. The one other thing I can think of that irritated me in roughly the same way was a children’s book called A Cage of Butterflies. I thought just because the bad guy was an asshole didn’t mean the protagonists weren’t sadistic little bastards, and that the Babies’ much-praised pacifism only really amounted to them wanting someone else to pull the trigger. But that book, thankfully, is pretty obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/134 "2009-08-12T16:36:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The final message of _The Wizard of Oz_: “There’s no place like home.” This is a really crappy message, especially for kids. Kids need to learn that someday they’ll go out into the world and discover things that are greater than the confinements of family. Especially kids who don’t have such a great childhood; they need to know that there’s something better out there that they can aim toward without looking back. And I took away a totally different meaning than that! I did come from an unhappy home life, and I took it to mean “There’s no place like home, so work to make your home a happy place.” Which I always did, once I was an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/135 "2009-08-12T17:15:07Z")
A friend speculated after seeing _Chicago_ that the [entire final scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luef1H24hU8) (Velma and Roxy headlining at the posh venue) was a fantasy sequence in Roxie’s mind and that in reality the best they’d ever get was a $100 bucks each in the dive Velma mentioned. I prefer to think they really did get a great comeback (though I can’t see it lasting for more than a few weeks). In a recent thread on _Cabaret_ someone mentioned that the numbers at the Kit Kat Club were obviously fantasies in Sally (Liza Minelli’s) mind on how she interpreted her own singing. I think that one has merit. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/136 "2009-08-12T17:19:53Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > I read a magazine interview around when the movie was released where he basically repeated a lot of the things Bob Parr said in the film (or, since I watched the film after I read the interview, it appeared to me that Bob Parr was repeating Brad Bird). Bob Parr yes…but you seemed to be saying that Syndrome was speaking for Byrd. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/137 "2009-08-12T17:20:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In a recent thread on _Cabaret_ someone mentioned that the numbers at the Kit Kat Club were obviously fantasies in Sally (Liza Minelli’s) mind on how she interpreted her own singing. I think that one has merit. Hm, this one’s interesting. As in, she was so out there that she thought she was a great singer/performer, but really she was a nobody? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/138 "2009-08-12T17:20:34Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > A friend speculated after seeing _Chicago_ that the [entire final scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luef1H24hU8) (Velma and Roxy headlining at the posh venue) was a fantasy sequence in Roxie’s mind I always assumed that as well. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/139 "2009-08-12T17:20:58Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Batman, in many of his incarnations, doesn’t choose not to kill because of moral qualms. It’s because he, at least subconsciously, wants to _prolong_ his fight against villainy. It’s what he’s based his identity on, and channeled his entire reason for being (and his own pain and rage) into. If he _won_, he’d have to _stop fighting_. I don’t know that I agree that this is the reason, but I do know his refusal to kill is a selfish one that allows innocents to suffer so he can remain “moral.” ---
**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:** [August 12, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194/140 "2009-08-12T17:21:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I have to ask - do you feel the same way about Ratatouille? Thematically, it’s basically the same film. I don’t see that. The message in _Ratatouille_ was “you’re as good as everyone else so don’t let other people convince you they’re better than you.” The message in _The Incredibles_ was “you’re better than everyone else so don’t let other people convince you they’re as good as you.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unpopular-interpretations-of-creative-works-spoilers/505194.md?page=8)