Question: After burning the house, where does everyone live for the next year? Gilbert's voiceover says that Arnie is about to turn nineteen, so a year has passed. Amy has just gotten the bakery manager job, and Gilbert and Arnie are waiting for Becky. So what did they do between their mother's death and the "one year later" scene?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.
Question: I read that the real Rocky Dennis had his body donated to the UCLA Medical Centre. Why was his body donated?
Question: Close to the end, she says to load up the bikes and drive 165 days. Really? 165 days? How could they possibly carry enough fuel? And to go where? Water? Food?
Question: Although the movie itself is in English, how is it that in a lot of cases both Poles and Germans all seem to be speaking the same language? Are they speaking Polish or German?
Answer: They're speaking both. Spielberg did an interview about it and said, "I had Germans speaking German and Poles speaking Polish only on certain occasions when I wanted to pretty much show what it was like and what it sounded like, and then only let those moments come across in English where I had to make a point." Link to interview: http://www.insidefilm.com/spielberg2.html.
Question: Rose's mother says that a woman's purpose for going to a university is to find "a suitable husband," and Rose is already engaged to Cal. I was under the impression that, during this time, many women would still be homemakers instead of pursuing careers. Were they studying for degrees but hoping to find a husband and not have a career after all?
Answer: Not exactly. In the mid-19th century, in the wake of first-wave feminism, women began entering university in greater numbers, breaking the gender barrier across the world. However, in 1912, it was still not common for the "upper class" to do so, since, as you say, women were restricted to their more traditional role of wife/homemaker. Rose's mother is simply reflecting this view (and her class' general dim view of higher education in general, i.e, what's the point, when you have wealth?) while Rose herself admires, and wishes to emulate, the women who went to university for its intended purpose, to receive an education.
I want to add that college was not always about training for a job. Female students used to learn more about home-making skills and arts. As an upper-class woman, Rose would be expected to socialise and entertain other women, i.e. the wives of her future husband's business contacts. Of course, she may have attended a "finishing school" (which Jack makes a joke about).
Question: Why was Charlie running away from Paris? And what happened to the things from his apartment?
Question: Was Kittridge a good guy or a bad guy? I just couldn't figure him out by the end.
Answer: He's not a bad guy to the extent of murdering and plotting against the good guys, but he's not exactly morally upstanding either. Kittridge doesn't want to destroy the Entity like Ethan; he wants to gain control of it on behalf of the US government and is happy to deal with the White Widow or anyone else to achieve that end. His appearance on the train isn't especially nefarious; he's just the highest bidder.
Answer: He's either.
Question: The comet fragment lands on one of the Outer Banks Islands in North Carolina. Wouldn't the wave created then rush outward from the impact, toward Africa, and not inland as shown in the movie?
Answer: The wave created by displaced water would radiate outward in all directions equally. Since the ocean floor slopes upwards toward land, the wave would increase in size in that direction. Because the depth drops sharply on the ocean side, the wave would be greatly reduced in size.
Question: Towards the end, Eddie resorts to assorted cartoon antics in order to make the Weasels "die laughing." But Eddie is not in Toontown, he's performing with real objects inside the Acme factory, and subject to normal physics again. So, how is it he managed to survive multiple bowling-bowl blows to the head, being electrocuted, etc?
Answer: The movie establishes, pretty quickly, that it doesn't necessarily follow real-world logic and physics, and plays fast and loose with them. After all, it's a world where humans and cartoons co-exist side-by-side. Lots of things happen by pure dumb luck, etc. It would stand to reason that Eddie could survive silly things like being hit in the head with a bowling ball, etc. You could also make the argument that the Acme factory could follow cartoon logic, especially as it seems to be literally right next to Toon Town (they even cut a hole in the wall directly to Toon Town) and was run by a man who loved the Toons.
Question: Who did the voice of the guy briefing Phelps on tape at the beginning of the movie? His voice sounds like that of the guy Sosa wanted blown up in Scarface.
Answer: It was the voice of Kittridge (the CIA chief who later suspects Ethan of being the mole), played by Henry Czerny.
That Great a Big Hill of Hope - S1-E13
Question: Why isn't it explained how only the journalist seems to have survived the air crash at the end of Episode 12, but in the following episode all the other members of the team are alive and well?
Question: Just a thought. If the Mattsons chose to file a complaint against Abel, would his history of unethical behaviour on the job make his superiors more inclined to take the complaint seriously? It just seems odd to me that accusations of inappropriate behaviour against a policeman outside the job would be dismissed so easily when he has a long history of questionable behaviour on the job.
Answer: It's not unheard of that some police departments have covered up their own officers' inappropriate behaviour or misdeeds, particularly ones who are higher ranking. It would then become a matter for Internal Affairs or even the Department of Justice to investigate.
Question: Just a thought. If the Mattsons chose to file a complaint against Abel, would his history of unethical behaviour on the job make his superiors more inclined to take the complaint seriously? It just seems odd to me that accusations of inappropriate behaviour against a policeman outside the job would be dismissed so easily when he has a long history of questionable behaviour on the job.
Answer: The department may want to cover up Abel's behaviour to avoid bad publicity or accusations about police brutality and corruption. Most likely, it would result in an investigation by Internal Affairs, which they may have various reasons, aside from Abel, of wanting to prevent.
Question: In the movie, Paxton's boss decides to give him a chance to do an important delivery although the customer requested someone without a criminal record. His boss gives him fake identity documents, and his name is shown as Edgar Allen Poe. He is referred to as the poet and writer from the first half of the nineteenth century. Does anybody know why they would call him Edgar Allen Poe, when the real name was Edgar Allan Poe? A mistake? A deliberate thing? Is there a real reason for this? I am curious.
Question: Why does Nick/David reply with 'Steven' when asked his real name at the end of the film? I'm assuming I'm missing something; surely this isn't a mistake that nobody picked up on because that would be enormous.
Answer: I've listened several times, but it sounds like he says "it's David." I think the actor trying to use a soft, sad voice makes it come across as "Steven," and whoever did the closed caption put "Steven."
Question: Anya believes she has family in Paris, according to her necklace. However, if she had never met Dimitri and Vladimir and gotten there herself, how would she have been able to find her "family" if she did not remember their names, her real name, and last name?
Answer: Anya was desperate to locate her family and may have been willing to search for additional leads in Paris. Thousands of Russian refugees had settled in Paris after escaping the revolution, and they could have helped her, someone might have recognized her, and so on. Also, Anya's memory was slowly returning.
Question: Was there any particular reason as to why the taxi cab in 2015 was built upon a Citroën DS? It would've been 60 years old in 2015, so it doesn't scream "futuristic car".
Answer: In real life, it was because the DS looked similar to a drawing one of the artists had come up with. But it does have a unique and futuristic look to it since it wasn't really a popular car or seen that often in the 80s in the UK. Since it wasn't meant to be the star of the show, they built off a working, existing car rather than design and build a working, unique car. If you're talking about in the Back to the Future universe, the taxi was meant to be a brand new model. It's even possible the taxi company retrofitted 60-year-old cars the same way people build hot rods out of old cars. Here's an inside look at the taxi. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb9Gtd-ycto.
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Answer: His body was donated to the UCLA Centre for Genetics Research, presumably so doctors and geneticists could study him and learn more about his condition. Hopefully, this would help them to better treat other patients like him in the future.
TedStixon