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: We saw that Split-Face's arms became separate creatures, but that happened to its legs? where did they go?

Erik M.

Question: Anastasia basically lost most of her memories from hitting her head, as well as the possible trauma of what happened to her the night her family was killed. Could someone really lose most of their memories that way?

Answer: Amnesia exists, but it is a temporary condition. It does not last for the long-term and people usually regain their memory in a day or two, sometimes up to a week. Extreme cases can last longer, but not in the way it is depicted in movies. Some people may lose memories due to severe brain damage from a traumatic injury, but that is permanent.

raywest

Question: When Peter, Susan, and the beavers get to the other side of the melting river, but find no sign of Lucy, why does Susan assume that Peter did something to her?

Answer: Because he was holding onto her while they were on the ice in the water, Susan must have assumed that Lucy slipped out of her coat and had gone further down the river and could have drowned.

Question: Why does Melvin struggle to look Carol in the eye? Is that something to do with his mental illness?

Answer: It has everything to do with his mental illness. His OCD condition has kept him isolated with anti-social tendencies. He just finds it difficult to directly interact with people.

raywest

Question: I'm not from the USA so excuse the lack of knowledge, would pleading insanity really get you off a rape charge?

Answer: 1) McMurphy didn't exactly "get off" by reason of insanity; he was still incarcerated for an indefinite amount of time, just in a psychiatric facility rather than a traditional prison. 2) He was originally sent to a normal prison for the statutory rape charge, but is then transferred to the mental hospital due to repeated acts of aggression that suggested some form of psychosis (or, as the doctor suspects, faking it to get out of hard labor). 3) No, it wouldn't. The insanity defense is a) very rare and b) very hard to prove, and it would be difficult to apply to rape, statutory or otherwise.

Answer: Insanity, legally, is defined as not knowing right from wrong. It can also be "temporary." It can only be diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist, and it is rarely determined as such. Laws vary from state to state, but if a person was guilty of a serious crime and was found to be insane, they'd be confined to a mental hospital, either long-term, permanently, or, if they sufficiently improve, they'd be either be released after a certain amount of time or transferred to a general prison to complete their sentence or remain there indefinitely.

raywest

Question: Kat goes to an ATM to get out a bunch of cash... I would assume for "extra services" and without going into to much description why did she not get out enough?

Question: This may have been explored in the movie but a bit unsure... how come Gucci had to sell out? Was it financial difficulty?

Answer: Yes. Basically, within the narrative of the film, Maurizio is weak-willed and easily manipulated by Patrizia; he didn't even want to be involved in running Gucci in the first place and has no real business acumen. So, he both overextends the firm and spends a huge amount of money on an extravagant lifestyle, which leaves him in financial trouble and at the mercy of a hostile takeover.

Show generally

Question: Kramer never seems to work, how does he pay for an apartment in NYC, even in the 90s they were still expensive, is his means of income ever revealed?

Answer: In the episode where Kramer goes to baseball fantasy camp, George says Kramer's life is a fantasy camp and that he "fell ass-backwards into money." It's never explained where this money comes from or what Kramer did to get it, but that's how he's able to afford the lifestyle he leads. Although the episode where Jerry buys his dad a Cadillac, Kramer sees the check Jerry earned for his comedy gig and didn't realise Jerry made so much money that he felt uncomfortable about knowing the amount, so it's not like Kramer is sitting on a ton of money, which is why he does all his schemes and side jobs.

Bishop73

Answer: This is gleaned from the Internet, though it seems a bit far-fetched that it would provide enough for all his living expenses: Kramer has a variety of ways of making a living, including gambling, working in various theater projects, acting out illnesses at a medical school, getting a spot on the show "Murphy Brown", and pitching ideas for inventions like his "Coffee Table Book."

raywest

Question: When Georgina introduces Suzanna to Lisa, why does she mention that Suzanna smokes French cigarettes? Lisa is upset and looking for Jamie. I don't understand.

Answer: Georgina is scared of Lisa, and all she knows about Susanna in this scene is that she smokes French cigarettes. Georgina avoids threat by offering Lisa everything she knows about Susanna.

Question: Despite it being pretty clear Penny had an illegal abortion the word is never said in the whole film. Was that still taboo in the 80s? Or is it more indicative of how people in the 60s didn't want to use the word directly?

Answer: I think it's both reasons. Abortion has always been a controversial topic, so the movie apparently preferred to avoid the word. In that time period, abortion was still strictly illegal, so the people around Penny would likely not say the exact word out loud to protect her and keep it as quiet as possible. It was typical to allude to something like that in a more colloquial manner, such as "getting rid of it." It's similar to how people would rarely even say "pregnant." It was always terms like "expecting," "in a delicate condition," "in a family way" etc.

raywest

Question: In the beginning when Coop and Renee beat Ted and his friend, they walk to their girlfriends, one being Brittany and who is the other girl in the green dress?

Question: When Jane takes Robin to the hospital a doctor mentions to Jane that this commonly happens with HIV patients. I would have thought that would be ethically wrong and against the doctor/patient confidentiality? Surely they can't assume she's family.

Question: Would a doctor bring up Mary's past abortion? Even though Paul is her husband surely that's confidential?

Question: When they go back in time, how come Hermione couldn't figure out Dumbledore also wanted them to save Buckbeak until Harry said it, since they were sent back to before he was executed?

Answer: Because Dumbledore is having the students do an illegal act (helping Sirius escape), he has to be careful of what and how he says it to protect himself and them. He deliberately "implies" what should be done so he can have "plausible deniability." If Harry and Hermione were later interrogated, they cannot say, "Dumbledore told us to do a specific thing." Dumbledore, in turn, can rightfully claim he never told them something and/or they misinterpreted what he did say.

raywest

New Jack City - S2-E19

Question: If Carson is supposed to be a former member in this episode then how was Kim in the dojo during his time (before Jack). In the pilot we see that Jack is the one to get Kim to join. How does this work?

Answer: Kim and Carson knew each other from school, not karate.

Question: Is there a reason why they couldn't just use their suits to get back home? At least Cassie could do it, she is just a kid. Just activate your suit and grow, get out of there. I know eventually they want to stay and help, but at the beginning they were just scared and want to go home, why not do it then?

lionhead

Question: At the finale of The Wicker Man Howie/Edward Woodward is placed in a wooden cage high above the ground. The cage is set alight. When the cage began to burn and disintegrate, wouldn't he have fallen out of it onto the ground? As the cage burns, the wood must become brittle, so why can't he just force his way out? (Yes, he is surrounded by the islanders, but if anybody was being burnt alive, and they could get out of the flames, wouldn't the self-preservation instinct kick in?).

Rob Halliday

Answer: He would likely die from the heat or smoke inhalation long before the wood would deteriorate enough for him to fall out. The film also makes a point to show that Howie has given up trying to fight the villagers and has accepted his fate, so even if he could have forced his way out he no longer had the will to do so.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: I'm really confused by Eddie's behaviour. Why did he suddenly decide to abandon Vincent and Carmen. And why couldn't he just take the money at the end (and maybe give it to charity if he didn't want it as Carmen suggested). Why did he unnecessarily have to turn it into an issue with Vincent?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Because it wasn't about the money or a personal issue with Vincent. Eddie had a sudden realization about his own integrity and what he was doing (helping to rig games' outcome to skew betting odds). He wanted to win legitimately against Vincent. Earlier, he had become rather fed up with Vincent's egotistical nature and arrogance, which led to them parting ways.

raywest

Question: Wouldn't Max and the nuns have been tortured and executed for helping them escape?

MikeH

Answer: Quite possibly yes.

LorgSkyegon

Question: What would've happened if they were caught at the end?

MikeH

Answer: The likely responses of the Nazis would have been either to execute them all, or hold Captain von Trapp's family hostage while he served in the Kriegsmarine.

LorgSkyegon

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.