Question: Could Truman file a lawsuit against the people who turned his life into a TV show?
Brian Katcher
25th Feb 2019
The Truman Show (1998)
Answer: I'm 100% sure he could sue and get financial compensation for his time, face, and name being used. They make a ton of money off him, he would be rich.
Answer: Yes.
25th Feb 2019
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: Wouldn't Dr. Kimball lose his medical license for changing the boy's orders in the hospital and signing the form, forging someone else's identity?
Answer: He's a convicted murderer, he's already lost his license. If you mean after he's been exonerated, the other doctor admitted he saved the boy's life. I doubt the AMA would prosecute him for doing that.
Also, as he was wrongly convicted of murder, he was wrongly deprived of his medical license.
Assuming he gets exonerated for the murder charge (I'm not a lawyer but I assume, in the messed up US legal system, this still takes evidence even though the actual murderer is in custody), he would still technically be guilty of breaking out of prison and fleeing police. It would be very interesting to hear the end of the story - everyone assumes they just let him go but in reality, it wouldn't be that simple and again, even if you are wrongly convicted, it's against the law to escape prison.
31st Jan 2019
The Goonies (1985)
Question: How did Chester Copperpot expect to find the treasure without the map with its clues?
Answer: He was a professional treasure hunter who'd probably done years of research. He was on the right track, after all.
8th Nov 2007
Legally Blonde (2001)
Question: In the scene in the library, where Elle gets turned away from Vivian and Warner's study group, she and Enid get into an argument, where Enid remarks, "Like when you called me a d*ke and then voted against me?" to which Elle then accuses Vivian of saying it. What scene are they talking about?
21st Jan 2019
Shrek (2001)
Question: Who is married to the muffin man?
Answer: According to Lord Farquaad, she's the leader of the underground, who's helping the fairy tale creatures to safety.
Answer: Someone he wants to find, possibly a princess to marry himself or someone who can point him towards one. It's never specified. The whole muffin man thing is just a joke referring to the nursery rhyme of the Muffin man.
6th Jan 2019
Wild Wild West (1999)
Question: During the big fight scene near the end, one of the henchman Will Smith fights lifts a wrench to strike, only to randomly die for seemingly no reason. He screams, some sparks shoot out of his ears, and he's dead. What killed him? I've seen some people say he electrocuted himself on the equipment around him, but that's not true - the wrench is nowhere near hitting anything. Did he just... randomly blow a fuse or something?
Answer: He's some sort of robot or cyborg, and he's shorted out from the damage he received in the brawl.
Answer: In the original script, Jim West simply sidestepped the menacing MetalHead henchman, who plunged through the doorway, falling to his death. Apparently, this wasn't a spectacular enough way to end the brawl, so the scene was revised to add the huge machine wrench and electrical sparking effects. West intentionally hands the wrench to MetalHead, who grabs it with both hands and raises it to strike; he then shorts-out with electrical sparking effects before falling out the door. I believe the implication is that, when MetalHead grabbed the wrench with both hands, it completed an exposed electrical circuit that caused him to quickly short-out.
27th Dec 2018
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Question: Towards the end when George is at the bridge looking to jump in to kill himself it's snowing. However, after Clarence shows him what the world would have been like without him, he runs back to the bridge and it is not snowing. George is then begging Clarence to let him live again, and just like that it starts snowing just as it was when George was looking to jump in and kill himself. What did George's life have to do with changing the weather?
Answer: It's just a cinematography thing. It's snowing in the real world, the weather is clear in the alternate world. When the snow resumes, it shows us that he's returned to his real life.
Very good answer.
13th Nov 2018
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
Question: When there's a fight with the German dancers Clark dances with and the Griswolds run away and drive away as fast as they can, why do those German dancers chase after them with ropes? What were they going to do to them?
Answer: They're a lynch mob. Remember what Rusty's date said: Girl: They haven't rang those bells in years! Rusty: What do they mean? Girl: They're going to hang someone! (pause) Rusty: Dad.
20th Nov 2017
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Question: In the opening scenes when Poirot confronts the rabbi, priest, and imam - the priest is Catholic / Western Rite. But from the setting of their dispute in Jerusalem, shouldn't the priest be Orthodox / Eastern Rite?
Answer: Not necessarily. Jerusalem is a meeting place of many religions and faiths - and there's nothing to suggest that the Catholic priest isn't there on holiday.
Except it's stated that priest was negotiating market use (with the imam and rabbi). He was a local.
29th Jul 2018
Apollo 13 (1995)
Question: How come all news networks refused to show Apollo 13's live TV broadcast?
Answer: The US had been to the moon twice before. America had already become jaded with NASA's successes and weren't interested in minute by minute coverage before they'd even reached the lunar surface.
The American public was not jaded with the lunar program so much as it was the Big Three television networks that had become complacent.
23rd Jul 2018
The Martian (2015)
Question: Look how Mark Watney is able to walk, and stand on earth just fine. In reality, wouldn't he have had a hard time readjusting to earth's gravity if he was stranded on Mars as long as he was, especially since Mars gravity is much lower than earth's?
Answer: The scene where Mark is back on Earth does not take place as soon as he got back. This takes places months after returning. He likely would have faced some difficulties readjusting to the Earth's atmosphere upon returning, but would have adapted to the atmosphere, and be able to walk and move around properly after some time had passed.
How do we know it takes months after returning? I didn't see any words saying months later.
A number of factors indicate it is much later. He has regained much of the weight he lost (which he could have gained during the journey back, along with using the gravitational wheel of the ship to help his recuperation), he now wears glasses, he has become more grey. Most importantly, the Ares V mission is about to launch, which was scheduled to be 5 years after the main events of the film.
We don't see any words saying it happens the day after he returned either but you aren't assuming that to be the case. You are accepting that some time has passed, so assume it's enough for him to have adjusted, which is the case.
Answer: He's gained a lot of weight and has been hired for a teaching position. It's safe to say a bit of time has gone by.
Answer: During the journey back from Mars, Mark would have been able to use the exercise equipment present on the Hermes. This would have helped his body re-adapt to heavier gravity. He would also be able to regain much of his lost body mass during the long journey back. NASA knew that the crew would spend a long time in low-gravity so the equipment was designed to keep them fit. Despite this, he would have had a fairly long recuperation time on Earth. The epilogue of the film is set after he has fully recovered and is able to return to work as a lecturer.
23rd Jul 2018
Pancho Villa (1972)
Question: Francisco 'Pancho' Villa was photographed on many occasions, and always had a full head of hair (as well as a moustache). Yet the film cast Telly Savalas as Pancho Villa, who shaved his head, and was always very proud of and conscious of being a Greek-American. The year after Pancho Villa was released Telly Savalas began to play the titular character of the police drama series, 'Kojak', which transformed him into the world's most recognisable Greek. So, my question is, given a film about Pancho Villa was made in Spain, where the producer and director had an unlimited number of actors of Hispanic ancestry to call on, why cast one of the world's most famous bald, Greek actors (sporting an unconvincing moustache) to play the hirsute Mexican Pancho Villa?
Answer: Hollywood, especially in that era, frequently would cast white actors to play people of color The studio knew Savalas would bring in a lot of viewers, while an unknown from Spain might not.
12th Nov 2004
The Truman Show (1998)
Question: There seems to be a major plot hole in this film. A big deal is made about dissuading Truman from leaving the town. If he was raised and educated in the studio, surely they could have simply taught him that there was nowhere to run to, that the town where he lived was all that existed. Is the answer to this ever explained in the film?
Answer: Doing this will immediately take out the realism from the show. The reason so many viewers watch Truman daily is because he is living a "normal" life in a "normal" world. Doing anything out of the ordinary will dilute this feeling of realism so they try to persuade him not to leave instead of telling him there is no where to go.
Answer: Also, Seahaven isn't very big. All those manufactured goods and foods have to come from somewhere.
Answer: Truman is a natural explorer, the only way you could convince him of this would be to say he is living on a colony on another planet, which would make for a much different show. Truman is also an explorer, so unless he believes that going out will kill him, he's not going to be dissuaded.
Answer: Even though Truman cannot leave the town because it would ruin the show, they're still trying to emulate a (somewhat idealized) average American life and community. Truman is taught the same things as everyone else in school, buys products from all over the world and presumably meets people from many different places, even though he cannot go there. Clearly, he is also well aware that the Earth is round and that Fiji is on the opposite end. It's possible that they considered coming up with a reason for why Truman physically cannot leave, but in a promotional video for the movie, it is the revealed that the show started in a single room and that the set was constructed gradually during Truman's childhood. With this in mind, it would have been difficult to retroactively explain to Truman why he cannot leave after never mentioning it during his youth.
That's the point though - why teach him the earth is round, why teach him Fiji exists? They must have realised this would be a problem, but they took no steps to compensate for it.
Because, as stated in previous answers, the entire point was to have him live in an idealized, but still real, version of the real world. If they'd created a false reality for him where things were altered (i.e. the Earth not being round, etc.) the show wouldn't be so popular. Part of the appeal of the show, as shown in the viewers' reactions) was watching to see if Truman would figure it out.
3rd Apr 2018
Aladdin (1992)
Question: Genie tells Aladdin he cannot kill, or make anyone fall in love, or bring people back from the dead. He also tells Aladdin he cannot wish for more wishes. Shouldn't that make four rules not three?
Answer: The three rules refer to what he could wish for, not how many. It's like a coupon that tells you both what it's good for and limit one per customer. The rules about distinct things that don't affect each other.
Answer: The Genie never actually says that he has "3 rules", he just numbers the three you mentioned as he is explaining them. He told Aladdin about the "no more wishes" rule before he sang "Never Had a Friend Like Me." He doesn't include "no more wishes" in his list of rules because Aladdin already knew about it.
Yes of course it's a rule. What difference does it make?
I meant yes it would make four rules.
He says there are a few "provisors", a few "quid pro quo's" (which doesn't make any sense) to the 3 wishes he can do. That's what he can't do because he is limited into doing them. However, the not getting more than 3 wishes is something the Genie himself won't do for him. The 3 limitations he sums up are about the wishes itself, the fact he can do only 3 is a separate rule the Genie himself won't do. So the wishes have only 3 official rules because the Genie can't do anything about them, and 1 particular wish the Genie simply won't grant.
Answer: There is a difference between what he cannot do and won't do.
You're going to going to need to be more specific.
1st Apr 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Question: Why don't we see Calvin stand up to his abusive father and why does he abuse him?
Answer: Because the movie isn't about Calvin, but Meg and her family. Seeing Calvin stand up to his father would be going off on a tangent. As for the reason for the abuse, who can say? Some people are just jerks.
20th Mar 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Question: How is it that Meg and Charles' mother has not noticed that her children were gone?
Answer: Just like in the book, the children travelled in time as well as space. From the mother's perspective, they were only gone for a short while.
25th Mar 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Question: When Meg returns with her father, did she still have to write apology letters to Principal Jenkins and Veronica?
Answer: With Meg's father returning after four years, her mother probably had other things on her mind than Meg's punishment. But with all Meg had learned about kindness and love, she might have decided to write the letters anyway.
31st Mar 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Question: Are Meg and Veronica friends at the end of the movie?
Answer: No, but with Meg understanding Veronica's self-image issues and Veronica seeing that popular boy Calvin obviously thought highly of Meg, maybe they won't be so antagonistic to each other.
26th Mar 2018
Quantum Leap (1989)
Camikazi Kid - June 6, 1961 - S1-E8
Question: In this episode, Sam leaps into Cam, a teenager with braces. So when Sam looks in his reflection, he sees the braces, even though he's not wearing any himself. Someone submitted a mistake from one episode when Sam's reflection is wearing glasses, even though Sam isn't. While braces aren't as easy to put on or take off as glasses, they're still not part of the body (such as a zit), so shouldn't Sam have braces himself, the same way he'd have glasses on when leaping into somebody? Or should it not be considered a mistake that the reflection is wearing glasses and Sam isn't?
Answer: The obvious answer is that it would be very difficult to fit actor Scott Bakula with braces for an episode. As for the in universe rules, we can assume that items permanently attached to one's body (dental work, pacemakers, artificial joints, etc), would stay with the original body. Otherwise Sam would suffer agony when someone's fillings were jammed into his teeth. You have to have some suspension of disbelief when it comes to things like this. Why weren't Sam's shoes constantly too big or too small? Why does everyone look him in the eye, even when he's posing as someone much taller or shorter?
17th Feb 2018
Holes (2003)
Question: How is Camp Green Lake legal? Aren't there laws against forced child labor? Also, what would happen if Stanley refused to dig holes?
Answer: It is illegal. That's why everyone in charge gets arrested at the end. It only lasted as long as it did because they were in the middle of nowhere with little to no oversight and no on knew what was really going on until Stanley's release.
Wait then why did the judge know about it? Did he get arrested too?
There are a lot of kids at Green Lake, sentenced by various judges. The court system either was unaware of the conditions at the camp, or didn't care.
Answer: Stanley and his fellow prisoners are convicted criminals, and as such, the authorities are allowed to work them. The conditions in the movie are rather extreme, but what recourse do the boys have? The warden and her flunkies are brutal people, and it's likely Stanley would have been in a world of hurt had he refused to dig. All they'd have to say is Stanley attacked them and whatever force they used would have been justified. That's the penal system for you.
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.
Answer: Anyone can file a lawsuit if they choose. The question is whether he would win. That would be questionable, given he was legally adopted by the studio. He was well cared for, so it would come down to the question of whether hiding the truth from someone and manipulating their entire life constitutes abuse.