Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I get that the DADA role is cursed because of Voldemort being denied the role when he applied for it at Hogwarts, but why does Dumbledore not let Snape take the role like he's wanted to every year? I thought Snape was a double agent (he spies on the Death Eaters and Voldemort for Dumbledore, and he pretends to be on Voldemort's side too), so unless Voldemort decides that he wants to get rid of him for being in the role, he's okay to take it on provided he's given it, and yet every year, Dumbledore turns down his application. Is it because Snape's too involved in Voldemort's side of things or some other reason? I hope I explained it well.

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: There are several reasons. First, the position is cursed, so there is little reason to give Snape the job when he will not last any longer than all the previous instructors. If Snape did become the DADA instructor, something could happen to him that could result in his being harmed, having to leave Hogwarts, or be otherwise incapacitated in some way; that would render him useless to Dumbledore as a double agent. Also, Dumbledore trusts Snape, but putting him in an environment where he is teaching about dark magic on a daily basis would be too tempting and emotionally compromising to someone who had been so easily seduced by the dark side. He could possibly relapse. It would be like having a recovering alcoholic work as a bartender. Of course, he does eventually become the DADA instructor, and lasted no longer than his predecessors.

raywest

In the movies it is never mentioned that DADA role was cursed by Voldemort.

This is true; though it doesn't say it's not either. With trying to fit 7 long books and years worth of pages of HP information in 2 and a half hours; as long as the movie doesn't say it's not cursed, with our knowledge, there is no problem with reporting that it is. Even directors of non-book movies do this all the time; leave background information out that helps explain things they just didn't have time so they explained it behind the scenes.

Question: Why does Barty Crouch Jr. flee when the prisoner says his name? Surely the minister's son could easily claim that the desperate prisoner trying to get out of jail's claim is completely false. And was the man in prison in that scene the Damstrung headmaster, and if yes, is that why he and Moody (Crouch) were so suspicious of each other in the trophy room right after Harry's name was drawn?

bomberswarm2

Chosen answer: Even though Barty Jr. could claim he was being set up, he would have been interrogated using veritase serum, a potion that forces wizards to tell the truth. Some can circumvent its effect, but Barty was not a talented enough wizard to do this. The prisoner who implicated him in that scene was Igor Karkaroff, who became headmaster of Durmstrang, the wizard school that was participating in the Triwizard Tournament. Karkiroff was a Death Eater who defected to Dumbledore's side. Moody (a disguised Barty Jr.) would never have trusted him under any circumstances. Karkaroff had been previously pursued and captured by the real Mad Eye Moody, and would naturally have a negative reaction to being around him.

raywest

Answer: Barty Crouch Jr. appeared to be a fanatical Voldemort supporter, not unlike Bellatrix Lestrange and several other death eaters. They refused to deny their allegiance. This differs from the book, where Barty does protest his innocence, but his father refuses to spare him mercy to set an example.

Chosen answer: Snape wants to know how Harry knew Sectum Sempra. As shown by him using Occumelancy to see where his copy of Advanced Potion making is. But at the same time, if Snape punished Harry for a spell in a book, Harry could show it to Dumbledore, who would recognise Snape's handwriting. Additionally, Harry was certainly punished in the book - he got detention with Snape every Saturday for the rest of the term. The movie most likely had to cut this for time issues, and also perhaps because the scene is more dramatic if Snape only silently glares at him.

Ssiscool

Question: Near the end of the movie, at the prom, when Bella and Edward first walk in, Bella spots Jessica and signals something to her with her hand going across her chest. What was Bella signalling to Jessica?

Molly

Chosen answer: Earlier, when the girls were shopping for prom dresses in Port Angeles, Jessica commented that the low-cut dress she was trying on made her boobs "look good." She is wearing that same dress at the prom, and Bella is gesturing and then giving a "thumbs up" that Jessica's cleavage does look good. Jessica mouths back, "I know."

raywest

Show generally

Question: Have Stan and Wendy gotten back together, since breaking up in the episode where Stan becomes Gothic/punk?

Answer: They get back together somewhere in the seasons because they spoke about just breaking up in season 18 episode 2, which was way after that episode which you are speaking of.

Question: At the beginning of the film Fanny is at her cafe and stops to look at a Van Gogh print above the cash register. The print has Provence printed on it in yellow. At the end of the film she looks at the print but that time there is nothing printed at the bottom of print. What does this mean?

Answer: I think the Van Gogh is really part of his buy-out package from the brokerage. This is the copy which was hanging on the boss' wall, but not the original which the boss kept in the vault.

Chosen answer: The Eighth Doctor regenerated because he died in a crash on Karn, where the Sisterhood revived him to offer him the choice to either die, or regenerate to fight in the war. He choose to become the War Doctor, who regenerated after the events of "The Day of the Doctor" due to the stress of the Time War, or maybe because the war was over, and there was no need to be a warrior anymore.

Question: After Anakin is finished killing everyone in the Mustafar complex, there is a scene where he is outside on some sort of balcony, looking out at what appears to be an eclipse in the sky. I think this is intercut with Obi Wan visiting Padme and telling her about Anakin turning to the Dark Side and asking if she knows where he is. As Obi Wan leaves, with John Williams' highly emotional 'Anakin's Dark Deeds' score reaching it's climax, it cuts back to a very emotional looking Anakin, and as it pans in on his face, you see tears running down his cheeks. Why?

Answer: On the Blu Ray commentary, it is explained that this is to show that even at this stage, there is still good in him and the struggle and suffering raging within him as his conscience knows what he's doing is wrong. But he can't stop either, as he's convinced this is the only way he can save Padme from certain death - Palpatine has seduced and twisted his mind with promise of unlimited and great power including helping him discover the secret of Immortality only ever achieved by one Sith Lord previously, Palpatine's own master, Darth Plageius.

Question: I do not understand how Miranda and Chloe are both released from the psychiatric hospital at the end. Chloe is in there for a completely different reason, not tied to the situation with Miranda. There is no proven link between her and Miranda's husband and the other murderer, they are two people that met in the psychiatric ward and Chloe was being abused AFTER she was admitted, or have I missed something? Also, how exactly is Miranda released anyway? As I envisage it her court case defense went something like "Look here Mr. Judge and 12 members of the jury, I was possessed and that's what made me kill my husband. It was not me that did it, even though it was me I was not in control of my body, a ghost made me do it because my husband was a bad man" - and the 12 members of the Jury thought this was OK? and the judge was very much "Yes, of course, we all understand you were not in control of your own mind and body, a ghost possessed you to commit this heinous crime, I'll release you?" Seriously? In all likelihood this reason alone would have her stay in the mental hospital extended! It makes no sense why the two of them would be released at all. Regardless of the fact that her husband and his best friend's crimes have been exposed, she still murdered her husband and it was not in self defense. How could her and Chloe (who is unrelated to the case in every way) be released?

Answer: Plain and simple, it's bad script writing and there's a number of other examples of "that wouldn't happen in the real world" that unfortunately we're suppose to accept. Although, if one had to justify it, you could say; when Miranda was in the hospital, she had not been tried and convicted yet, so when her trial did occur, Miranda's lawyers did not use the "I was possessed" defense and was found not guilty because of reasonable doubt. Or the DA's office made a deal with her because she was a high standing member in the community who exposed a number of issues and may have gotten parole instead of jail time. And Chloe was Miranda's patient before she herself was admitted to the psychiatric ward. At that time, Miranda never believed Chloe was anything but delusional and after spending time in the hospital as an inmate, she believed her and once she was free, she worked on getting Chloe released by stating she was not insane.

Bishop73

Answer: Early in the movie we learned that Chloe's mental health was a result of rape related trauma and Chloe claimed to have been raped by "the devil" but Miranda did not believe her. She believed this was a memory of her being raped by her step-father resurfacing. But, later when she seen the tattoo on the chest of a man in Chloe's cell, she realised that she was really being raped by someone or something and just didn't know what it was but as the movie progresses Miranda begins to put the pieces together as the spirit of Parsons leads her to the truth. At the end of the movie Miranda tells the sheriff about her suspicions and what she believes "Not Alone" means. As the conversation deepens she realises that the sheriff, her husbands life long best friend, fit this description and her suspicions are confirmed when he confesses. Although she may not have learned that he was Miranda's rapist untill she sees the tattoo on the sheriff's chest. In the end when the rape stopped and the doctors realised that Chloe was not lying or delusional, her mental state improved and she was released.

Question: What is the "discount credit card" that Del uses when checking-in at the motel? While Neal is paying, it looks like the staff switches his card for Neal's (Diner's Club), that Del later uses to pay for his car rental. However in the morning, once they realize they got robbed of their cash, Del says that he does not have any credit card (other than a Seven outlet one).

AnthonyA

Chosen answer: In the film it was called "Oversighters Discount Club". It did have a similar logo as the Diner's Club logo (with an "O" instead of the "CD" design). However, this isn't a real life credit card or company. Although there are "discount" cards, usually through an employer, where various companies agree to give discounts if one uses that discount card.

Bishop73

Question: Carrie is seen crying after she realizes that Tommy is dead. I can only assume that she actually cared about him but she still believes he was good and didn't take part in the prank, right? And at the end does she actually care about Sue and forgive her?

Answer: Since blood was dumped on him too she must have realized that he wasn't a part of it, so yes, she cared for him. In the book when Carrie touches Sue, they link minds and Carrie sees that Sue felt bad about teasing her and was trying to do something nice to atone, and had nothing to do with Chris' nasty prank. So yes it's safe to say she grieved for Tommy and forgave Sue.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: In this version, Carrie never weeps for Tommy's death, and it's never indicated whether or not she was even aware that he died. And she never directly encounters Sue in this version, so we don't know her thoughts about her either. The film was likely trying to leave some things open-ended, so that audiences could interpret them as they wanted.

Question: What does the ending of the movie mean? It has nothing to do with the 3rd movie like you'd think it would.

brianjr0412

Chosen answer: The third movie was a prequel to the first 2. It was done to set up an explanation in case they made another movie that takes place after part 2, so her appearance after she died made sense.

Question: How were Rachel and Jamie able to make the connection that Michael was Jamie's uncle?

Answer: It's never explained who told Jamie of her murderous uncle, but Jamie is mocked and made fun of by her classmates for being related to the infamous Michael Myers. She could have been told by her adoptive family, classmates, neighbors, etc, but the movie never provides any definitive answers.

Question: When Arlo and Spot first see another human, Spot moves toward that human as if he was willing to join him to bond as a family. Arlo stops Spot from approaching the other human and places him on his back so to continue taking him home. Arlo decides he wants to share his family with Spot and keep him safe in his family house. By the end of the film, the same human Arlo and Spot saw in the distance earlier shows up along with his family. Spot joins the family. Why does Arlo decide to let Spot go this time?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: Because he's realized that Spot wants to go and should go with his people. Before he was afraid of losing him.

Greg Dwyer

Question: After Riley quits hockey practice, Fear decides to abandon Headquarters by letting himself get sucked into the tube for transports memory orbs. Fear, along with several orbs is nearly sucked in, but he is suddenly ejected from the tube. How come the tube doesn't suck Fear in like it did to Joy and Sadness?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: Look carefully and you'll see that Fear gets stuck in a bunch of memories, then the tube bursts.

Lily Harrison

Question: When Chris and co are having dinner with an Iraqi family, why does Chris react the way he does when he sees the mark on the Iraqi father's left elbow? What does Chris think it is?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Chris has "shooter's strawberries" on his elbows, which are red callouses caused by lying in the sniper's position for long periods. He notices the same marks on the elbows of the father, and realizes that he too is a military sniper.

Sierra1

Question: What's the deal with Mary Jane's father?

Answer: He's an angry drunk. He's verbally, if not physically abusive to his family. He doesn't appear in many Spider-Man issues, but even in those he was a drunk and abusive, most likely due to his failed writing career. (Mary Jane's parents divorce in the comics).

Bishop73

Question: Mary Jane said her father went to her play. Why would he if he is an abusive father who hates her?

Answer: He went to borrow money from her.

Bishop73

Question: Can anyone tell me which characters had fake names to protect the real people's identities, and tell me what their real names were?

Answer: Cal Hanratty (Tom Hanks) was not the FBI officer's real name. The name of the man who actually caught Frank was Joe Shea, and it is true that Joe and Frank remained friends throughout their lives.

Question: How did frank escape out of the airplane? Is it actually possible, especially in the amount of time he did it in?

Answer: He removed the toilet panel, then squeezed through next to the toilet. This allowed him access to the landing gear. He did not actually squeeze through the toilet itself, as you'll see he is not wet, nor is Carl after having dove in after Frank.

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