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: How did McLoughlin's team not see the second plane hit the South Tower? The South Tower is still intact when they first arrive at the WTC. Surely in the time it would take to organize a team to drive down to the complex and enter, the plane would've struck.

Thomas1994

Question: After giving Dudley a pig's tail, Hagrid asks Harry not to tell anyone as he's not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. Why can the other teachers do magic outside of Hogwarts but Hagrid can't?

Answer: As the other answer says Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts 49 years previously as people thought he was releasing the monster that killed Myrtle. Once expelled his wand was snapped by a Ministry official. Hagrid then, unbeknownst to the Ministry, kept the two parts of the wand and at some point used Spello-tape to rejoin them. He keeps them in his pink umbrella and uses that as a "wand." While he isn't allowed to use magic he was granted a few little bits of magic to find and retrieve Harry to bring him into the wizarding world.

Ssiscool

Answer: Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts as a boy, and is technically not even supposed to have a wand. He's not a teacher, either (yet).

Brian Katcher

Question: In the divination class where Hermione walks out, what exactly is she up to when she says "The Grim, possibly"?

Answer: She was being sarcastic to the professor about her predictions, thinking that it's all just guesswork. She doesn't believe in divination and walks out because she feels it is wasting her time. And she was insulted, of course.

lionhead

The Mural - S3-E12

Question: When James is arguing with Mr. Hewitt over his decision not to pay JJ, at one point James says "You're gonna pay him Boojie." I never understood who or what is a "Boojie"?

Answer: He says "bourgie", from the word bourgeois. Basically it's a derogatory term or insult for someone who is or acts middle class and acts like they're better than the working class or blue collar people. He's saying just because you can't relate to The Mural doesn't mean it doesn't have value.

Bishop73

Question: Why did Vince say "Don't be a slob don't get a job"? How does that make sense for high schoolers? Isn't it a good thing for them to get a job?

Answer: On the radio we hear Vince Fontaine say, "Get out of bed. It's the first day of school. Don't be a slob. Don't get a job. Go back to class. You can pass!" Vince is advising his teen listeners to go back to class on the first day of school. That they should not be a high school drop-out and get a job (full-time), but instead to stay in school and they can pass their classes. Vince doesn't mean the teenagers who have part-time jobs while they're going to high school.

Super Grover

Question: If the shooter's plan was to be a good person and take down the scum of society then why did he slit the pizza man's throat?

Answer: He said it, but didn't mean it. He's a psychopath, they have warped minds, believing in their own lies.

Show generally

Question: Throughout the whole show Gomer Pyle's rank stays as Private First Class. With how long he had been in the Marines, why was he never given a promotion to a higher rank?

Answer: If you saw the whole series run, you know that Gomer was a country bumpkin. He fumbled, stumbled and tumbled his way into one disaster after another. There was an episode that questioned why he was never promoted. However, a few years before Jim Nabors died, the real Marine Corps, gave him a ceremonial promotion to the rank of Lance Corporal, which Jim gladly accepted.

Unfortunately, I never saw all the episodes. Only a few episodes and a clip of the episode where he sings "The Impossible Dream" which made me wonder why he was still a PFC. Thanks so much for the info.

Question: Why was Kat sent to juvie for pushing the bully down the stairs when it was self-defense as she was literally being assaulted and kicked to the ground?

Cody Fairless-Lee

Question: How long was Kat in juvenile hall for, or was she in and out of juvie for different crimes, other than pushing the bully down the stairs?

Cody Fairless-Lee

Question: When the movie shows the two at the pool jumping in, from where do they jump off? I didn't see any diving board at the pool.

Answer: It was a simple jump into the pool, it was filmed to make more elaborate.

Question: If these were the best of the best, going on a mission crucial to world peace, why were they in aircraft that were outdated and outgunned? It mentioned several times they would never stand a chance against the dreaded "5th generation" enemy fighters. Why not use the F-35?

Answer: The real-world answer is that F-35s only come in single-seat configuration, so there was no way to put the actors in one seat for filming while pilots flew the plane. It would also make for less of an "underdog" feel of going up against overwhelming odds. The in-universe answer is that F-18s are better suited for the kind of mission it is.

Answer: Just my observation, but I got the sense that the F-35 was too fast to make the adjustment to do the steep climb out, and as much as the plane needed to be fast, but it was more important it be capable to throttle lower enough to maneuver through the course, and make the climb...and that the F-35 could do one or the other...just my guess, but that's how I understood it from Maverick's initial analysis, from when he was called in to "Teach".

Question: What is the joke about girls from Pasadena? (00:32:50)

Question: Did Astrid and Ray really have sex?

Question: Why did Michael take his mask off and show the picture of them, not wanting to hurt her? Can someone explain?

Answer: Michael is trying to show Laurie that they are siblings and that he (presumably) means her no harm. Since Laurie was a baby, she didn't mistreat him like everyone else does, so she seems to be the only person he is not driven to kill. (Similar to his mother, who treated him well.) However, Laurie doesn't understand and tries to kill him, causing him to then interpret her as an enemy.

TedStixon

Question: Why does Amy whack herself in the face with a hammer? Her plan is working at this point. She's achieved anonymity and escaped her life. What possible good could cover from hitting herself in the face with a hammer? (01:13:04)

applejackson

Answer: To my knowledge, the purpose of hitting herself was two-fold. First of all, a facial injury would support the idea that she was abused or in some sort of bad situation. And secondly, to help mildly alter her appearance, so she could blend in more. (Especially considering people were looking for her).

TedStixon

Question: How come the horse didn't get struck by the laser along with the armored knight by the Sphinx?

Trainman

Answer: It most likely was aimed to hit only human intruders, not animals.

Question: Why can't Mr and Mrs Parker go next door to the Bumpus and tell them to control their dogs, so they won't bother them?

Trainman

Answer: Who's to say they didn't? Ralphie describes the Bumpuses as 'hillbillies' so they might not care too much about controlling their animals or what they neighbors thought, and apparently the old man was the only one the dogs ever bothered so it would be hard to prove they were a general nuisance. Of course, the turkey incident might have tipped the scales.

Brian Katcher

Question: Why can't Glenn understand anything Cole signs, leaving Iris to translate? Glenn knows and uses sign language when talking to Cole so it seems strange that he doesn't know anything that Cole tells him when Cole uses sign language.

Answer: Iris knows and understands sign language much better than her husband. Glen can communicate on a basic level, but when Cole is ready to tell off his father, he wants to make sure Glen understands exactly what he's saying. Remember how Glen didn't know the sign for 'a***hole'.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Glenn was passionate about music and wanted to be a great composer, something relatively few people are able to attain. At least initially, taking a part-time music teacher position was not what he wanted to do or be - but it provided the resources to support himself/his family while giving him enough time to pursue his dream (music composition/opus). Glenn had an on-again/off-again (mostly "off") relationship with his son Cole, perhaps sometimes due to his lack of commitment, time constraints, frustration, sense of failure, and emotional pain over his belief that he could not successfully nurture the love of music in his near-deaf son. (Glenn was aware of the difficulties Beethoven had.) In some ways, Glenn (selfishly) was saying, "I don't have time for this" (communicating in sign language or providing the fatherly devotion and sacrifice necessary to understand and develop a good rapport with his "special needs" son).

KeyZOid

Question: Why did Mary's parents have an arranged marriage? If her father is around the same age as the actor who plays him, then he was born in the 1930s. Probably got married in the '50s. Were arranged marriages still common in Italian families?

Answer: In the early-to-mid-20th century, arranged marriages were not uncommon in immigrant families. Ethnic groups tended to prefer matrimony within their own culture to preserve religious beliefs, old traditions, and way of life, especially as immigrants became increasingly dispersed and the American population grew more blended through inter-marriages. While a family could not legally force their children to marry, they could exert tremendous pressure to do so. Also, people did not always wed for love but for more practical reasons and relied on families to help arrange a suitable match. For women, it was often about finding a good provider, raise a family, and having a certain social status. Men preferred an attractive woman from a suitable family, who would be a good homemaker, provide children, and support them in their careers.

raywest

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