Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Why was Kevin's family so mean to him?

Answer: I think it was a way to make leaving him "home alone" more realistic and understandable as opposed to absurd. Being perceived as a brat/pest and annoying to be around, it is (somewhat) conceivable that none of the family members would be eager to have Kevin by their side. This "frees" all of them from noticing that Kevin isn't with them. Everyone would just assume that Kevin is somewhere among them and each be glad they didn't have to sit next to him on the way to the airport or during the long flight.

KeyZOid

In addition to this, the movie is partially about Kevin learning to have more respect for others. He appreciates his family more as he spends more time without them.

Answer: The ones who were mean just saw Kevin as a brat. However, it's not uncommon in situations of being in an overcrowded house to easily lose one's patience and temper and become frustrated with small, but irritating things; which seems to happen to his mother. Buzz just has that general big brother contempt for his kid brother, but obviously still loves him, along with everyone else in the family, at the end when he finds out Kevin is safe.

Bishop73

Nuts to that. They all could've tried a little harder, that's one lame excuse for treating someone like garbage and I come from a good sized bunch who've done the same to me. You also forget his uncle didn't care about him regardless of the situation.

Rob245

Like it or not the answer is perfectly valid. Families have different dynamics. Kevin is something of a brat (he calls his mother "dummy" and openly wishes he didn't have a family), as are his brothers and sisters, especially Buzz. I for one have TWO uncles in my family who behave just like the uncle in the movie. We don't invite them over, but we've had similar situations to what's depicted in the film.

Hey I've had three uncles, father's older brothers, he hated all three of them, cared only when they started dying. Yeah the dynamics and all, my mother has stated "You ruined this family" though this bunch didn't need my help in being messed up. My sympathies to you Mr Hoffman, your uncles Dustin and Philip Seymour must be/been terrible, just kidding only on the famous names there, no offense meant.

Rob245

It's just a movie! The characters are fictional and were given contrived, exaggerated, over-the-top personalities to fit the comedic plot. It's pointless to compare them to real-life family dynamics.

raywest

Exactly. It's done for entertainment.

Ssiscool

Also, it's a movie from a child's point of view. Kevin is supposed to be the "victim." As a 35-year-old, I have more sympathy for the adults and older kids. The movie is about Kevin learning to miss his family and be more considerate of others.

Question: I know this has nothing to do with movie's plot, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How did the hijackers know that destroying the twin towers would affect the US economy?

Answer: The World Trade Center, otherwise known as the "twin towers, " housed many corporate headquarters, media outlets, and financial institutions, both domestic and international. A comprehensive list of the World Trade Center tenants can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/tenants1.html. The hijackers knew that the attack, if successful, would strike at the heart of national and international commerce, thus affecting the US economy.

Michael Albert

Question: Was it the fall alone that killed Mufasa? Or was he trampled to death?

Answer: It's not explained what exactly killed him, but probably a combination of both of those.

raywest

Chosen answer: The main cause of her death is not specifically stated in the show, but Howard does mention that she passed away in her sleep. The cause of her death may have been something relating to her weight problems.

Casual Person

Answer: She had cancer.

In real life, Carol Ann Susi died of cancer. But where do you get your information that Mrs. Wolowitz died of cancer?

Bishop73

Chosen answer: Out of everyone's apartments, the gang likely eats and hangs out at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment because it has the largest living room space and they would be given the most amount of room to interact in. Raj's apartment and Penny's apartment do not appear to have as much living room space as Leonard and Sheldon's apartment, so they may not want to hang out there, nor would they want to hang out at Howard's place since his mother would be there.

Casual Person

In addition to this, I'm sure that Sheldon has some sort of rule that if they aren't eating at a restaurant, they eat at Sheldon and Leonard's place because it's where Sheldon is most comfortable.

immortal eskimo

In addition, I think a big part of the reason would be that 3 of the 5 (at first) friends lived in the same building so eating there meant fewer people had to travel. Plus, it was very quickly traditional for Penny to come over to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment to eat so it was natural it stayed that way. And lastly, it's not at Penny's apartment since Penny usually doesn't have money to pay for the food so since Leonard usually brings the food, it's logical everyone goes to his apartment.

lionhead

This isn't true. In one episode, I can't remember which, the group eats at Raj's place with Priya. Sheldon expresses his displeasure to Amy who explains that Leonard is the nucleus and that where Leonard goes, everyone goes. Sheldon has no such rule about eating there.

Ssiscool

Since he states his displeasure it proves he is more comfortable eating at home. He even doesn't like eating at a dinner table in his own apartment, let alone somewhere else entirely. He only compromises if he has no choice.

lionhead

Question: As Matt Hooper is analyzing the dead body, he yells at Martin not to smoke. Why does he follow that up with "this is what happens" while holding up her severed arm? What does that line refer to?

Answer: I watched a clip of this scene, and it appears that part of the original dialogue was edited out. Hooper is referring to what happens when a shark goes into a feeding frenzy.

raywest

Question: If Jonathan thought Sara was with another man, why did he call off the wedding with Halley?

Answer: He didn't want to marry Halley anyway.

Question: If Carson's plan indicated he was smarter than Kyle, given the way it was set up, then why did it fail? I know Kyle worked out he was a terrorist, what I don't get is what made her eventually become suspicious of him. Was Carson arrogant or something? Did he make mistakes in his plan, if so what? What mistakes did he make that made his plan fail?

Answer: This was a conspiracy involving a number of people, so it was not Carson's plan alone. Any plan, no matter how well plotted, will have flaws and unexpected variables. Kyle didn't suspect Carson until the very end when she was talking to the captain, who thought she was a terrorist extorting money. Not every detail of how she fully realised Carson's involvement is explained, but when Kyle saw she was being framed, and as Carson nervously attempted to leave the plane, knowing the plan was unraveling, Kyle cobbled together various clues and made an accurate assumption that Carson had been orchestrating the events during the flight.

raywest

How realistic would Carson's plan be anyway?

Question: When a police officer comes to Kevin's house, the officer rings the doorbell, but since he gets no answer, assumes no one is home. But in real life, wouldn't a policeman break into the house, and then search the house, and then bring the child out of the house, and take to him to his family, just in case a the child did exactly what Kevin did, hiding under the bed or couch? Also wouldn't Kevin's parents get arrested for leaving Kevin behind if the police did find out they left him behind?

Answer: To answer your first question, no. As a right protected under the Fourth Amendment, the police are prohibited from entering a private residence without either a warrant and probable cause or the consent of the homeowner. Since, as you point out, the policeman assumes no one is home, there's no cause to enter; had he heard, say, a cry for help from inside the house, that would constitute an exigent circumstance, an exception that would allow him to enter in order to help someone in imminent danger. To answer your second question, I doubt it. What happened wasn't done deliberately or out of neglect; it was an accident caused by circumstances beyond their control; accidents can, and do, happen.

Cubs Fan

He did get consent. The mother asked the police to go get him.

Fair point, but the question relates to if such an incident were to occur in real life.

Cubs Fan

Answer: No she asked for a police officer to be sent to the house to check on Kevin and make sure that he was OK.

Question: Like the other Losers, Bill says he'd forgotten what happened during their childhood, but when he decides to go back into the sewer, he tells he others he's lived with it and has been afraid all his life. If he forgot, how could it still haunt him?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: Even if the specific details are forgotten, the emotional damage remains and small clues can trigger a response.

raywest

Question: Despite being a remake of the original game for the Game Boy Advance, why do Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 use the Microsoft-Rare logo instead of the Nintendo Rareware logo?

Answer: This answer would be similar to the answer to the Diddy Kong Racing question. Microsoft allowed Rare to develop handheld games for Nintendo since Microsoft didn't make handheld consoles and Microsoft said they weren't going to publish any Gameboy Advance games and any company was free too. However, Rare changed their logo in 2003 (corresponding to the Microsoft purchase) and that's the logo they used on all the games they developed, despite the platform the game was released on.

Bishop73

Question: If Hoffman designed Riggs' test so that everyone else dies and he comes out as a hero, then doesn't that violate Jigsaw's rules?

Answer: Throughout the entire series, Jigsaw and his followers violate their own rules frequently. It happens in every single film, including the original. They may be brilliant, but you also gotta remember... they're completely nuts.

Question: When Amanda sits down beside John, before his procedure performed by Dr. Lynn, John tells Amanda that he needs her to do some things for him. He tells her that there is an envelope with her name on it in his drawer, we assume that this contains the things he needed her to do. However, later on in flashbacks in Saw 3D we see that Hoffman actually puts the envelope in the drawer. We also learn that written on the paper inside the envelope Hoffman reveals to Amanda that he knows that she was with Cecil the night that Jill lost her baby due to Cecil's actions, and if she doesn't kill Lynn he will tell John what he knows. So why would John know about the envelope at all?

AmberMac420

Chosen answer: First, slight correction, we actually see Hoffman wrote the note in "Saw IV", not "Saw 3D." And the answer to your question is never revealed. It's possible that Hoffman told John he was leaving a note for Amanda. It's also possible that John did leave a note, but Hoffman replaced it. It's possible John knew what the note said, and was using this to test Amanda. There are plenty of possibilities. But it's never overtly explained.

Chosen answer: Dubbed.

Question: When Peyton wakes up in the hospital, images suddenly appear. What exactly is the significance of the light bulb shattering and the little marionette with the huge head supposed to represent?

Answer: It's just psychedelic imagery to try and show his fragile state of mind and how he's losing it. The shattering light-bulb is likely to show that his mind is "shattering" (as light-bulbs appearing above someone's head are often used to signify brains/ideas in fictional, particularly cartoons), and the marionette "dancing" is the first part of the recurring motif in which he sees himself as a "freak." (Which is paid off later when he starts singing a demented song about "Paying five bucks to see the dancing freak!").

Question: A major scene and gunfight take place right after the convoy crosses the border and is forced to stop in traffic. The members of the convoy scan the surrounding vehicles and find two filled with men carrying weapons in full view, not to mention the occupants looking like stereotypical gang members. How did those two cars cross the border in order to be in the same slow traffic - surely border control would have stepped in? How did they come to be there for the attempted ambush?

Answer: They haven't crossed the border yet, and the gang members were there to kill them. They had no intention of actually crossing the border.

Show generally

Question: I know that Phil Leotardo hated gays, but did Tony and the rest of the crew hate Vito simply because he was gay? Or because it interfered with their business with Phil?

Answer: Homosexuality is despised in Mafia culture. Phil's extreme homophobia is causing issues because Tony is refusing to kill Vito, which is what's expected of him.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: Tony's tolerated Vito's homosexuality because as he said several times was because he was one of Tony's best earners. There wasn't one associate that liked Vito after vin set the record straight. They kept calling him a fanuk, excuse my spelling.

Quagmire's Quagmire - S12-E3

Question: The scene where Quagmire wakes up at Sonja's apartment, he gets up and tells her that he's going to the bathroom. She stops him and tells him to take the wine glass and that they can use it later. What does this mean?

Kingamnesiac

Chosen answer: She wants him to pee in the wine glass to use the urine in sexual play.

Greg Dwyer

Chosen answer: She is upset at Howard not because he didn't tell her, but because he lied to her. He claimed to have told her about all the women he slept with but didn't mention many of them. She is mad at Penny because she thinks Penny betrayed her by setting her up with someone she didn't respect and expected them to fail.

Greg Dwyer

Question: When Harry and Hermione go back in time to save Buckbeak, they both see Professor Dumbledore turning around and pointing something out to Fudge, Malfoy and the executioner. This was obviously done to distract them so Harry and Hermione could rescue Buckbeak but how could past Dumbledore know that future Harry and Hermione would be there to save his life?

Answer: Dumbledore is an immensely powerful wizard who detected them before he saw them.

Greg Dwyer

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