Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I've seen this movie about 10 times now but I always wondered the next thing. After the Titanic hits the iceberg, they knew the ship would sink. Couldn't they go back to the iceberg and survive there and wait for help? Surely there would be more places, and it would be warmer on the iceberg than in the water?

Loesjuh1985

Chosen answer: Trying to turn the Titanic and return to the iceberg would just have put additional strain on the ship's structure, likely hastening its sinking. So the only available option, short of swimming, which is obviously insane, would be to use the ship's lifeboats to ferry passengers over to the iceberg, which, given the lack of capacity, would have taken multiple trips and a considerable amount of time. Once they reached the iceberg, there would be no way to tie the boats securely to the iceberg to allow the passengers to cross over safely; icebergs usually have pretty sheer sides anyway, making boarding impossible without specialist equipment that they didn't have. Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that somehow this could be done, the passengers are now sitting on a large block of ice in the middle of the night, in, for the most part, inadequate clothing. Hypothermia would rapidly set in, leading to death within at most a couple of hours, before any help reached the scene.

Tailkinker

Question: This might be a dumb question, but when Snape and McGonagall are dueling, it seems like McGonagall casts a spell which Snape blocks and it hits the Carrows who are behind him. My question is did the Carrows die as a result of that? Was it really the Avada Kedavra curse? And if it was McGonagall's spell then whose fault was it? Hers? Or Snape's because he blocked it?

Answer: The Avada Kedavra is depicted as involving a flash of green light, which is not present in this case; McGonagall's spell has a more fire-like appearance. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the Carrows were merely knocked unconscious when Snape deflected it (almost certainly intentionally, given his true allegiances) towards them.

Tailkinker

The Thin White Line (1) - S3-E1

Question: In this episode, Peter and Brian escape the rehab centre to visit the teenage pregnancy clinic, where they prank the girls who are asleep by dipping their hand in a dish of water, which causes them to give birth prematurely. How does that prank make that happen?

OliviaD3601

Chosen answer: It's a common slumber party trick to put someone's hand in warm water, which is supposed to relax the person and make them wet the bed (this is in fact a myth). Peter and Brian's plan just worked better than they'd planned.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: Because what happens inside her mind when she is dancing is more important than the dance itself. Besides which, the whole movie takes place within her mind before the lobotomy, and most times when you dream, you don't see yourself as others see you.

rswarrior

Question: There's something that Bilbo says that confuses me greatly. When he's speaking to Gandalf about how mad he is at the dwarves for invading and destroying his house, he says something like, "I won't even mention what they've done to the bathroom. They've all but destroyed the plumbing." I'm pretty sure that toilets and plumbing weren't invented back then. They used chamber pots or went outside to do their business. So what is Bilbo talking about?

Zinka17

Chosen answer: This isn't Earth, this is Middle Earth. This is a totally different place and Middle Earth could have anything, including toilets.

Casual Person

Question: A voice-over says "Log-on and get inside access on your favourite drivers. For an additional cost, you can tap into the closed circuit camera INSIDE the driver's car", but Carl/Frankenstein has his mask OFF while he's driving & isn't the audience meant to be kept in the dark about who Frankenstein actually is? He's meant to be the most popular character/racer, so everyone would then know his true identity.

aat666

Chosen answer: The camera being inside the car could be pointed out the windshield so you can see what the driver sees. It doesn't have to be pointed at the drivers.

rswarrior

Answer: He brought the Borg to the Alpha Quadrant and showed them that it was full of worlds waiting to be assimilated. Guinan's homeworld was their first stop, and they assimilated everyone and took over the planet, leaving The Survivors of her race without a home. Q is ultimately responsible for that.

Captain Defenestrator

By the time Q takes the Enterprise to meet the Borg, Guinan already knew who they were and they had already destroyed her world. Therefore the above answer can not be right. I believe Guinan is much more than she appears, and her people have had encounters with the Q in the past. It is these interactions, that obviously were not pleasant, that fuels her distrust.

oldbaldyone

That's what the above answer is saying. Q brought the Borg to the Alpha Quadrant (not Earth) and the Borg destroyed Guinan's home world in the late 2200's, which is why she hates Q. Although she met Q in 2160 and they both saw each other as enemies right away.

Bishop73

Question: Can someone explain me what's the problem when Doc went to 1885? He's got the time machine with him, so why didn't he just come back?

Loesjuh1985

Chosen answer: The unexpected jump brought on by lightning striking the DeLorean caused the circuits to fry. Since Doc didn't have the equipment to make new ones in 1885, he decided to hide the car and resigned himself to life in 1885.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: How is Hulk a total mayhem on the aircraft carrier, almost killing Romanoff, but at the end he is acting as a team member? Banner did reveal his secret how to control not turning into Hulk, but not how to control Hulk himself...

Answer: During the end sequence of The Incredible Hulk Banner discovers that he can aim the Hulk in the right direction, give it a goal, which he uses to defeat the Abomination in that film. Key to that appears to be willingly accepting the transformation into the Hulk, which he does by choosing to jump from the helicopter. On the Helicarrier, Banner doesn't want to transform, it's caught him by surprise, he's fighting it, which is why it takes ages, is seemingly very painful and, as an involuntary change, the Hulk is out of control. In the final battle, Banner chooses to make the transformation, to "suit up", as it were, and thus the change is swift, painless and results in the cooperative Hulk capable of working with the others towards a goal.

Tailkinker

Question: Why doesn't Ron get off the knight on the last move of chess before getting attacked by the queen? Does he have to stay on it?

Joel Sheffield

Chosen answer: Unfortunately, he has to stay on. By the rules of the game, he IS the knight, he's not just riding it, so, when he allows himself to get taken in a sacrifice play, he has to take the consequences.

Tailkinker

Question: When it first shows the orcs carrying Pippin and Merry, Pippin shows evident concern for Merry and asks, "What about your heart?" To which Merry replies, "It was just an act. See? Fooled you too." I'm just curious as to what makes Pippin think that anything is wrong with Merry's heart. It never stated or showed anything about Pippin or Merry until this scene, and the last we see of them in FOTR is of them being carried away by the orcs, completely conscious and unharmed. However, while I have the extended version of TTT and ROTK, I only have the theatrical version of FOTR, so I was wondering if this was ever mentioned in a scene during it.

Zinka17

Chosen answer: You misheard, I'm afraid. Pippin says "You're hurt" not "Your heart".

Tailkinker

Question: This has confused me ever since I heard who Balin was in the movie. While Gimli doesn't necessarily look young in Lord of the Rings, his cousin Balin in the Hobbit looks much much older than he does, and not to mention the Hobbit was 60 years prior to the events in Lord of the Rings. There must be a huge age gap between the two or perhaps Balin's white hair has no significance on his age? And for that matter, what are the life expectancies on dwarves, they are pretty much the only races in Tolkien's creations that I've never really heard. Judging from their contrasting age appearances in the movies he would seem to be about 100 years older than Gimli?

ofordgabings

Chosen answer: While the most common usage of the word cousin is to describe the children of siblings, known as "first cousins" who would be of the same generation, "cousin" actually covers quite a wide range of relationships, which can readily cross generations. In this case, Gimli's father Glóin is Balin's first cousin as their fathers, Gróin and Fundin, were brothers. Gimli is therefore Balin's first cousin once removed, making the age difference between them (113 years, to be specific) quite reasonable. Dwarves in the Tolkien stories generally live to around 250 years old, with correspondingly longer generations than humans.

Tailkinker

Question: How does the mob (from the past), know exactly when a Looper has let his target run? A Looper wouldn't turn himself in, so how does the mob know almost instantly when a target hasn't been killed?

Answer: I saw no indication that the mob knew "almost instantly". The whole day had passed before they came looking for Seth. What likely triggers their suspicions is the Looper failing to show up to turn his bars in for cash.

Phixius

Answer: If you watch the movie he only saves half the bars. you see there are 4 bars on the body, but he only turns in 2.

Answer: But Joe doesn't cash in, he stacks up all his money.

Question: During the Tango de Roxanne scene, it seems that there is a lot of tension between Nini and the Argentinean. Also, when he yells at Christian for falling in love with Satine, it is almost as if he is speaking from experience. Is this because he is actually in love with Nini or is it just a part of the song itself?

Answer: It's just part of the song.

Phixius

Question: Throughout the whole movie, why does Jasmine have such hostility toward Jafar? The scene where Aladdin was captured by the guards on Jafar's orders, she seems angry that Jafar had a stranger taken from the market place. In the scene of Jasmine's and Jafar's first appearance together, she confronts him angrily asking Jafar about the arrest. When his reply was justifiable she is still upset with him. And in the scene where the Sultan, Jafar, and Jasmine are all in the room discussing the incident, Jasmine says she wants to get rid of Jafar. (00:23:20 - 00:41:15)

Answer: Because Jasmine sees Jafar for what he is; a lying, manipulative, power-hungry villain.

Phixius

Answer: Also, Jasmine reveals in that first scene that Aladdin's arrest wasn't justifiable. Jafar told her he had him arrested for kidnapping her, to which Jasmine reveals that he didn't kidnap her; she ran away. Then Jafar reveals that he had Aladdin executed, which can seemingly only be done upon approval from the sultan. Jasmine loathes him so much because he allowed for the death of an innocent boy without checking with anyone first.

Jafar didn't have to check with the sultan to execute someone before. The sultan came up with that rule to avoid future confusion.

lionhead

Question: Some people think Ginger is Sarah's sister, but I have always thought she was just her close friend and roommate. Who's right?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Ginger is Sarah's roommate and best friend.

Chosen answer: No mention is made of her being Sarah's sister. If she was, at some point in the other films, it would have been mentioned.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: At the apartment, Tintin can't find his magnifying glass and Snowy finds it for him. He says "Thank you" like he's annoyed at him. If he is annoyed at him, why is this?

Chosen answer: He must have thought that Snowy had found the magnifying glass and was playing with it. Like most dogs would do with a toy.

Question: What would happened if Gordon failed to reach the gun and shoot Adam and Zep killed Gordon's wife and daughter? Would they be both set free, just Gordon, or just Adam? And what would Zep do if he found Gordon and Adam both alive in the bathroom (they were, but he thought that Adam was dead). Would he kill just Gordon because he failed to kill his wife and daughter, or he would kill both of them?

Answer: Gordon's game was to kill Adam. Adam's game was to survive. There was never an option, in Jigsaw's mind, for both Gordon and Adam to win. If Gordon hadn't shot Adam, Zep would have killed Gordon and his family and received the antidote from Jigsaw. Adam would have been set free.

virtual-toast

Answer: He would have been left to die in the bathroom, as that what it said in his tape, Adam most likely would have been set free and John would have given Zep the antidote to the poison in his blood.

Question: There are numerous instances where animals seem to like or be attracted to Theo, the dogs at the farm being the most prominent. Is this supposed to show or imply anything to us? Or is there any reason given for this phenomenon in the film?

Answer: Alfonso Cuaron compared the character of Theo to biblical characters like Moses, so I would assume that the animals' attraction to Theo is a reference to Noah and the Ark, which represents several themes in the film.

Brad

Question: Why did M send Bond back out into the field if he didn't pass all the tests? She stated he wasn't allowed unless he passed every test, so why did she say he could when the tests stated he's not fit enough?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Because she believes that people are more than just the sum of their test results. Regardless of what the tests show, she still believes that Bond is the best person for the task ahead, that his skill, experience and tenacity will allow him to rise above a few bad test scores and get the job done anyway.

Tailkinker

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