Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: A while after the Yule ball scene, after Harry wakes up from a nightmare, Neville comes in. He says something like "I got in! Me!" What is he talking about? What did he get into?

Answer: What Neville means is that he's only just got back in from being at the Ball, despite it being extremely late at night. The "Me!" simply reflects that fact that even Neville is aware that of everyone in the dormitory, he is unquestionably the one you'd least expect to be the last one back. Exactly what Neville has been up to is an open question, but he certainly seems excited about it. Alternatively, since Neville has a reputation for forgetting the password to the Gryffindor common room, "I got in! Me!" probably means that he is marveling at the fact that he remembered the password and actually got in to the common room and dormitories without any help.

Tailkinker

Question: Has it ever been explained what happens to a wizard/witch if they don't repay a life debt? Harry should owe one to Snape after Snape rescues him from Quirrell's curse during the Quidditch game, but he never does throughout the series.

Answer: It does not appear that life debts automatically form whenever somebody saves somebody else - J K Rowling has, for example, stated that Ginny did not incur a life debt to Harry when he saved her in the Chamber of Secrets, although she said nothing about what circumstances need to occur for a debt to exist. In Snape's case, there would seem to be several possibilities. 1) A life debt simply didn't form. 2) Snape is protecting Harry because of his love for Lily and his failure to save her, so he may actually be paying off a debt of sorts himself by doing so. 3) Harry's father James saved Snape from almost certain death when Sirius tried to trick him into going into the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin was in his wolf form. As such, Sirius may have owed James a debt, which he paid off by saving Harry. 4) A life debt did form but, as Snape died before Harry could pay it off and, insofar as we know, had no relatives that the debt could pass to, Harry was let off the hook.

Tailkinker

Question: Since Harry told Cho that Cedric knew "this stuff", and Cedric was a sixth or seventh year student when he died, I guess older students are taught the Patronus Charm in school. Why, then, does the Ministry of Magic bother using Dementors when so many magical people have learned how to escape them?

Answer: As mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban, it is a very difficult charm to cast. Even Hermione has a great deal of trouble with it. It requires concentration on a very happy memory. JK Rowling has stated that it is near impossible for dark wizards to cast it (Snape was the only Death Eater who could). Add in that it requires a wand, and they are excellent guardians of wandless prisoners of Azkaban.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Is there any other way that Hermione could have possibly protected her Muggle parents from Voldemort and his followers besides erasing their memories, like casting a protection spell over them similar to what was done with Harry for the past 17 years or taken them to the Burrow to be protected, or even Grimmauld Place?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Any of those options would provide some degree of protection, but, should Voldemort ultimately triumph, it's extremely likely that those measures would eventually be circumvented by his forces, leaving her parents entirely at his mercy. By erasing herself entirely from their memories, they cannot be used against her, as they cannot be linked to her (it's reasonable to assume that Hermione would also have arranged for any files linking her to them or that address to be destroyed or altered as well). Erasing their memories also has the side effect of sparing her parents from grief should she fall in the ensuing conflict.

Tailkinker

In the book, in addition to erasing their memories, Hermione also sent her parents to live in Australia, further removing them from danger. She not only erased their memories to prevent them from being tortured and divulging any information, but if she was killed, they would not grieve the loss of their only child for the rest of their lives.

raywest

Question: What year/make/model of car did the family leave in?

Answer: If you're referring to the family car they leave the house in, it's a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet B. If you're referring to the car they borrow from the convent, it's a Citroën 11 Légère Traction.

Greg Dwyer

Show generally

Question: Not long after first meeting angels, it is established that they do not have genitals, or "junk" as Dean puts it. But in S06E10 Castiel gets an erection while watching porn and in S08E22, Castiel is required to kill a nephilim, the offspring of an angel and a human. If angels do not have genitals how are these two things possible?

Answer: Angels themselves may not have genitalia, but their vessels do. Nephilim occur when an angel in a vessel reproduces.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Can anyone explain to me the phrase Rene Russo says to Mel Gibson 'Close is a lingerie shop without a window'. Gibson's character can't make sense of the phrase and neither can I.

Answer: So what does it mean? "Nothing, " says screenwriter Jeffrey Boam. "It's a complete non sequitur. The (original) line was something like 'Close doesn't count, ' or 'Close only counts with horseshoes.' Dick (director Richard Donner) is a fun-loving guy," says Boam, "and this thought just popped into his head. He said, 'Let's have her say something completely off the wall.'" Boam, who wasn't on the set at the time, quickly faxed Donner a dozen meaningless lines that began with the words, "Close is..." Then the whole cast and crew started coming up with them. But the one they used came from Russo herself. "This is like some line from a Beatles song," says Boam. "I guess people are trying to figure it out."

Answer: She means that's as close as he's going to get or as far as they're getting. Like the old saying, "Close but no cigar." He played the game, but didn't win the prize.

Question: There's a few things I didn't understand in this film: 1) What's the deal with Jill? Did she really love Mr. McBain or did she just marry for money etc? 2) After she sees the McBain's bodies, why does Jill search the house? Is she checking to see whether anything was stolen? 3) When Jill meets Harmonica in the barn, why does he rip her dress? 4) What's whole thing with Jill and Frank near the end? What exactly happens?

Answer: 1) Jill is a prostitute from New Orleans. She seeks out a new life out West. Love is irrelevant here. 2) She was promised a country living, a family, and wealth. That's why she is looking not only for money or gold but also for the reason her family was killed. 3) So Leone can show her beautiful body. 4) She's saving her life. She's a prostitute and I guess she knows how to fake it. Remember: "There's nothing that can't washed off by a hot bath".

Answer: "Leone fools us into thinking that Harmonica is a criminal and sexual predator in the scene in Jill's barn in which Harmonica rips off the white lace beneath the bodice of Jill's dress. This act, that seems to betoken sexual aggression and to anticipate rape, is actually one of protection. Harmonica represents no more of a sexual threat than Cheyenne does. What Harmonica realises, and Jill does not, is that Frank's sharpshooters wait for her in the hills above her house and that the white of her dress makes her an easy target. He might have explained this situation more carefully to her, of course, but Leone's characters seem to almost thrive on, or to court, ill opinion. Moreover, when Harmonica's shots ring out at the well and Jill realises he is actually intent on protecting rather than brutalizing her, the effect is all the more dramatic for his having given her no hint of his intentions. Leone's heroes do not like to wear their morality on their sleeves." (John Fawell).

Question: What's the significance of the discordant chord Harmonica plays after Cheyenne tells him to "watch those false notes"? Why does Cheyenne react like he'd heard something very unnerving?

Answer: Harmonica is after Frank. At this point, Harmonica does not know who Cheyenne is and he assumes he's one of Frank's men because of the duster he's wearing. So he is confronting him to provoke him. The ultimate goal is to get to Frank.

Answer: He works for a part of the government involved in counter terrorism. Basically, his group commits terror attacks in any country which commits acts of terror against Americans. So, as Gabriel says in the film, if a country shoots ten American tourists, Gabriel's gang blow up a city, in order to discourage terrorists from targeting the USA again in the future. So in answer, he is a government agent.

swordfish

Question: Why is there a derelict battleship beneath the bridge? It is easily identifiable as one because of its 2 front main cannons. No battleships are in service any more with any navy in the world.

Answer: There are many mothballed and museum warships in harbors all over the US and a few still have operable engines. People would try to flee major cities infected with the plague by any means. Or even if the engines were out maybe a tugboat was pulling a derelict full of refugees and the Navy destroyed it to maintain quarantine or it was cut loose and sank.

Grumpy Scot

Sexual Healing - S14-E1

Question: After everyone takes the 'Nice lady with the handkerchief' test, why does Kyle put his hand up to say he did not see a handkerchief? Is he just following Kenny's actions?

Answer: Kyle put his hand up because he didn't see the handkerchief, he wasn't following Kenny's actions. He didn't see the handkerchief because he tested positive for sex addiction, just like Kenny and Butters and sex addicts would test positive if they didn't see the handkerchief.

Casual Person

Question: At the end Jigsaw says Adam isn't ungrateful to be alive anymore, but why does he lock Adam in the bathroom and say "game over" instead of helping him?

Answer: He does help him technically. He tells him the key to the lock is in the bathtub (we saw it disappear down the plughole when Adam woke up at the beginning). In Jigsaw's sick, twisted mind he feels he is giving Adam a chance to prove he wants to live by getting the key. To prove he is grateful, he needs to find out how to get the key back. Which is technically impossible for Adam to do, leaving only one fate for him to remain.

The_Iceman

Getting the key back has nothing to do with how grateful he is or isn't, as the key wasn't meant to go down the drain.

Question: In the scene where Tex is terrorizing Reggie by lighting matches very close to her face, why didn't she just blow them out? This scene has always been a pet peeve of mine in an otherwise fabulous movie.

Answer: Blowing out the matches would only incite Tex to act even more aggressively and threateningly. Reggie knows he is not intending to hurt her and only wants to frighten her so she will cooperate in finding the money. Even though she is scared, it's wiser to remain as passive as possible.

raywest

Question: Before committing suicide, why did Susannah cut her hair? I've seen this behaviour in other films but have never known the psychology behind it.

Hobbes

Answer: Cutting locks of hair is often done in memory of the deceased. Knowing of her impending death, she cut two locks so as not to have them tainted by blood, but dropped one on the floor. I imagine it was the one for Alfred, but it is just my opinion.

I have goosebumps with this interpretation. I always thought that it was related someone with "scalping." She kills herself. She is her own victim. I don't know.

Answer: I think Susannah cut two locks of hair, one for her husband Alfred and the other for her true love Tristan. They were mementos in some respect, but also a clue for her suicide - being married to one brother while loving the other who no longer wanted to be with her. Susannah was torn apart, in pain over losing Tristan and probably felt she could not be true or faithful to Alfred if/when Tristan came around again. She would also have guilt over violating her marriage vows if she were to be with Tristan again while married to Alfred.

KeyZOid

Chosen answer: To give a definitive answer would be misleading because there's no one specific reason why someone does this type of thing. People considering suicide often start exhibiting odd and/or uncharacteristic behavior such as suddenly cutting one's hair. In Susannah's case, it could be a form of self-mutilation, an attempt to change who she is by altering her appearance, or it is a way of controlling something in her life while other events spiral out-of-control, and so on.

raywest

Answer: I always thought it was she wanted people to know. She didn't want the wound to be covered.

Question: After Margo was convicted, why did Tony move one of their beds into the living room?

Hobbes

Chosen answer: It's mostly so the audience can see more of Tony's underlying character. This is Margo's bed, and Tony wanted it separate from the bedroom that they shared as husband and wife. Tony is "emotionally divorcing" himself from Margo as he is about to start a new life as a single man. Leaving the bed in the bedroom would serve as a reminder of his guilt in framing his innocent wife for a murder she did not commit. The bed is likely parked there until he can get rid of it.

raywest

Question: Other than serving the plot, why were so many elements of his former life left in the now-vacant home? All evidence of the former family would have been removed before showing it to prospective buyers.

Movie Nut

Answer: I'm watching it on the computer right now and it says "for sale" not sold, who says everything must be removed prior to selling? I'm not American so it may differ from country to country, but I've been to houses for sale during "inspection dates" and some houses STILL have items not removed probably because they are still living in them or still in the midst of alternate living options, some might need the money of the sale JUST so they can move remember his wife is a widow now and probably can't afford living there no more, where is she gonna get the money to move? Also not all houses I've seen had stuff removed (some did) during my house tours p.s Her husband was gunned down so she can't bare to remove anything yet, but her life is destroyed so she might as well put the house up for sale.

astroASMR

Chosen answer: There is no reason except that it is to serve the plot. Normally everything would have been removed by the time the house was put up for sale, but there needs to be some means for Murphy to connect to his past. This is achieved by showing physical objects from his former life to trigger his memory, creating sympathy for the character. This can be considered suspension of disbelief where the audience just accepts something is out of the ordinary for the sake of the story being told.

raywest

Question: Why did Fleur bring her younger sister to Hogwarts? While Dumbledore is explaining the Triwizard Tournament to the students, there is a shot in which Fleur is shown holding her. Unless she had previously known that she would be chosen as a Tri-Wizard Champion, she couldn't have known that her sister would be needed for one of the tasks.

Answer: Fleur did not know that her sister would participate in one of the tasks, nor did she "bring" her there. Gabrielle was simply one of the students who was chosen to go to Hogwarts. In the book, Dumbledore's purpose in reviving the Triwizard Tournament was to help foster good relations and build strong alliances between the various schools because it would help in the fight against Voldemort. Not every student who went to Hogwarts was there to try and compete in the tournament.

raywest

Answer: She didn't 'bring' her sister. Multiple levels/ages of students from both outside schools attended. Fleur's sister was another student at the school, and happened to also be in the group that went to Hogwarts.

Question: What is the game they are playing in the basement of the bar (the one when Sonny has C throw the dice for him)? And the rules, as it looks complicated. Lots of money thrown down so who wins, loses etc.? I've seen this movie about 3 times and I STILL can't figure it out!

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: They are playing a version of Craps called Street Craps or Ghetto Craps. You can get information about the rules for this game here: http://www.craps.net/rules/street-craps.html.

raywest

Answer: In a car crash.

Greg Dwyer

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