Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Given that the entire McFly family's circumstances have changed at the end of the movie due to Marty altering the past, shouldn't Marty's whole life have gone down a completely different path from childhood on? What are the odds that he even still knows Doc and Jennifer in the revised 1985 (let alone has the exact same date planned with Jennifer for the very same evening), given that everything else has changed?

Answer: The suggestion is given that he was the only "normal" person in the family and when he changed the past his parents and siblings became more "normal" people as well whilst he stayed as he was, despitegrowingup with different parents and siblings, since he was "normal" anyway. This totally ignores the linear timeline idea given during the entire movie, but it's obvious that was the idea.

lionhead

You're absolutely right about Marty being the only "normal" one in the family, but that doesn't ignore the linear timeline idea. There are two different Marty McFly's by the end of this movie. There's the one we follow, who grew up with unhappy parents, and then there's the other Marty McFly who grew up with cool parents. We see the 2nd Marty go back to 1955 when Marty gets back to the Twin Pines mall. The idea isn't to ignore the linear timeline idea, but rather to imply that unhappy parents or not Marty will still always be Marty.

BaconIsMyBFF

Except for the fact Marty kept being in danger of disappearing if his parents wouldn't get together. If his old self would disappear from his parents not getting together then so he should if his entire life is different and he would be a different Marty just like his siblings. Even if it's only memories rather than an entire personality.

lionhead

Answer: It's definitely a paradox. Marty actually goes back to the life of 2nd Marty, but if that's the case then original Marty should have still faded away since he created a new timeline when he gave George confidence. Original Marty shouldn't exist anymore at all, he should have faded completely away on the stage. I've said it before and I'll say it again: time travel movies are a mess.

BaconIsMyBFF

The new Marty isn't a different person entirely; he's just the same guy who was raised in a slightly different environment to the original timeline. Marty's actions in 1955 have ensured that his parents will have three children, and he will be one of them. His existence is completely secured in the timeline.

Question: The warden tells Frank Morris he is not permitted to have newspapers, or magazines carrying news. Why not?

Answer: In part, to break inmates. Alcatraz was notoriously tough on inmates, psychologically (although they did relax some of the strict rules by the 50s). In general, inmates had very little contact with the outside world, and many even had little contact with other inmates. In the film, the warden tells Frank the only news inmates get is what the warden tells them is the news.

Bishop73

Question: Are we ever given any suggestion as to what offence Lorraine's brother was incarcerated for?

Answer: Not in any official, canon source. In the Back to the Future comic books published by IDW he is an aspiring member of Biff's gang and gets arrested breaking into the home of Doc Brown's mother in an attempt to steal a large sum of money. It must be reiterated that the comics are non-canon and this should be taken with a grain of salt.

BaconIsMyBFF

The comic books are so skewed from the movie events, they cannot be considered canon. "Jailbird Joey" was only a baby in a playpen when Biff and his gang were seniors in highschool. Unless Biff and his highschool buddies were still recruiting gang members into their mid-30s, there is no way Jailbird Joey would be trying to join their gang.

Charles Austin Miller

While the answer does state the comics aren't cannon, it's the only place that really delves into Uncle Joey's criminal history since the film's didn't need to spend time discussing the exact nature of his crimes. However, it would not be unreasonable (or even unheard of) for Biff to be recruiting members for his "gang" at 35. Plus, Joey wanting to be part of Biff's gang wouldn't necessarily require Biff or his high school buddies to be personally involved in recruiting young Joey.

Bishop73

Question: Kreese told Bobby to put Daniel out of commission for their semi final match but why didn't he have Johnny put his semi final opponent out of commission?

Answer: Because Kreese has a personal vendetta with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. He likely wouldn't stoop to that level for a random competitor, but he will to keep Daniel from winning.

Oh, he would definitely stoop against any competitor. He simply had confidence in Johnny's ability to win. However, he did have a personal vendetta and wanted to humiliate Miyagi. Remember that Kreese was a Vietnam veteran, so he had personal animosity towards all Asians. Daniel was barely on his radar, but Kreese despised Miyagi.

Question: If the Kaiju are artificially created clones, why do they have parasites?

Answer: Presumably the parasites are simply creatures that exist on the other side of the breach. We see very little of the world in which the kaiju live, we only ever see the facility that is directly on the other side of the breach. The kaiju homeworld could be infested with these parasites, we just never actually see any up close.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Was Palpatine's Order 66 named in reference to FDR's infamous Executive Order 9066 - the order that authorized the Japanese internment camps? There are many other historical references in the Star Wars prequels (e.g. Palpatine being a "Chancellor," just like Hitler); could this perhaps be another example?

Answer: Perhaps, but unless George Lucas mentions this outright (he never does on the behind the scenes videos), its uncertain to say.

Dra9onBorn117

Answer: Yes, it is the same actress, Diora Baird. The character's name is Shannon.

Bishop73

Answer: No - as stated in the film, timelines/realities are independent from each other. Thanos/Nebula coming to "our" timeline means a new timeline is created where they don't exist any more, but we don't follow that one. "Our" Nebula isn't affected by the actions of the "alternate", because "our" Nebula's history is unchanged.

Answer: This is right out of the comics. When Steve Rogers retires as Captain America in All-New Captain America #1, he passes the mantle to Sam Wilson.

wizard_of_gore

Answer: Steve Rogers didn't have super strength when he was chosen to be Cap. His demeanor, personality, and selflessness earned him the mantle. The abilities came with it.

DetectiveGadget85

His character earned him the slot in the super soldier program - his abilities are a direct result of the now-unavailable super soldier serum. Falcon is highly skilled and trained, doesn't mean he can't do a good job as a "new" Captain America with a different skillset, but he won't have the same strength and speed.

Answer: As shown throughout the events of the "Captain America" and "Avengers" sequels, Cap and Sam are very much kindred spirits with a great deal in common. Cap thus saw him as the perfect person to pass the mantle onto.

TedStixon

Question: Does the guy eat the pie himself at the end?

Answer: In the book, yes. In the film it's unknown, but implied that he plans to feed it to his wife's 'friend'.

Answer: No, he fed it to the man who is friends with his wife. He is jealous of him and believes they are having an affair.

They were having an affair. This was seen when Billy came home and saw a vision of Heidi and his "friend" Mike kissing each other passionately. Another hint that they were having an affair is that when Billy calls home after being gone for so long, Linda says that Mike has been visiting the house quite frequently.

Question: Is the woman who asks Daniel and Mr Miyagi why they were in her cab the same woman from the first movie who tells Daniel where to find Mr Miyagi so he could fix his faucet?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Yes, it's the same woman. She is Frances Bay. In the first film she's listed as "Lady with Dog." In the third film she is listed as "Mrs. Milo." She lives in the apartment complex.

Bishop73

Question: In the finale number "All for one" the sign says "pool closed - staff only". How are Ryan and Sharpay able to be there when they are members?

Answer: A "Staff Only" sign isn't much security, especially when you know just about everyone that works at the resort.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: He has showed up in Cobra Kai season 3. Daniel travels to Okinawa for business and meets many old friends including Chozen who teaches him the final secret of Myaghi Do Karate.

Answer: There has never been any explanation of what happened to any of the characters who debuted in The Karate Kid Part II. The series Cobra Kai has so far focused only on Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese while introducing new characters. I wouldn't say it's unlikely Chosen would show up at some point, Yuji Okamoto (the actor who played Chosen) still acts regularly and could easily be brought to the series if the writers decided to focus on his character.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: In reality, do orcas actually understand English? Willy seems to understand Jesse when Jesse teaches him tricks.

Answer: While sounds and words can be used to alert orcas and dolphins, they recognize the hand signals and movements as to what to do.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Dogs can learn words up to the level of a 3 yr old, and whales are smarter than dogs, so definitely.

dizzyd

Dogs don't learn words, they start to recognize the sound that comes with a certain word like "stay" or "fetch", it's got more to do with the intonation than the actual word. They don't know what the word actually means. They can't imitate it nor can they recognize it in a sentence.

lionhead

Question: When Charlie brings a pizza to the puppies, and they shout, "Charlie", how do they know what his name is?

Answer: Charlie talks to Anne Marie about them so my guess is that he has visited the puppies and the female dog before maybe even a few times.

Answer: Charlie may have visited the puppies before so they know who he is.

Answer: One of them was "I thought they broke up" at the beginning of the film on the beach. Tommy replied "she did, he didn't." I don't recall the other line.

Answer: It didn't look like him. It appears to be a random student and not part of Johnny's group of friends seen throughout the film.

Well in that case, I heard Jimmy has two lines throughout the film and I figured they were both of the "yes sensei's." What are Jimmy's two lines then?

Answer: Yasime was being mean to her.

But Sam wasn't. It was even obvious that Sam didn't like it.

Sam and Aisha were long-time friends and Sam wasn't standing up for Aisha at all. She continued being friends with Yasmine even though she was being cruel to Aisha. Being uncomfortable at Yasmine's insults is not going far enough to stand up for Aisha.

BaconIsMyBFF

But Sam also didn't come to her defense either. So that's a good reason for Aisha to not like her.

lartaker1975

Answer: Sam picked her prettier and more popular friends over Aisha. They still got along until Yasmine publicly humiliated Aisha.

Question: Did Daniel really mean it when he said he hated his bike, or was it just out of anger?

Answer: It was just out of anger. He's frustrated that he has to ride a bicycle around while his bullies ride around on expensive dirt bikes.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Link was an infant when he was delivered to and raised by the Kokiri, who don't age. When Link becomes a child, they should've realised that he wasn't a Kokiri because he aged. Why didn't they see this?

Answer: Because the Kokiri don't age past a certain age, but they do age up to that age. Link looked roughly the same age as the other Kokiri when his adventure started, which is why they never noticed that he was different.

Question: Harry burns his hand by touching a red hot doorknob, and then cools it off by putting in the snow. In real life, wouldn't putting in his hand in the snow make the burn worse?

Answer: Yes, on major burns you never want to use ice or cold water because it can further damage the tissue and water can cause bacterial infections. A 2nd degree burn on the hand is considered a major burn. However, in the context of the film not only would Harry not know this and seek for immediate relief, we don't really see the extent of the tissue damage so we don't know how much the ice affected it.

Bishop73

Would Harry have gotten a 2nd degree burn if the door knob was as hot as shown in the movie?

He definitely would have gotten 2nd degree burns, more likely 3rd degree given the handle was shown to be red hot. Although it should be noted, the red glow would indicate the handle was over 900°F and at that temp, the door itself would probably have caught fire before Harry touches the doorknob.

Bishop73

Answer: Putting ice or cold water on a burn provides immediate temporary relief. It wouldn't make the burn worse.

Answer: In real life, what on earth was he supposed to have done differently? Putting it in the snow would have been the first thing to come to mind.

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