Comments on: Ever correct strangers when you overhear a factual error in their pop-culture conversation?

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:51:25 +0000

I’ve corrected people before when I heard their blunder. One that stands out the most was during a sneak peek of the 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ I don’t claim to be an afficiando but I do know quite a bit about ‘POTO’ in almost all its versions. The group behind us started talking about the Lon Chaney and Claude Rains films when they made a factual error. I felt I had to speak up because they were giving false information to another couple who had asked a question. I’m thinking I can’t let these people walk out of this theater knowing false information. And so I corrected them.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:06:25 +0000

My friends hate it. I always try to be like “Oh, you mean ____, right?” but they totally hate it. It’s not my fault I have so much random and useless pop-culture knowledge!

By: buffyfan

buffyfan — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:49:24 +0000

As a teen, I embarrassed my dad while watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The row behind us was like, oh look it’s Emilio Estevez. I felt compelled to let them know that it was Charlie Sheen. No one else appreciated my helpfulness, whoops.

By: Bridget

Bridget — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:53:01 +0000

Oh, and in the spirit of this Popwatch… Ruby, it wasn’t Isabella, it was Katherin of Spain. Isabella was her mother.

By: Bridget

Bridget — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:50:59 +0000

Several years ago, a friend and I went and saw Sweet Home Alabama. As the movie began, the couple next to me kept going back and forth about whether or not Sean Penn was playing her New York fiance. When I couldn’t take it any more, I butted in and pointed out that it was Patrick Dempsey (this was pre-Grey’s Anatomy, after all) and that Sean Penn wasn’t in the credits that we’d all just seen.

By: sh

sh — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:00:07 +0000

My favorite example of correcting friends: there were four of us at a pizza place for dinner and “Smoke on the Water” started playing. I drew a blank so asked “who sings this song?” One friend said “Elton John”. I knew that wasn’t right and told her so. We argued for a while, and she wouldn’t believe us. Finally someone remembered Deep Purple, but she still wouldn’t admit she was wrong.
A few years later at her wedding, we had the DJ dedicate her the song by saying “Long Live Elton John” followed by “Smoke on the Water.” We were the only ones that knew what was going but it was AWESOME!
I don’t think I’ve ever corrected strangers, but if I am in line and someone around me is drawing a blank on a pop culture tidbit, I’ll help them out.

By: kc

kc — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:36:38 +0000

i had a very hard time holding my tongue while overhearing a conversation about gus van sant’s “elephant”. one man was telling the other two that it was a factual re-telling of columbine!! how can you get that wrong?!? he kept citing the shower scene between the 2 shooters in “elephant” as something that they know the 2 shooters in columbine did right before they killed all those people. but i held my tongue, somehow i felt correcting these particular guys was not really good for my health.

By: Ruby

Ruby — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:42:30 +0000

I always resist the urge to correct strangers about pop culture, even when they are have a question up in the air. I think, no matter what, you always come off as pushy or the whole thing is awkward because not only did you just interject yourself into a conversation, now you have to leave it with them knowing you are listening. That said, I do the whole smug, it’s actually this in my head. Oh, and escargot, BTW, your question isn’t totally random, as Elizabeth also had a half sister named Mary (the basis for Bloody Mary), whose mother was Henry VIII’s first wife Isabella from Spain. You’ll find that the English during this time had a tendency to reuse the same names over and over again.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:12:10 +0000

Corinne, you rock.

By: Corinne

Corinne — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:38:08 +0000

I punched a girl in the face who insisted it was “Papa Don’t Breathe” instead of “Papa Don’t Preach.” Hey we were in 3rd grade!