MovieChat Forums > Old Dogs (2009) Discussion > Questions about 'Old Dogs'

Questions about 'Old Dogs'

posted 14 years ago by lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet
4 replies | jump to latest

1. Were the hand model's eyes crossed? I thoght they were at some times, but not at others.

2. Why did the producers feel the need to inject the song "Big Girls Don't Cry" into the scene where the hand model hurst her hands and begins to scream and cry? Did they think the audience would not understand the emotional response the hand model was exhibiting?

3. And wasn't the gag of hand models hurting their hands stolen from "Seinfeld"?

4. Was it a little racist when Robin Williams's dark tan made him look another ethnicity?

5. And wasn't it totally unprofessional when the spray tan girl ignored Williams's cries of help?

6. When Williams's ex-wife said at Grand Central Station she could use a family secret to get rid of Williams's tan, and then, in the very next scene, when they're at Central Park, his tan is gone, well, how did she get rid of his tan in such a short amount of time?

7. Was the scene in the public bathroom, where Williams was trying to explain the birds and the bees to his son while he was farting on a toilet, supposed to make me laugh? Or just cringe?

8. When the waitress thought Williams and Travolta were granparents, how did every other waiter and waitress appear out of nowhere and start singing the "Welcome Grandparents" song so quickly? Don't group actions like that require some planning?

9. What the hell is a human puppet suit? Was "Old Dogs" science fiction?

10. And how was Williams's body under Travolta's control if Williams only had a metal rod shoved in his pants? How would that surrender his muscular control to another?

11. If Williams's kids were seven, why was Travolta's house being BABY-proofed? I think this question was even asked in the movie, but no one really seemed to address it.

12. Why would a grief suppport group meet at the beach picnic?

13. Speaking of the grief support group meeting/beach party, was Travolta's Joker grin supposed to make me laugh? or just cringe?

14. And why did the Chinese businessman think the goofy things Williams did--not to mention what his son said about racing and robots--were signs of strength and wisdom?

15. At the end, when Williams's jet pack died and he fell into the pond, why was his splash shown like three different times? Don't jokes get less funny the more times they're repeated? Was it even supposed to be funnier that way? Or what?

[–] katyuska 14 years ago

1. Were the hand model's eyes crossed? I thoght they were at some times, but not at others.

**I think they were crossed, but I also think she may have been giving the impression she had a lazy eye. Not everyone whos eyes do that are truly cross-eyed, and their eyes change posstions.

4. Was it a little racist when Robin Williams's dark tan made him look another ethnicity?

**Why is everything in movies seen as racist now days?

5. And wasn't it totally unprofessional when the spray tan girl ignored Williams's cries of help?

**YES, when she is being hit on by an older relativly good looking guy. Besides she looked like she had an IQ of 5, a real bubble head.

6. When Williams's ex-wife said at Grand Central Station she could use a family secret to get rid of Williams's tan, and then, in the very next scene, when they're at Central Park, his tan is gone, well, how did she get rid of his tan in such a short amount of time?

*She probably meant something like soap and water and a good scrubbing. I am sure she only (for the movie) got it off his hands and face. He even says he can feel in his face again, meaning she scrubbed the stuff off.

8. When the waitress thought Williams and Travolta were granparents, how did every other waiter and waitress appear out of nowhere and start singing the "Welcome Grandparents" song so quickly? Don't group actions like that require some planning?

**Have you never been to an Applebees or Chili's or other resturant like that? They have the song pre planned in advance and the wait staff comes out and sings. Usually happy birthday to people, so it is not too far out, besides the lady announced it on the microphone. Not to mention one of the other diners could have said something to another waiter and they told people.

11. If Williams's kids were seven, why was Travolta's house being BABY-proofed? I think this question was even asked in the movie, but no one really seemed to address it.

**Robin Williams had no idea of what being a father was about so he did what he read in the books to baby proof the house.

12. Why would a grief suppport group meet at the beach picnic?

**Why not? Why should people suffering from grief be locked in a room with a bunch of other people. People have outdoor wakes where they serve food.

14. And why did the Chinese businessman think the goofy things Williams did--not to mention what his son said about racing and robots--were signs of strength and wisdom?

He was JAPANESE not Chinese, that seems like you made a racist comment, I mean assuming he was Chinese. Why would a Chinese business man talk about Tokyo?

Maybe you should pay more attention to the movie than post stupid questions that anyone with a brain could figure out or are you the type of person who goes to the movies with paper and pencil to just write down stuff to pick apart later?

[–] lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet 14 years ago

1. Everything is not seen as racist--but when a white man appears in black face (or brown face, as the case may be), might that not be seen as a little racist?

2. If soap and water remove a spray-on tan, that's not a very good spray-on tan, is it? And how is simple soap and water a "family secret"?

3. I've worked in a restaurant before, and to coordinate a group of servers singing a song takes time. How could all those servers even appear in no time like that?

4. Even if one had never raised kids, wouldn't he know that seven-year-olds aren't babies?

5. I've never been to an outdoor wake. Are those common?

6. Oops. I said Chinese, and they were Japanese. My bad. But how is that racist? Chinese and Japanese are two different nationalities, but are of the same race, according to the 20th century racial classification by American anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, who divided humanity into five races.

7. So I should pay more attention to the movie--and you say that based on my one mistake (Chinese instead of Japanese)? And then you call my list of questions "stupid" and suggest I have no brain? Why do you feel the need to do that? I'm just asking questions about a movie (some of which I see you conveniently ignored). Why so defensive and hostile about my questions?

[–] boxerrebellion 8 years ago

I wouldn't recommend that you tell either the Japanese nor the Chinese that they are the same race. Both cultures consider themselves to be racially 'pure' to the extent that the Japanese tend to treat the Japanese citizens of Okinawa as second class citizens.

[–] DarkStormyNight 8 years ago

I will admit, I used this movie as a background movie while I did other things, but I enjoyed it enough that I did not turn it off for another movie. I've found, in comedy movies like these, you have to use more suspension of belief than some other genres. It is easy to over-nitpick the unrealistic aspects of such movies.

4. Was it a little racist when Robin Williams's dark tan made him look another ethnicity?

While yes, turning a white actor a different skin color is often seen as racist, I disagree in this case. Most cases of blackface/brownface/etc in movies are when the other ethnicity is being made fun of, or when a white actor is chosen instead of getting someone of the ethnicity of the character played. Because they are not doing it for those reasons, and it is only for a couple scenes, I personally don't see it as racist.

Lets face it, an over-tan makes a white person either look another race, or look oompa loompa orange.

They also play a bit into the whole "brownface is wrong" by all the stares and dirty looks he gets while on the escalator.

5. And wasn't it totally unprofessional when the spray tan girl ignored Williams's cries of help?

Of course it was, that is the whole point of the scene. There is only so many ways he could have accidentally gotten over-tanned, and that is the way they decided to use.

6. When Williams's ex-wife said at Grand Central Station she could use a family secret to get rid of Williams's tan, and then, in the very next scene, when they're at Central Park, his tan is gone, well, how did she get rid of his tan in such a short amount of time?

It's a family secret, of course we the audience is not privy to such information! This is a common ploy in movies, to give some family secret type fix, that we never actually find out what it was.

Some people are stupid, and my guess also is that by not giving out the "secret" they eliminate the liability of someone taking advice from a fictional movie, and expecting it to actually work.

Whether there is really any such thing that even potentially exists, I don't know.

7. Was the scene in the public bathroom, where Williams was trying to explain the birds and the bees to his son while he was farting on a toilet, supposed to make me laugh? Or just cringe?
13. Speaking of the grief support group meeting/beach party, was Travolta's Joker grin supposed to make me laugh? or just cringe?

Both these questions have the same answer, depends on your own personal sense of humor and what you find funny. Movies can not make everyone happy. Some will cringe, others will laugh.

8. When the waitress thought Williams and Travolta were granparents, how did every other waiter and waitress appear out of nowhere and start singing the "Welcome Grandparents" song so quickly? Don't group actions like that require some planning?

Are you really questioning the "how" of a random musical number inside a movie?

11. If Williams's kids were seven, why was Travolta's house being BABY-proofed? I think this question was even asked in the movie, but no one really seemed to address it.

He knows nothing about kids of any age, and this was one of the ways the movie shows it.

12. Why would a grief suppport group meet at the beach picnic?

Why not? I'd love a support group meet up in a more peaceful location like that rather than a stuffy room.