Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Incredible Fan Movie Theories

Starting point is 00:00:00 Movies are filled with hidden meanings, unanswered questions, and details that inspire audiences to look beyond what appears on screen. Over the years, fans have created elaborate explanations for mysterious characters, surprising connections, and secret histories hiding beneath some of the most famous films ever made. Some theories are ridiculous, some are surprisingly convincing, and some have changed how people view these stories forever. Learn more about movie fan theories. on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sometimes the hardest part of car shopping is knowing where to start.

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Starting point is 00:01:59 If you're tired of sleepless nights, you'll love the I Can't Sleep podcast. I help quiet your mind by reading random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. Each episode provides enough interesting, content to hold your attention and then your mind lets you drift off. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. That's I Can't Sleep with Benjamin Boster. In the course of a movie, there's only so much story that you can tell. Sometimes there are dangling plot points or things that don't make sense.

Starting point is 00:02:56 In other times, there is simply an alternative way of looking at the exact same story and interpreting it differently. In such cases, movie fans have often stepped in to offer alternative interpretations. In a few cases, the alternative interpretations actually make a movie make a lot more sense, and in a few cases, they make a whole lot of sense. There are a lot of fan movie theories out there, far too many to cover any single episode, so I may just end up covering more of these in future episodes. And also, I want to give fair warning that I am going to be giving spoilers for the movies I'll be covering. So if you haven't seen these movies over the last 30 years and don't want the plots ruined, stop listening now. I'm going to start with the 1996 film The Rock

Starting point is 00:03:45 from director Michael Bay starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage. Briefly, a U.S. Army General seizes the abandoned prison island of Alcatraz and threatens to launch chemical weapons at San Francisco unless the government pays compensation to the families of soldiers who died on secret missions. The FBI recruits two unlikely heroes, Stanley Goodspeed, a young chemical weapons expert, and John Mason, a former British intelligence agent who is the only person to have ever escaped from Alcatraz. The theory that's created for the movie is that The Rock is actually a James Bond film,

Starting point is 00:04:23 and that John Mason is just an older James Bond. The character Mason, who's played by Sean Connery, has all of the attributes of James Bond. He's sophisticated and charming. He has extensive knowledge of intelligence operations. He's physically capable despite his age. He has a dry sense of humor and he has a mysterious past. The theory is that after decades of service, James Bond was captured during a mission and imprisoned in the United States for possessing sensitive information. The British government then erased his identity and denied his existence. The reason it's such a compelling theory is that the timelines in the movie and in Sean Connery's James Bond films works out so well. The first Bond film, Dr. No, takes place in 1962.

Starting point is 00:05:10 In The Rock, Mason was supposedly put in Alcatraz in 1962 and escaped in 1963. In From Russia With Love, the second James Bond film released in 1963, there's a line in which a woman asked James where he's been for the last six months. The microfilm that Mason supposedly steals would have been stolen after 1972 the year of Jay Edgar Hoover's death, which is a plot point in the movie. There are six official Bond movies in which Sean Connery starred, the last of which was Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. Never Say Never Again is not an official Bond film and was released in 1983.

Starting point is 00:05:50 According to the fan theory, Bond was caught stealing microfilm on which J. Edgar Hoover had compromising information on the British. He hid the film somewhere in the United States before being captured trying to cross into Canada, and he was held in confinement until the events of the rock. The casting and the timelines of the plots is the most compelling argument for the theory. And even though the name James Bond is never mentioned, the casting and the plot are all as if it was a story about an older James Bond. The next movie I want to cover is The Matrix. And there are several fan theories about the Matrix. The Matrix follows Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer who secretly works as the hacker Neo. He discovered that the world he

Starting point is 00:06:38 believes to be real is actually a simulated reality called the Matrix, created by intelligent machines to control humanity while using human bodies as an energy source. Neo is freed from the matrix by a group of rebels led by Morpheus, who believes Neo is the prophesized one capable of freeing humanity. As Neo learns that the rules of the simulated world can be bent or broken, he develops extraordinary abilities within the Matrix and battles the machine agents who protect the system. One of the theories that I find the most interesting is the idea that the machines are actually the good guys. The theory is based off one of the dumbest plot points in the Matrix, which is that the machines use humans as a power source. This makes absolutely no sense, and there is no way that you could get that much energy from a human's metabolism.

Starting point is 00:07:29 You'd be better off just burning the food that you're giving the humans to consume. The theory is that the machines are actually keeping humanity alive. The Earth's surface has been destroyed, and the pod humans are designed to preserve the species. The Matrix is a means for human society and minds to continue functioning until the Earth's surface is once again habitable. Unfortunately, humans keep figuring out that they're in an unnatural environment and keep rebelling, and the machines are forced to fight the rebels to ensure that humanity actually survives. A version of this theory holds that there are actually multiple levels to the matrix. When Neo wakes up, he's just in another level of the matrix.

Starting point is 00:08:12 The other level of the matrix serves as a release valve for the primary layer. But perhaps my favorite matrix theory says that the, entire John Wick universe is part of the Matrix. If you've seen any of the John Wick films, you may have noticed how the world is sort of weird. Assassins can fight each other in the streets, yet normal people have almost no reaction to what's going on around them. The world works under a very specific set of rules which are violently enforced, and the

Starting point is 00:08:45 technology used tends to be really old. The theory is that Neo was inserted back to the story. into The Matrix, had his memory wiped and became John Wick. It explains why his fighting ability is almost superhuman, not quite Neo, but actually rather close. A movie that you might not suspect to have a fan theory is the musical Grease. The most famous theory is that Sandy, who was portrayed by Olivia Newton-John, is dead throughout the movie, and the entire story takes place in her imagination as she is dying. The theory is based primarily on the song, Summer Nights, and the opening and closing scenes. According to the series, Sandy Olson drowned at the beach at the beginning of the film,

Starting point is 00:09:34 and Danny Zuko's famous line, quote, I saved her life she nearly drowned, is interpreted literally. The rest of the movie is Sandy's fantasy or dreamlike vision of what her life could have been like had she survived. The biggest piece of evidence is the famous where Danny and Sandy drive away in a car that suddenly flies into the sky during the song, You're the one that I want. Fans argued that the flying car represents Sandy's soul leaving her body and descending to heaven. The final lyric, Goodbye to You and You and You is interpreted as Sandy sang farewell. The final fan theory that I want to cover is one of the best and will totally change how you look at the Star Wars prequels.

Starting point is 00:10:19 This theory holds that the goofy comic relief Jar Jar Binks was actually a Sith lord and may have been the most powerful Sith in the entire galaxy. Now at first, this may seem ridiculous. Jarjar is generally hated as a character by Star Wars fans because he was seemingly put in the movies as a comedic sidekick and probably only for the purpose of selling toys to kids. The fan theory argues that Jar Jar Jar was not the foolish, clumsy comic relief character that he appeared to be in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but instead was a highly skilled force user who deliberately acted incompetent in order to manipulate events from the shadows. The theory became popular after the release of Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace, but it gained widespread attention years later when fans re-examined Jar Jar's scenes after the release

Starting point is 00:11:14 of the entire prequel trilogy. Supporters argue that many of Jarjar's actions, especially in the first two films, unintentionally, or intentionally, helped create the conditions that allowed Darth Sidious, also known as Senator Palpatine, to destroy the Jedi Order and establish the Galactic Empire. So the core of the theory is that Jarjar was not a fool.

Starting point is 00:11:39 He was pretending to be one, and there is precedent for this. When Luke first met Yoda, Yoda was pretending to be a fool before he revealed himself being a Jedi master. Likewise, Darth Sidious also hid his true identity. The first piece of evidence cited by supporters of the theory is Jar Jar's unusual physical abilities. Throughout the Phantom Menace, Jarjar performs feats that seem beyond normal gungan capabilities. When escaping the Trade Federation droids with Quigon Jin and Obi-Wan Canobi, Jar Jar Jar survives a series.

Starting point is 00:12:13 series of highly improbable accidents and acrobatic maneuvers. He flips through the air, avoids, deadly attacks, and appears to defeat multiple battle droids almost by accident. The famous scene inside the droid control ship is often highlighted. Jarjar accidentally activates machinery, causes explosions, and destroys enemy equipment while appearing to panic. Fans compare this to a force user manipulating events while pretending that everything is accidental. They argue that his luck is suspiciously similar to the way the Jedi used the force to anticipate danger. And it should also be noted that in the first Star Wars movie A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi states that he does not believe in luck.

Starting point is 00:12:58 In the Battle of Nabu, Jar appears to move in an uncontrolled ridiculous way, but his movements result in the destruction of numerous enemy forces. His long tongue, physical flexibility, and unusual jumps allow him to accomplish things that trained soldiers struggle to do. Supporters of the theory state that his combat style represents a form of drunken masterfighting, in which unpredictable movements leave an opponent unable to anticipate attacks. After being introduced as an outcast among the gungans, Jarjar quickly becomes important to the affairs of the entire planet of Nabu, and is instantly promoted to the rank of general.

Starting point is 00:13:39 By attack of the clones, he's no longer simply a comic character. He's become a representative in the Galactic Senate and temporarily serves as the senator from Nabu after Padme leaves office. During the crisis created by the separatist movement, it's Jar Jar Binks, who proposes granting emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine. This decision gives Palpatine the authority to control the Republic's military and eventually transform the entire government into the Galactic Empire. Another argument comes from Jar Jar's body language.

Starting point is 00:14:14 Fans have analyzed scenes where Jarjar makes unusual hand gestures while speaking, claiming that they resemble Jedi or Sith force gestures. The most frequently cited example is his influence on political discussions in the Senate. And some people think that Jar Jar may have been using force persuasion similar to the Jedi mind trick. Now, I should note that none of the theories that I have put forward in this episode have been confirmed by the directors or writers of the respected movies. In fact, I'm pretty sure that they didn't have any of these theories in mind while creating their films.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Nonetheless, many fan theories do often fit the plots of movies and fill in frustrating holes. And if nothing else, it does add a whole new dimension when you rewatch a film. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord.

Starting point is 00:15:23 That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast. And links to those are available in the show notes. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you two can have it read in the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Incredible Fan Movie Theories

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