When last we left Pete and Ben, they recorded an extra-long examination of an episode with unusual structure, and asked trivia questions based on a cinematic biopic. It’s all happening again! Is this the new normal for both the show and the podcast? Does the House of Leaves situation extend to train platforms now? Tune in next time after you’ve tuned in THIS time!
Sources and References:
Pete mentions that he formatted his questions in a manner parallel to the questions he asked about Elton John and the way Ben then followed-up by asking questions about Liberace: where the only source for material is a popular Hollywood biopic about the guest-star. In this case, the source is Coal Miner’s Daughter, which Ben had not seen at the time, as it had not yet been covered by CBBWorld’s podcast Scott Hasn’t Seen.
Ben expresses a desire to always use the name Melvin whenever given the opportunity. This is probably an extension of the aburdist use of the name in the earliest issues of Mad Magazine. Writer Mark Evanier contextualizes this by saying that Alfred E. Neuman was originally intended to be called Melvin.
The “correct” pronunciation of “biopic” seemingly shouldn’t be under discussion. Both Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary have only one pronunciation listed, and it’s not the one the rhymes with “myopic”. That said, there are a number of extant circumstances where this common alternate pronunciation occurs. Ben is especially fond of circumstances where both are used in an almost duelling fashion, as if neither participant is willing to acknowledge that the other option exists. For those keeping score, Ben is aligned with Ania Magliano and Andy Zaltzman, and Pete has Paddy Young and Nish Kumar in his corner. Pick your team accordingly.
Ben and Pete get into a brief discussion of whether “hobo” is derogatory or a term of self-identification. Merriam-Webster highlights the issue by saying that the term is “often disparaging” but also states in a usage note that the term is a “neutral or positive self-descriptor”. That seems to be the crux of the matter: hobos self-identify with the term as a positive — the Wikipedia page mirrors language used by the Britt, Iowa websites about the annual Hobo Convention, in that a hobo is distinct from a tramp or a bum — but that the term is commonly used negatively by others. It’s perhaps of note that the Wiki page doesn’t seem to have any section indicating that the term is undergoing any re-evaluation. As for whether John Hodgman expressed any regret about having made fun of hobos, the record is currently unclear. While an MP3 of him reading the entire list of 700 used to be available as a promotional item for the book The Areas of My Expertise, it is not currently available as a separate free download. A text version of the list, however, is.
There is also some contretemps about whether the phrase “the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain” originates with My Fair Lady or not. Wikipedia indicates that, according to the biography of Gabriel Pascal, the phrase — which was not in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion — was added to the screenplay of the 1938 film. The language in the book on Pascal is unclear. It refers to the “famous phonetic exercises” (also including “in Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen”), but doesn’t indicate if they had been famous prior to their addition to the screenplay, or whether the popularization of the adaptation subsequently made them famous. Those who have studied a certain remedial French, for example, almost all know the ludicrous phrase “le singe est dans l’arbre” — its universality confirmed by Eddie Izzard in an early special. Was that the case with “the rain in Spain”? Without evidence, Peter would say yes, and Ben would say no. The internet, at this moment, remains quiet on the topic.
And, just to reiterate, we do not believe that James McTiegue is a manslaughterer, famed or otherwise, or has done anything questionable in his career that would merit some sort of “Controversies” section on his Wikipedia page, and we regret whatever lapse in Pete’s memory caused any contrary report to be temporarily asserted.
Farced Perspective 