Recently on JetBlue Airlines – providers of non-stop TV viewing at 30,000 feet – I caught an old episode of the “X-Files”. FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder was trapped in the Bermuda Triangle, on a British WWII battleship that had mysteriously travelled forward in time 60 years, just as the vessel was being boarded by Nazis.
I was going with the outlandish premise – just another typical work day for everyone’s favorite special FBI agent – when something happened that yanked me out of my state of suspended disbelief faster than you can say “paranormal phenomena”.
At the end of a tense but entertaining scene where Mulder has been patiently explaining to the British captain and crew that he is really from the future, and that the war has long been over (for some reason they find these assertions implausible), the Captain happens to mention that his name is Yip Harburg.
Chris Carter probably thought he was being clever when he slipped that into the script. But what was the point, really? If you don’t recognize the name, then the joke is lost on you. And if you do recognize the name, it’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer at an bris. Yip Harburg, for those of you who don’t know, was the lyricist of the MGM movie musical “The Wizard of Oz”.
What I want to know is this: Why do otherwise intelligent writers feel the need to insert “insider” spoilers that will either be completely lost on the viewer or else will give away everything?
In this case Fox Mulder, while experiencing some exceedingly implausible events, has suddenly been identified with Dorothy on her journey to Oz. Which can mean only one thing – that Special Agent Mulder’s fantastical adventure is really just a …
Sorry – the rest of this blog post was swallowed up in the Bermuda Triangle. You’ll just have to see the episode for yourself – the truth is out there.
To answer your question about why someone would insert something that only an insider would “get”…
Most of my jokes are only funny to me… But, that doesn’t keep me from telling them… Kinda like easter eggs in code, or, printed on silicon… Not everyone will see it, or get it, but, they still make the author giggle…
Guess this could be considered humor masturbation… Sometimes others are not supposed to “get it”.
(count ’em… 8 elipsis in one comment…)