Some movies ask a little bit more of the audience than others.
It's easy to mindlessly enjoy the latest big-budget explosion-fest, but that doesn't work as well
with films that require real brain power.
In some cases, unconventional narrative structures and gaping plot holes require audiences to
help piece together the puzzle after the credits roll.
In the case of these films, it's those fan theories that truly provide the missing links.
Grease's flying car
Grease doesn't exactly thrive on realism; people in the '50s didn't really burst into
song while fixing up hot rods and hosting slumber parties.
That's strange enough, but by the end of the film, things get even weirder when Danny and
Sandy hop into a shining red convertible and ride into the clouds.
Viewers might be able to suspend disbelief that all these 20- and 30-something actors
were still in high school, but flying cars at the fair?
No way.
But if you listen closely, there might be a more realistic explanation for all of the
movie's eccentricities: Sandy isn't actually alive.
In moment of their lyrical recap of their supposed summer love story, Danny tell us:
"I saved her life.
She nearly drowned."
But what if he didn't save her life after all and this is all just some elaborate fever
dream Sandy's having before she reaches the other side?
It's not hard to believe that she'd invent some crazy love story in her oxygen-deprived
mind before passing over to the great beyond, with the climax being her literal ascent into
heaven.
The theory doesn't just explain Grease; it also helps shed some light on its ill-advised
sequel.
After all, if Grease is a happy dream, then Grease 2 is most likely a nightmare—at least
for anyone who's watching it.
The Goonies' country club cover up
As classic as The Goonies is, it's hard to believe that the architects of Astoria, Oregon
didn't happen upon all those man-made underground tunnels and treasure when they were building
the town.
Sure, it makes for a good adventure for the kiddos who discover them during their quest
to save the city from greedy developers, but they couldn't be the first people in a hundred
years to set foot in there, right?
But one theory posits that the wealthy real estate developers who want to take over know
about the treasure below… and they're actively plundering One-Eyed Willie's stash in order
to fund their decadent lifestyle.
The country club isn't really the end goal.
It's a cover-up, designed to keep the underground treasure trove safe.
Willy Wonka's secret ingredient
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory might end on a high note, but for most, the Golden
Ticket is no prize at all.
Throughout the film, four of the five children who've been invited to tour the factory wind
up gone, possibly disfigured, and never heard from again, as their parents are carted away
by creepy rhyming minions.
"The squeezing!
She has to be squeezed immediately before she explodes!"
So, what if Wonka is actually just a serial child-abductor who relies on the flesh of
these kids to make his recipes complete?
After all, he does lead these little ones through rooms designed to exploit their specific
weaknesses.
The Oompa-loompas have complex pre-planned song and dance routines that reference individual
children by name.
Not to mention, all of the pipes in the Chocolate Factory are suspiciously child-sized.
If children are the secret ingredient in Wonka's candy, the reason Charlie survives isn't because
he's such a great kid—it's because he's the only one desperate enough to continue
Wonka's work, especially now that he's seen exactly what it takes to lure his peers to
their sugar-coated doom.
No aliens allowed
After The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, director and writer M. Night Shyamalan became famous
for his films' clever plot twists, but his next directorial outing, Signs, failed to
impress a lot of fans.
For most of the film, Signs is about a former pastor who struggles with his faith while
defending his family against invading aliens.
As a thriller, Signs is well-paced and exciting—until the twist.
As it turns out, Signs' aliens can be defeated by water, leaving the audience to wonder why
a supposedly intelligent lifeform would try to conquer a planet that's 71 percent covered
by the stuff.
Unless, as some fans argue, the aliens aren't aliens at all.
They're demons.
Think about it.
Signs' various characters interpret the creatures' true identities in different ways -- to the
sheriff, they're just mischievous kids, while an officer in the Army thinks they're an invading
military force.
But the "aliens" don't have any technology—in fact, they can't even open doors.
As such, the creatures aren't weak to water.
They're weak to holy water.
Mel Gibson's daughter, who has the irritating habit of leaving half-empty glasses of water
scattered around the house, is described at various points as an angel.
That might be literal.
Since she poured it, the water that she leaves lying around is blessed, and provides the
key to the demons' destruction.
Thematically, demons make a lot more sense than aliens since the main character arc is
about a spiritual reawakening, which makes the movie so much more than just sci-fi schlock.
Someone else's totem
The ending of Inception will be the topic of debate for decades to come.
Throughout the film, a corporate spy named Cobb appears to use a spinning top in order
to separate fiction from reality.
If the top falls over, it means that Cobb is in the real world.
If the totem spins forever, he's dreaming.
At the end of the movie, Cobb spins the top, but wanders away before he sees if it falls
or not.
Most people assume that this means that Inception's ending is ambiguous—but maybe it's not.
Maybe his totem isn't the top but his wedding ring, which he's always wearing in the dream
world, but never in the real one.
After all, a totem is supposed to be personal and never shared, and Cobb never explicitly
says the top is his totem.
Both were also given to him by his late wife.
He doesn't appear to be wearing his ring in the film's last scene, so if you're a sucker
for happy endings, this might just be the fan theory for you.
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