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Welcome to Only Good Internet, where — like the worst version of Indiana Jones — I uncover rare memes and deliver them to the people.
Now, this isn’t a TV and movie-themed newsletter — for that, you’ll want to check out Screen Time by the incredible Nora Dominick — but I came across a thread this week that was so fascinating, I have to share it with you.
Over on the r/TopCharacterTropes subreddit, where people share their favorite (and least favorite) tropes in fiction, user u/i_ateabucketofpaint asked people to share “Strange rules about characters/people that cannot be broken.” Their examples included that Godzilla can’t die in Godzilla movies unless there’s a replacement/successor (also, Godzilla doesn’t eat people), and that Peter Parker can’t be gay, but Spider-Man can.
The comments were filled with people their favorite examples of this trope, including this super cool checklist of rules for the Coyote and Road Runner cartoons:
I don’t know if I ever noticed that the Road Runner stays on the road! I mean, it makes sense! Here’s another one that I never knew about: It’s a hard-and-fast rule for Simpsons writers that Homer has an encyclopedic knowledge of Supreme Court justices and their cases.
Some other fun ones: Danny Trejo has a contract clause that if he plays a villain, his character must die by the end of the movie, in order to show young kids that crime doesn’t pay. Mickey Mouse’s ears must both be visible at all times, no matter what angle he’s facing. And the names of Timmy Turner’s parents must never be revealed.
You can check out more examples in the thread. It’s an interesting read!
…That they caught the Unabomber in part because of the way he said the phrase “have your cake and eat it too”:
Specifically, instead of saying “have your cake and eat it too,” the Unabomber apparently preferred saying “eat your cake and have it too.” The Unabomber’s brother noticed this phrase in his manifesto and tipped off the FBI. So I guess if you don’t want the Feds to find you, make sure you get your idioms right. Anyway, if you want more true crime type stuff, you can check out the amazing Crystal Ro’s newsletter, That Got Dark.
Welp, this is the cutest dang thing I’ve read all week:
Yeah, can I get uhhhhhhhhh…Skittle dog?
I always like to finish every week with something that I MUST share with you, because I can’t get it out of my head. This week, it’s all about Ryan Gosling’s Wikipedia page:
That’s all for this week, see you later! And remember, if you want more like this, you can subscribe to the Only Good Internet newsletter (if you want, I mean, don’t let me tell you what to do, ya know?).