Favourite questions and answers from the 2nd quarter of 2014

Question

Inspired by a type of question over on Science Fiction & Fantasy Meta I thought it might be a good idea to ask the community for their favourite questions and answers from the past quarter. While we don't have blog functionality at the moment and there isn't any large scale usage for such a list nor any further consequences for the linked posts, it might still be interesting to gather the community's views about the questions/answers and shed some additional light on the supposedly good questions and answers given recently, kind of like a positively biased community self-adulation self-evaluation.

I would also plan to continue doing this in the future after the respective quarters. There are other problems that might be discussed in a separate meta question (like if to use a period shorter than a quarter to accomodate for a shorter attention span). But for now I'll just start this query as is. Feel free to downvote this question if you feel this is an awfully stupid idea.

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Now to the actual matter (quoting Jack B Nimble): Please link to your favorite questions and answers which were either asked or answered from April 1st 2014 through June 30th 2014.

Since we currently get ~900/1500 questions/answers per quarter, I've adapted DavRob60's data queries from SciFi to our site in order to help with the decision making process:

• Questions with most votes from 2nd quarter of 2014

• Questions with most views from 2nd quarter of 2014

• Questions with best answer from 2nd quarter of 2014

But those are really just hints, feel free to mention any question or answer you really enjoyed. Also don't hesitate to mention questions and answers you posted yourself but which you think didn't get the apreciation they deserved.

Answer 1

So I've skimmed over the last quarter of questions to look for the posts I'd deem very good examples, be it by personal interest, quality, informativity or just originality. Of course this is by far no exhaustive list as there have been far too many good questions and answers. (And of course I don't have to add that this is entirely my own opinion, well, I just did but nevermind.)

Questions:

• What is the perception of Tyrion's story about his cousin Orson and the beetles?

  This is a very interesting question about one of the best TV shows currently around and while the question itself might be obvious, the answer certainly isn't and it has lead to many equally interesting and insightful answers (a whole 12!). Some better than others, but all of them providing a very big picture of all the possible theories for this enjoyable piece of dialogue.

• Is Jack Bauer an antihero?

  A well-reasoned question asking for the deeper nature of a famous TV character, leading to very insightful and well-researched answers.

• Why do Disney parents usually die?

  Another big blockbuster of a question. While the exact number of votes this question garnered was surely helped by the Hot Questions list and the universality of its topic, it is indeed a very intriguing question which more than deserved its place as a Hot Question, And I'm also partly listing is here because of the very insightful and, if taken together, quite exhaustive answers it generated.

• Was the ending to "How I Met Your Mother" planned from the start?

  A very well-reasoned and detailed question (with quite a bunch of "what have you tried?") asking for the large-scale planning of what seemed to be a rather surprising ending to a long running show.

• Examining the limits of the MCU?

  A rather general question asking about a cross-media franchise that pays extremely high attention and detail to providing a non-conflicting continuity and their success with this undertaking, even if the question might stay unanswered. It is also a good example of the many interesting general MCU questions we have.

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Answers:

• Why wasn't Arya left at the Eyrie?

  While the respective question didn't occur to me as burning or obvious, it is still a bit intriguing and SystemDown's answer, while not giving a definite or exhaustive answer, presents many reasonable arguments for why the story panned out in the way it did.

• What is the purpose of the changes to Game of Thrones show?

  A quite exhaustive answer to yet another movie vs. book question. While the answer is quite general, it is nevertheless the most specific one can expect for the rather general question and it also uses examples from the discussed work in particular to drive the more general point.

• Was Raoul Silva M's son?

  An ongoing question that has been brought up multiple times. While the answer might not give any definite proof for or against the theory in question, it downright completely robs it of its necessity. And while the latter parts might deviate slightly from the particular question, they're nevertheless very insightful. (Add to this that I cannot resist a question/answer to one of my favourite movies from one of my favourite franchises.)

• What does a movie producer do?

  A very detailed answer to a very general but nevertheless interesting question. I've also listed this answer as an example of the many insightful general film industry answers we had recently, be they about production, distribution, or projection.

• Why were the 90's considered cynical in the US when most Hollywood output I remember seemed optimistic?

  A very good analysis of a generally interesting question that seemed a bit lacking in premise at the first look, until one, and especially JohnSmithOptional, takes a further look at it and the culture of the 90s.

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Honorable Mentions:

• An old couple kill some young strangers happily

  Indeed, an ID-question. While I'm certainly not a big fan of identification questions for their (at least perceived) low quality on average, this for certain is one of the better examples regarding information given and, yeah, formal structure (and one of the very few I dared to vote up).

• Whose picture is it anyway?

  The question is a bit loosely-phrased and the answers aren't as exhaustive as they could be, but it nevertheless asks something that has always troubled me (as well as movie culture in general, I guess) and that doesn't seem too easy to answer.

• Why was this version of the Stark vs Loki scene abandoned?

  A very interesting find. While the authenticity of the respective concept art would have to be answered first, it is an intriguing question why this more interesting version of the movie was discarded by the production, if it was.

• Why did American History X end so unexpectedly?

  While this question might seem a bit opinion-based at first, it is quite objectively reasoning why the asker interpreted the movie's ending as unusual and asking for how it still fits with the movie, getting a good and IMHO exhaustive answer on it.

• What are the differences among Celtic American comedy, Jewish American Comedy and African American comedy?

  While this question might employ quite some generalizations and particular examples I don't completely agree with, it asks a very interesting general question. And the answer, while not too exhaustive, gives some good first insights and directions to further material.

Answer 2

Going through the queries made me realise how many great questions come from the same people. For a start, I really enjoyed CGCampbell's behind the scenes questions:

• What format do movie theaters now use?
• What is the difference between a grip and a key grip?
• How does an average (non-star) actor's pay work?

All great questions about the production and distribution side of the film industry, and as mentioned a lot in this meta question, these questions are the right way to get more showbiz people here.

I also like identify this x questions. Whenever I see one with effort put into their post and the asker sticks around to see what people have to say, I upvote it. I'm shocked how many get downvotes with no reasons. For this reason I'd like to thank georgechalhoub for having the most-upvoted identify-this-movies questions since the private beta when it seems people stopped upvoting them:

• An old couple kill some young strangers happily
• An innocent man kills his family because there was no hope
• A hitman falls in love with a victim girl

Personally, I want to see more Q&A style questions, we only have four. Obviously the community on the site has a lot of knowledge to share, the problem is how rarely there's someone who wants to know about a subject and another person that's also active on the site who can answer it. Answering your own questions is not merely OK, it is explicitly encouraged.

Answer 3

One of my favorite question apart from the ones mentioned above is

Why did Rose throw the diamond necklace overboard?

I liked the answer to that question but hoped it would be a transcendental one.

Answer 4

I have to go with a closed question, just because it blew my mind by pointing out something I had never noticed about one of my favorite books:

Why did the Great Gasby (2013) movie erase the hints of Nick Carraway's homosexuality?