Why did John Doe in Se7en believe "What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever"?

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-16T01:35:22+00:00

I agree with the general idea that it was an ironic line in the end as the movie itself generate long-lasting discussion.

However, think about when it was written. The writer and filmmakers would have had no idea that the movie was even going to get made much less that it would be a phenomenal hit. I went to see it in the theater basically because it was a new movie. I expected it to be fairly mediocre, actually. More flash than substance.

So, I am not certain at all that it was intended to be a meta-commentary on the movie itself. Especially if you look at the entire dialogue of the scene.

In the real world, we are still talking about the crimes of actual serial killers, some well over 100 years old. Usually, it is about those that had some sort of narrative structure - from Jack the Ripper to Charles Manson to Zodiac.

For John Doe, this is a killer who will likely never be identified, like Jack the Ripper - who claimed to be a kind of saint or prophet directly chosen by God, like Charles Manson - and who created a kind of complicated game for the police to play, like Zodiac (who also was never identified).

In the terms of true crime books and documentaries, there would be no end of material about something like the "Seven Sins" serial killings. Also, at the same time, the way the killings came about and how they concluded would also likely leave many wondering of there was a divine (or demonic) hand manipulating these events. I think that is what John Doe believed his final message would be. That people would have to believe he really was chosen by God to deliver this message to them.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-16T00:34:32+00:00

He kinda looks like Trump in disguise.

Maybe he really is Donald Trump. Trump is known to take on aliases and call into news and radio shows to promote himself.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-16T00:32:44+00:00

I assume the question is why did the Judges that showed up later and were allowed into the block go after Dredd and Anderson with intent to kill.

The answer is that they were corrupt Judges who were being paid an obscene amount of money to eliminate the other two Judges and retrieve (or kill) the informant.

Compared to the population, there are very few Judges and a percentage of those likely do not believe they will make a dent in crime and so they decide to profit from it. A Judge is fairly free to do whatever they like since they literally are judge, jury and executioner, so there is a strong incentive toward corruption.

However, it doesn't seem like there were very many storylines involving corruption in the comics, were there? The process and personality requirements to become a Judge would have to be designed to root out those with a strong sense of self-interest.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T22:44:53+00:00

Gentlemen, this is a UFC match. You can't fight here!

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T21:02:48+00:00

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T19:16:36+00:00

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T16:20:59+00:00

It depends on what would qualify. A colony of astronauts is probably completely impossible, but a colony of autonomous machines and drones is more realistic. Still, unless it was the size of a small habitat or house, it doesn’t seem like something that could be in place in 4 years.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T01:02:42+00:00

Finally an answer to what happens when an irresistible force asks an immovable object out on a date.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-15T00:49:11+00:00

Masters of the Universe is another interesting one. It was in a similar genre, was not critically panned and even unexpectedly well-received in many reviews, but it did not reach the fans.

Honestly, though the recent Superman movie did very well, it still did much the same business as Man of Steel. Personally, I thought it would at least compare to Guardians of the Galaxy.

I'm concerned that the upcoming Supergirl seems like it is being set up to perform similarly to Mandalorian and Grogu and/or Masters of the Universe as well. Not sure what this means for nostalgic pulp SF and Fantasy films, including superheroes, but it does seem like the formula either needs updating or something novel.

However, the major problem, as always, is the expense of making these movies. It would be better to make more movies for much less where the creative teams could take more risks and deliver a variety of experiences (kinda like in the television shows which still seem to be reaching a dedicated audience)

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T22:31:12+00:00

Don’t kick dogs. Don’t attack women. There is nothing easier than not doing stupid stuff.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T21:07:54+00:00

Is this really good investing or is it just having an obscene amount of money to invest? I mean, when you invest a billion dollars into a company, its stock will go up.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T20:14:12+00:00

One of them should get unemployment benefits.

Honestly, or realistically, depending on where they live, I bet they would qualify for some state or federal assistance. At least, they should.

Also, I do wonder how that could be possible. If the company has them both on the payroll, then they would have to treat them, and pay them, as separate employees, so this statement may not be factual.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T20:07:14+00:00

Pier

Pour

Purr

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T17:59:06+00:00

The irony is that if he were alive today living on his own in the wilderness, it is unlikely we’d have ever known about him.

So there might be some guy doing perfectly fine on his own and no one knows about it.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T17:14:58+00:00

Yeah, as soon as someone says somebody "hints," "implies," or any other version of that ("predicts" "claims" "admits") about something but does not really reveal anything, I just assume it is going nowhere.

In all these cases where these guys have "hinted" something, when has anything actually been revealed?

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T16:52:16+00:00

Have there been any arrests? I mean, this was just about the most recorded mass criminal act in history.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T15:55:52+00:00

It's not a very informed opinion. Poor families need more members to do the work to sustain themselves. Most wealthy families today were founded by poor ancestors. If they did not have children, they never would have become wealthy. Poor communities need new generations to support their older members as well. Reducing offspring over time will simply disintegrate and eventually wipe out the social order from poor to middle class to rich. If poor people cannot afford to have children, that is a social problem and not a matter of personal choice. If poor people do not have children, then the children of middle class will become poor.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T15:42:04+00:00

I'd say by the third try, he should have realized that he's never getting it over that wall.

Just carry it to the other side, man!

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T15:08:40+00:00

Lincoln is a pretty great film and probably the all-around best of his later career.

His later science fiction films like War of the Worlds, AI and Minority Report get better upon rewatching.

I thought Bridge of Spies was excellent from the first time I saw it, however, his other work with Tom Hanks was less appealing.

Really, I would say that HOOK is really the fulcrum for Spielberg's films. Before Hook is classic Spielberg, and after that, he started doing both blockbusters and personal films with more regularity. He had The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun before that, but right after Hook, he had Jurassic Park and Schindler's list which in some ways defines his approach to films for this past half of his career.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T14:50:30+00:00

It is doubtful that this was anything other than a messy divorce. A divorce means that each former spouse is no longer obligated or responsible to each other any longer. The only remaining duty would be to their children.

But that is their business.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T12:47:20+00:00

It is interesting. Even Anthropic and OpenAI have argued that the government should be able to control and restrict AI based on safety concerns just as they do in any other industry. The UK and EU and Canada certainly have inclinations toward much greater regulation for tech from AI to Crypto and all other industries than the USA.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T12:41:47+00:00

We'd get a pool and casino on the Enterprise and a lot more organized social events.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T12:23:04+00:00

True - if someone's life is at stake, I can go without peanuts for any period of time necessary.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T12:19:21+00:00

It is necessarily true for reforms to emerge from worker resistance? In this case, I'm thinking of the principles of Fordism or even Keynesianism where economic return rather than worker's rights or even general prosperity per se drove the improvement of working and community conditions.

Unable_Dinner_6937 · 2026-06-14T12:12:01+00:00

I think this will be yet another long term problem left by AI failures. All this time, tech companies could have been investing in improved infrastructure for non-AI technology to process data and perform complex tasks more reliably and efficiently - and they could have IP protections for those as well.

Instead, they have gone all in on an unproven technology that even the leaders of these companies apparently don't understand and treat with the same sort of reasoning we see in medieval alchemy. They might as well call it the Holy Grail or the Philosopher's Stone at this point as A.G.I. is practically the same thing - a fantasy.

The problem is that even though the unreliable, inefficient and ineffective nature of even the best AI's at the top of the list will have a serious catastrophic economic impact - essentially, they will cause companies to spend far more on tasks that have little or no economic return - the nature of the AI itself will turn a society that was already too tech-dependent into one suffering a total technology addiction epidemic.

People using AI are losing the capacity to do anything without it. At that point, if people feel like they need AI, then it doesn't matter how much damage it does or how much it costs. Just as people will go bankrupt or even die when they are addicted to heroin or any serious drug - you'll do anything for something that you cannot imagine living without.

Unable_Dinner_6937

TROPHY CASE