Fan theories can be pretty interesting sometimes, and at other times downright wacky. Some exponents of fan theories seem to have way too much time on their hands, while others could possibly put their considerable brainpower to a better use.
With Reddit being in the news a lot lately, we asked ourselves the reasons why redditors just can’t have enough of the popular messaging board. For one, it gives people a great platform to share their fantasies. And second, Reddit helps bring together people who share similar ideas. As a result, over the years Reddit has become a treasured hotspot for madcap fan theories.
So after some intensive rummaging down the Reddit forums, today we bring to you five fan theories that will change the way you think about your favorite movies and TV shows.
Harry Potter is a Mental Health Patient
A popular Reddit thread argues that Harry is indeed a mental health patient and his real parents are not the Potters, no, they are the Dursleys!
According to several fan theories, Harry Potter is a very sick child who constantly lands his brother Dudley in trouble. So his parents send him to an asylum where he concocts the most elaborate fantasy about a world separated from the monotonous, dreary muggle world – and that is where Hogwarts (hogwash?) comes into the picture.
And Voldemort is just the super sick part of Harry’s troubled psyche. Ouch!
Harry Potter: A boy who lived under the stairs and went to Hogwarts. Hogwarts, which in fact is a mental institution. http://t.co/HyQB7uGj3D
— Kirti Khanna (@KutchaRaasta) July 15, 2015
E.T. is a Jedi
Extra Terrestrial meets Star Wars , anyone?
One of the popular fan theories on Reddit posits the title character from Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is in fact a Jedi knight!
Reasons?
Well, for one, E.T. can make bikes and toys fly, presumably using The Force. Plus, a throng of E.T. creatures can be spotted in the Senate Chamber in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace . In addition, E.T. instantly recognizes a boy wearing the Yoda dress during Halloween in the original film, thereby highlighting his familiarity with the inter-galactic world.
https://twitter.com/FlintSnow/status/621146839610363906
Andy in The Shawshank Redemption is an “Icy and Remorseless Killer”
We all thought Andy was a really nice guy, didn’t we?
Well, as it turns out, many redditors do not think that way. One fan theory argues that Andy was an elitist nutcase , a sociopath, who only befriended Red after he knew he could get something out of him.
Remember how Andy loved to play chess? This theory further states that because Andy never found anyone to play chess with him, he played the game in his head with his fellows as pawns!
https://twitter.com/timbvtcher/status/506987894993469440
Seinfeld ‘s Cosmo Kramer is a Pot-Smoking Drug Dealer
Remember this conversations between George and Jerry about Kramer?
“His whole life is a fantasy camp. People should plunk down $2000 to live like him for a week. Sleep, do nothing, fall a**-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors and have sex without dating.”
According to Buzzfeed , some folks over at Reddit have interpreted Kramer’s wacky (although lovable) crackpot behavior as a sign of his addiction to drugs . And in all honestly, these fan theories are not completely implausible. Kramer is always arriving announced, is a fiend for conspiracy theories, is generally paranoid, and has a plethora of harebrained business schemes up his sleeve.
And how does Kramer make his money? By drug-dealing with his partner in crime: Newman, of course!
Jack in Titanic Never Existed Or Was A Time Traveler
If some fan theories described on Closer are to be believed, Jack was a figment of Rose’s imagination. She had manufactured him so that she could finally summon enough courage to stand up to her abusive fiancé. That is why the elderly Rose said that Jack “exists only in my memories.”
Perhaps it also explains why Rose did not care much when Jack was hanging by the wood plank, literally!
https://twitter.com/rsa1115/status/563005145123151878
Another of the Titanic fan theories suggests that Jack was a time traveler . A Reddit user made a pretty convincing case.
“There was no previous records of him (mentioned late in the film by the crew of the salvage ship), anachronistic attitude and haircut, he offers to take Rose on a roller coaster at Santa Monica Pier which wouldn’t be built till 1916, has a rucksack circa 1939 AND he claims to have lived his childhood next to a man-made lake in Wisconsin that wouldn’t be built for another THREE YEARS.”
What are your favorite fan theories? Add them to the comments below.
[Photo: J. Emilio Flores, Christopher Polk, Handout/Getty Images]