QWho are Tim Leary and Hughie Newton?
AWhen the brothers first go to see Michael Kennedy, Jim is sitting at the desk, and Artie is examining the clippings on the wall. At one point Artie turns and says "You're Tim Leary's lawyer [...] and Hughie Newton?"Dr. Timothy Leary was a writer, psychologist and advocate of psychedelic drugs. An icon among the free love movement of the 1960s, he championed LSD, arguing that the drug had many benefits for those who took it. He had multiple run-ins with the law, and served several terms behind bars from 1965 onwards.Hughie Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party and an outspoken advocate of Black Power. In 1967, he was accused of murdering a policeman. Ultimately convicted of voluntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, in 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. After two subsequent mistrials, the case was dropped and Newton went free.
QWhy do the Mitchell brothers call one another 'Bob'?
AThroughout the course of the film, both Jim and Artie call one another Bob numerous times, and during the making of Sodom and Gomorrah, they both have chairs marked 'Bob.' At Artie's wedding to Meredith, he and Jim are asked what is the significance of this, and Artie explains "It's our old man's middle man", to which Meredith replies "So?" Jim then answers "And that's all you need to know." Nothing more is said about it for the duration of the film, and the actual reason as to why they call one another Bob is never explained.
QWhy does the film end so suddenly?
AAccording to director Emilio Estevez on the DVD commentary track: "The end was actually an accident. It happened on the mixing stage, we had a sound cutout and I thought "Wow, that's pretty chilling, we should utilize that." It just leaves the audience so cold, it's so unsettling, and so I felt that that was really the best way to go out with the film."
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