MovieChat Forums > Six Degrees of Separation (1993) Discussion > Strange Coincidence.

Strange Coincidence.

posted 19 years ago by jmaidment-1
14 replies | jump to latest

I watched Six Degrees for the first time recently, and wasn't aware it was made in 1993 as it seemed a more contemporary film.

I was discussing the film with a friend and we noted a couple of (what I thought) were deliberate film references.

Heather Graham's character Elizabeth lives with her boyfriend above a roller disco. She went on to play her famous character Roller Girl in P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights.

There is a reference to Lord of the Rings in a discussion with Flan and Ouisa Kittredge and Geoffrey Miller. Miller was played by Ian McKellen, notably Gandalf in L.O.T.R.

Did anyone else notice this?

Strange.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] incandescenz 19 years ago

Six degrees was made before both Boogie Nights and LOTR

[–] jmaidment-1 19 years ago

Hence my first line?

"I watched Six Degrees for the first time recently, and wasn't aware it was made in 1993 as it seemed a more contemporary film. "

The point was the coincidence.

[–] jgravely 19 years ago

Your first post was blurry. lol

It's a dirty job, but I pay clean money for it.

[–] kwalkom 19 years ago

I just caught the tail end of this movie last night.. and i have another coincidence... JJ Abrams appears in the film, and he is currently the exec producer of new series called... 6 degrees.

[–] AmishVomitCake 18 years ago

I noticed the LotR reference and thought it was weird/funny that Sir Ian McKellen went on to play Gandalf in the trilogy.

Don't judge a book by its movie...

[–] zachanscom 15 years ago

yeah interesting coincidences listed. but to be honest, you're gonna get a lot of this in the entertainment industry. it's a smaller world than you thing. ideas get circulated, etc.

[–] Synthia7 15 years ago

Wow. Six degrees of separation strikes again! (Only this time via film roles)
The universe is showing us by this coincidence how connected all things are.

Seriously. What are the odds those two characters would choose those related roles years after this film? Some unseen hand at work? Eerie. Six degrees.... it's powerful.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] transmentalist 12 years ago

Maybe not lame, but not earthshattering.

There aren't all that many actors who could play Gandalf, who hadn't already been typecast into competing roles (Richard Harris, Patrick Stewart, etc.).

I'd guess Abrams's part in this movie inspired the series, so not much of a coincidence there.

But it does underscore the story's message - we're all connected by no more than six degrees.

[–] enojones 12 years ago

Common thing. An actor, director or producer places an "Easter egg" in their creation that references subtly or not-so-subtly a previous or concurrent work.

For instance, in the opening debut for James Bond, Craig enters into a hotel coincidentally named "Hotel Splendide" (check his filmographies for why this is an amazing coincidence).

I believe the term shilling, a shill, a plant--applies. It can be an ad lib, or an orchestrated, demanded drop-in for a script.

[–] thethingy23 11 years ago

OH MY GOD THAT'S SO AMAZING. Because, and I'm not aware that you knew this, but Lord of the Rings and Roller Discos were virtually unheard of up until those two people were in those two movies! Funny how it doesn't mention that Heather Graham was a porn star though, seems like they wouldn't have forgotten that part...

[–] CarusProductions 11 years ago

This is completely unrelated to the film itself but I was laughing at one scene in 'Six Degrees' when Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing go see to the Sistine Chapel and are elevated to the fresco painting, since the day before watching this movie I saw 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' with Charlton Heston as Michelangelo!

Karina Licursi ~