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Man passionately explains the meaning of staircases in movies and now people can't unsee it

Once you hear this explanation, you start seeing it everywhere.

AlbaProductions/YouTube

The staircase scene in "The Princess Diaries 2" is a good example of how stairs are used in film.

Moviemaking magic is part art and part science, and most of us don't fully know how the cinematic sausage gets made. Many people enjoy watching "behind the scenes" and "making of" videos to get a glimpse of what we don't see on camera, but even those don't give us all the ins and outs of how filmmakers create a great movie experience.

Perhaps that's why a video from a woman showing her screenwriter husband geeking out over a very specific element of filmmaking has gone viral. Or, maybe it's because we all love to see people passionately explain something they know about. Either way, his explanation of how staircases are purposefully used to drive the plot and reveal information about characters in movies has people engrossed.

katharine hepburn, entrance, staircase, scene, film Staircases are used strategically in films. Giphy

In the video, the couple is watching The Princess Diaries 2 when the husband pauses the movie and asks his wife, "Have I told you about staircases in film and what they represent in film?" She giggles—clearly this is not an unusual occurrence—and says, "No." He puts down the remote (apparently so he can use both of his hands to talk) and starts in on the lesson.

"A staircase, almost every time in film, is used to visually represent a power dynamic," he says. "A person who is in charge of a situation will be higher up on the steps than a person who is not in charge of the situation."

@leniethamer

Today’s lesson: staircases 😂 maybe one day we will finish the movie lol but I do love the fun facts. #movie #movienerd #geek #princessdiaries #screenwriter #moviereview #disney #disneyplus #annehathaway #chrispine #couplegoals #behindthescenes

He explains that the people higher on the staircase are in command of the scene—they're the ones giving the demands and the orders—and the people lower on the staircase are listening and responding.

"Every single time, without fail, if there is a staircase in a film and someone is walking up it, talking to someone below, they are giving them a command or they are taking control of the scene," he says.

Then he picks the remote up again and proceeds to walk his wife through the scene where Anne Hathaway's character and Chris Pine's character are talking back and forth up a double staircase. As they move up and down the steps, the dynamic of their conversation changes. She starts higher up on the stairs than him, then he moves up to challenge her. She moves over to the other staircase, and for a while they talk at the same level from their respective staircase. You can see the characters fighting for control, visually on equal footing up the stairs, so the audience remains in suspense as to who will come out on top.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

It was a simple scene analysis, but the video got over 2.5 million views and people loved it:

"People like your husband are the best people to hang out with. I love a sudden, passionate rant about things I've never considered."

"I can’t believe the internet is free. I just got a film education."

"This is why English and media literacy should be classes offered regularly in school and should not be laughed at when people take those classes."

"I loved EVERY second of this."

Many commenters started pointing out examples of this principle in popular films as well. Once you know it, you start seeing it everywhere.

mean girls, regina george, staircase, power, dynamics Regina George watching the chaos from the top of the stairs in "Mean Girls" Giphy

"Me thinking about Regina George on top of the stairs watching the chaos."

"The daughters from Devil Wears Prada when Andy is delivering the book!"

"Crazy Rich Asians has a cool stair case scene when she visits the house for the first time!"

"Just like the Umbridge and McGonagall scene on the hogwarts stairs when they’re arguing. 🥲"

"Everyone else: McGonagall vs Umbridge Me: "PIVOT!!!! PIVOT!!!!""

friends, moving, pivot, ross gellar, scenes, film and television The famous "PIVOT!" scene from "Friends" Giphy

"HARRY POTTER LIVING IN THE ROOM BELOW THE STEPS AND NEVER HAVING A SAY IN THE HOUSE 😩 OMG WAIT"

Experts sharing their niche knowledge, especially when it comes to things we all enjoy, is one of the greatest things to come from social media. Clearly this is the kind of content people want. Thankfully, we have people like this screenwriter husband to give it to us.

You can follow @leniethamer on TikTok for more of her husband's movie analysis moments.

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Watch Anne Hathaway hilariously beat Kelly Clarkson at her own karaoke game

The Kelly Clarkson Show/YouTube

Anne Hathaway knocked Kelly Clarkson off her feet in a game of "Sing That Name That Tune."

If there's anyone you don't want to go up against in a singing contest, it's Kelly Clarkson. The singer who made "American Idol" her success as much as it was theirs is arguably one of the most talented singers alive today. Who would dare to go up against those pipes in a competition?

Anne Hathaway, apparently.

Hathaway proved herself to be no slouch in the musical world with her performance as Fantine in "Les Miserables," but still. We're talking Queen Kelly Clarkson here. It would take some serious guts to compete with the Queen, no matter how well you can sing.

But Hathaway not only agreed to some friendly competition on Clarkson's show, she actually slayed it. Not by besting Clarkson's vocal chops, but by recognizing songs and singing them before Clarkson could—including, as it turned out, one of Clarkson's own greatest hits.

The game was "Sing That Name That Tune," in which Hathaway and Clarkson competed to see who could start singing karaoke to a song after just hearing an intro. Whoever recognized the song first and stepped up to sing it would win the round. In the first two rounds, Clarkson stepped up first, but she didn't get the songs right. (Well, technically, she got the second song right but couldn't sing any of the lyrics, so Hathaway took it.)

"Can you play a fricking song I'll know!" said Clarkson. So the band did. Her hit song, "Since You've Been Gone." And Hathaway still beat her to it.

Watch:

First, kudos on the belting. That's not an easy song to sing. Second, Clarkson's reaction was hilarious. Classic Kelly Clarkson. And Anne Hathaway's cool confidence made a perfect contrast. So fun.

People joked about Anne Hathaway being a theater kid and how that experience led her to this very moment.

It actually gets better when you watch the whole segment, because the song that followed "Since You've Been Gone" ended up creating an awesome David Bowie and Vanilla Ice mash-up.

Was it all scripted? Who knows. It's fun nonetheless and Kelly Clarkson's response is already being made into a GIF, which we'll surely start to see everywhere.

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In honor of Nia Wilson, Anne Hathaway wrote a fiery Instagram post about white privilege.

Nia Wilson had big dreams.

Like a lot of teenagers, the 18-year-old loved to rap and sing. Wilson hoped to become a lawyer and start her own cosmetics brand one day. But unfortunately, those aspirations were tragically put to an end.

On July 22, 2018, when Wilson and her two sisters were stepping out of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train in Oakland, California, she was stabbed to death by a white man.

Her death caused an uproar across the nation. While police have not decided whether or not this was a racially motivated killing, concerns about white supremacy and white privilege have been brought to public attention. In her statement offering condolences to Wilson's family, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf made a note about the "tragic and deeply racist history" in the United States. From mass protests in Oakland to social media posts, celebrities and ordinary people alike have been expressing their fears and frustrations with racism.

One of those celebrities to honor Wilson is Anne Hathaway.

In a compelling Instagram post, Hathaway nailed the importance of checking white privilege.

As a white celebrity, it's valuable for someone with her influence to speak against the violence women of color have to fear every single day.

"White people — including me, including you — must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America and have done so for GENERATIONS," Hathaway wrote in the post she uploaded on July 25. "White people DO NOT have equivalence for this fear of violence."

But as Hathaway pointed out, white people must do more than just "acknowledge" their privileges.

"Given those givens, we must ask our (white)selves — how “decent” are we really?  Not in our intent, but in our actions?  In our lack of action?"

Hathaway's observation about the violence women of color often face is accurate — and a horrific reality.

On July 7, a white man spat on and pushed a Korean woman toward a train in Brooklyn. According to a Facebook post accompanying the video footage of the incident, the unidentified white man told the woman to "get the fuck out of my country."

In May 2017, another white person started screaming anti-Muslim epithets at a teenage girl and her friend while riding a commuter train in Portland, Oregon. The man ended up stabbing three men, killing two, for defending the girls.

The Commission on Human Rights released a June 2018 report that revealed 1 in 4 Muslim women said they were pushed on the subway platform while wearing their headscarf. One of these examples include an incident in December 2016 when a Muslim woman was pushed down the stairs in a NYC subway and called a terrorist.

Although it may seem like a simple social media post, it's crucial for other celebrities to join Hathaway in their public criticisms of white privilege.

The issues women of color often face rarely make headlines, but celebrity entertainment news does. With her millions of followers, Hathaway has made the point to tell her community that we could no longer choose to ignore racial violence when it occurs.

Rather than divert our attention way from it, it's time for us to confront racism head on.

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15 celebrities wanted you to see how they are when the camera's off. So they took photos.

Andrew H. Walker has photographed a lot of celebrities in his life. But at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, he decided to try something ... different.

"[Actors] have, not only this personal inside voice, but they have a public persona that they put out there, and they also have their private self," said Walker, a staff photographer at Shutterstock, in an interview with Mashable. "There's this whole other layer of themselves as people. I found that really, really intriguing."

Walker placed a piece of tape on a table and told an impressive list of "A-list" celebrities to pose on either side of it as their "public" and their "private" selves. The only rule was that they couldn't cross the tape line, so he could composite the photos later. As for which side of the tape they "performed" their "selves" on? That was entirely up to them.

Celebrities can be (understandably) protective of their image. But Walker was surprised to find that 51 A-listers were willing and eager to go along with his plan.

The 15 photos that follow are just a few of the highlights that show a surprising difference between their public and private personas — although which one is which, we can't say for certain.

1. Sigourney Weaver was literally born into the entertainment industry.

But just because she's good at being in front of the camera, doesn't mean that's where she always wants to be.

All photos by Andrew H. Walker/ShutterStock. Used with permission.

2. Then there's John Legend, who's clearly worked hard to write and produce so many signature grooves.

Legend's somber expression is a powerful reminder that funky rhythms aren't all fun and games when you're cooped up in the studio for days on end.

3. As for Jeffrey Tambor — well, he's got a bit of a Clark Kent vibe goin' on.

I'm not sure which one is the public and which one is the private face. Because other than the glasses, there's not that much of a difference. Which might also be the point.

4. Parker Posey is in a similar, albeit quirkier, boat.

Which one is the real Parker Posey?! I can't tell because they're both just so eccentrically cool, and so ... her.

5. Meanwhile, Oscar Isaac needs a coffee.

He's a busy guy, and those 14-hour days on set can sure get exhausting.

6. Sometimes Lupita Nyong'o is beaming. Other times, she's just stunned.

Her brilliant smile certainly has a way of lighting up the red carpet. At the same time, I can totally understand if her expression on the right is how she feels inside during those events.

7. Perhaps Amy Adams isn't always the stunning debutante.

Or maybe she's really happier than her dramatic roles let on? Sometimes the spotlight's appeal starts to fade when you're right at the center of it.

8. Even silver fox Richard Gere shies away from the attention he receives.

(But like, c'mon, he's still having fun with this either way.)

9. Sandra Oh seems like she's either distracted or totally overwhelmed.

If you've ever been thrust in front of countless lights and cameras, you know that both emotions are a valid response. Or maybe her expression on the right is the way she looks in those awkward moments when she gets stopped on the street?

10. And there's Rami Malek, who ... is as wide-eyed and aloof as I'd expect.

No wonder he's so good on "Mr. Robot." Unless ... maybe one of his personas in this picture actually is the real Mr. Robot? Plot twist! Hey, where's Christian Slater?

11. As for Jane Lynch, she's always a bit wacky and performative.

Frankly I'd expect nothing less of her.

12. Whether he's upright or relaxing, Chadwick Boseman can't seem to shake that natural steely gaze.

He has the shy, stoic look of a performer with the proper introspection to transform into someone else entirely whenever he's on-camera. No wonder he's so good!

13. Is Felicity Jones that much more chipper than the roles she plays?

Or is she actually more reserved than she appears while smiling on-screen — like she's done ever since she was just 12 years old? Your guess is as good as mine.

14. Even Mahershala Ali has two sides of himself to show the world.

Here's another star who looks like he revels in performing himself, in whatever way that he is today. One thing's for sure: He's a lot less intimidating here than he was in "Luke Cage."

15. And last, but certainly not least, there's Anne Hathaway.

Hathaway has had to deal with all the ups and downs of being both beloved and reviled by the general public, which is perhaps why her two different personas here show such a wide range of expression — and all the struggles that come along with being a person.

Walker's work here is an eye-opening look at the many faces that people put on.

We all have different ways of presenting ourselves in different situations — to our jobs, to our friends, to our families, and to ourselves. We even act differently when we're in front of a camera, perhaps especially when we're trying to show off who we think we really are.

It only makes sense that these celebrities would be the same way since they're people too. But the question still remains: Which one shows their "true" self?

Maybe there's not just one right answer to that. Maybe we're all multifaceted, with our own unique collection of personas, just like these celebrities. And maybe that's totally OK. Because maybe that's what makes us human.

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