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The Postman

815 statements
160 feature instances
62 referencing feature instances

The Postman	type	TVTItem
The Postman	label	The Postman
The Postman	page	ThePostman
The Postman	comment	A 1997 movie based on a novel by David Brin, about a wanderer in post-apocalyptic Oregon who disguises himself as a U.S. Postman and weaves an intricate story about the government being reformed to get food and shelter from people. He rapidly progresses from pretending to deliver the mail to delivering the mail in earnest, and with the help of a young man he meets early in his travels, ends up recreating the postal service he claimed to represent. In the process he raises the ire of the Holnists, a cult of survivalists who have recently moved in and rule the area as feudal overlords, and the Postman and his new followers quickly find himself embroiled in a war.It was not a very successful movie, failing at the box office, derailing Kevin Costner's directing career and winning several Razzie Awards, but its reception has become more positive since its original release.Not to be confused with Il Postino (1994), another movie named "The Postman" from the 1990s.
The Postman	fetched	2024-03-05T15:01:02Z
The Postman	parsed	2024-03-05T15:01:02Z
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to InNameOnly: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to InvertedTrope: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to ItsNotAboutTheRequest: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to RingoStarr: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to SecretStabWound: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Postman	processingComment	Dropped link to ThePostman: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Postman	processingUnknown	It's Not About the Request
The Postman	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Postman / int_113480b7	type	Canon Foreigner
The Postman / int_113480b7	comment	Canon Foreigner: Ford, General Bethlehem, the sheriff of Pineview ... the list is quite lengthy, given the nature of the film.
The Postman / int_113480b7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_113480b7	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_11efa116	type	Prayer of Malice
The Postman / int_11efa116	comment	Prayer of Malice: As the Holnists cry "God rest his soul!" after General Bethlehem for Nathan Holn, whom they view as their founder, Shakespeare mutters instead, "May he burn in Hell."
The Postman / int_11efa116	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_143939c1	type	Trailers Always Spoil
The Postman / int_143939c1	comment	Trailers Always Spoil: Not only does it drag on for almost four minutes, it gives away every single plot element.
The Postman / int_143939c1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_143939c1	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_17ce80aa	type	All There in the Manual
The Postman / int_17ce80aa	comment	All There in the Manual: Even if it's a very Pragmatic Adaptation, the film is much more comprehensible if you've read the book.
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The Postman / int_1865f13a	type	Apocalypse Anarchy
The Postman / int_1865f13a	comment	Apocalypse Anarchy: The collapse of America didn't happen overnight. Rather, it was the result of not only "the war" but also the chaos that followed it, culminating in the burning of the White House.
The Postman / int_1865f13a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_1865f13a	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_19d06ef7	type	A Father to His Men
The Postman / int_19d06ef7	comment	A Father to His Men: General Bethlehem thinks he's one of these. Amusingly, it's fairly clear almost every one of his men hates him to the core but none of them wants to stand up to him (assuming the other people in the army are loyal Holnists). He was just smart enough to scare the others into strict submission during their period of "conscription". We're shown that many are forcibly conscripted (including the Postman), so it's not that surprising if most aren't there by choice and hate Bethlehem. It also probably explains their poor Evil Army showing above.
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The Postman / int_19d06ef7	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_1ae1f0c3	type	Word of Saint Paul
The Postman / int_1ae1f0c3	comment	Word of Saint Paul: Happens in-universe. Ford met the Postman and got personally sworn in by him as the new postal carriernote And at least one of the other carriers comes from Pineview, too, so he can corroborate Ford's story. From there on, Ford used his authority and "direct link" to maintain and expand the US Postal Service all on his own. Notably, the Postman made it all up, and then Ford keeps adding to the lie, without even knowing the original story was bogus.
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The Postman / int_1c81c658	type	Paranoia Gambit
The Postman / int_1c81c658	comment	Paranoia Gambit: In a stare-down with Bethlehem, the Postman claims the U.S. government has moved into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis and has sent reinforcements.
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The Postman / int_1cc527d7	type	Asskicking Leads to Leadership
The Postman / int_1cc527d7	comment	Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The Holnists base their leadership on this. Their seventh law does allow any member to challenge for leadership of the clan. The last man who challenged Bethlehem got both his tongue and balls cut off. However, the Postman exploits it at the end.
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The Postman / int_1daa7fce	type	In the Back
The Postman / int_1daa7fce	comment	In the Back: During one of the Time-Passes Montages, one of the postal carriers is shot like that by Holnists, throwing his arms on his sides and dying in a Crucified Hero Shot. How General Bethlehem meets his end, being shot by Colonel Getty out of all people.
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The Postman / int_20b5cce7	type	"Do It Yourself" Theme Tune
The Postman / int_20b5cce7	comment	"Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Kevin Costner himself sings the song on the credits.
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The Postman / int_211eedd	type	All Crimes Are Equal
The Postman / int_211eedd	comment	All Crimes Are Equal: The last of the Holnists' eight laws stipulates "There is only one penalty: death", even for such "crimes" as failing to sit down when ordered to because there weren't enough chairs. We see this demonstrated when General Bethlehem kills the poor fool who failed to. Killing potentially or proven useful men may seem short-sighted, but it does instill some obedience through fear.
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The Postman / int_21e5b9c7	type	Failed a Spot Check
The Postman / int_21e5b9c7	comment	Failed a Spot Check: General Bethlehem accepts Woody, who's clearly mixed-race, as a conscript into the racist Holnist army, somehow not noticing this (which his minion Idaho later gripes about).
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The Postman / int_22cf536c	type	Chekhov's Gun
The Postman / int_22cf536c	comment	Chekhov's Gun: The brand that recruits into Bethlehem's army are given including Shakespeare.
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The Postman / int_23781532	type	Ironic Name
The Postman / int_23781532	comment	Ironic Name: The Big Bad is a warlord who shares his name with Bethlehem, the town where Jesus, one of the most famous pacifists ever to live, was born.
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The Postman / int_23be181a	type	Patriotic Fervor
The Postman / int_23be181a	comment	Patriotic Fervor: Trying to implement the book's message about the universal values of the Type 1 Eagleland, the film instead heavily indulges in flag-waving patriotism. It can be really hard to take at times, particularly to non-American audiences.
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The Postman / int_2484396e	type	Know-Nothing Know-It-All
The Postman / int_2484396e	comment	Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Bethlehem, to an extent. The most obvious example is his "invocation" of the jus primae noctis which (mostly) never existed.
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The Postman / int_2612a967	type	It Has Been an Honor
The Postman / int_2612a967	comment	It Has Been an Honor: Ford and his fellow captive shake hands and invoke this trope as they face Bethlehem's firing squad, even though this is the first time the two of them have met.
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The Postman / int_26ac510e	type	Mythology Gag
The Postman / int_26ac510e	comment	Mythology Gag: The original novel ends in 2012, being the only time when the year is specified. The film opens in 2013. The novel focuses on developments inside the Willamette Valley and uses its geography for various plot points. The film, while having location shots all over Oregon, explicitly stays away from the Valley and all the "plains" were filmed on the eastern side of the Cascades. When about to face an unknown rider (revealed to be a young girl working as a postal carrier), the Postman complains about how awkward it is to meet strangers nowadays, as you can't tell if they are there to say hi or to rob you. The lines he drops are a paraphrase of Gordon's Inner Monologue from the first page of the book — right after he's been robbed by a group of strangers.
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The Postman / int_2a44899	type	Plot Armor
The Postman / int_2a44899	comment	Plot Armor: The Postman and Ford have a peculiar immunity to the Holnists' bullets. In the case of the Postman, it's played with — when he saves Abby, he takes a bullet in the process. For the next half-year he stays with her in a cabin, recovering from his wound, marking the point when the romance plot begins to take over.
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The Postman / int_2ae277ab	type	Mauve Shirt
The Postman / int_2ae277ab	comment	Mauve Shirt: The three letter carriers who follow the Postman to Bridge City. Unusually for this trope, they all survive.
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The Postman / int_2b49eaf	type	Damsel out of Distress
The Postman / int_2b49eaf	comment	Damsel out of Distress: Abby saves herself from the Holnists' captivity - while taking potshots at Bethlehem.
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The Postman / int_2bfb1856	type	Beard of Evil
The Postman / int_2bfb1856	comment	Beard of Evil: General Bethlehem.
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The Postman / int_2dc0d2bf	type	Hidden Depths
The Postman / int_2dc0d2bf	comment	Hidden Depths: The Holnist troops would rather watch an old musical film than a gung-ho action one. It also hints at their lack of enthusiasm for Bethlehem's acts.
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The Postman / int_31c4280	type	Conscription
The Postman / int_31c4280	comment	Conscription: This appears to be how the Holnists get most of their soldiers, as seen at the beginning (it contrasts with the book). It also neatly explains why they happily join the Postman at the end.
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The Postman / int_334e48a1	type	After the End
The Postman / int_334e48a1	comment	After the End: The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where civilization starts to rekindle after the hero delivers their old mail.
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The Postman / int_366f3185	type	Book Burning
The Postman / int_366f3185	comment	Book Burning: Bethlehem orders Shakespeare's copy of William Shakespeare's works burnt while trying to recruit Shakespeare to be an officer in his army.
The Postman / int_366f3185	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_393a1e86	type	But What About the Astronauts?
The Postman / int_393a1e86	comment	But What About the Astronauts?: It's mentioned explicitly by the former designer of the Galileo space station: "twelve skeletons orbiting the Earth all grinnin' at each other."
The Postman / int_393a1e86	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_39eb5a6e	type	Sex Starts, Story Stops
The Postman / int_39eb5a6e	comment	Sex Starts, Story Stops: Abby enters the Postman's room and asks him if he's decided on the request to father a child with her yet (her husband is infertile). He hesitates, so she instantly undresses to convince him. Not only did they have sex right off the bat, but from this point on, the movie introduces the ever-bloating romance subplot, which constantly stops the actual plot, being one of the bigger deviations from the original book (where Abby is barely mentioned after the main character leaves Pineview). There, the actual sex was also never shown, with the scene ending just before, while here it's explicit and at significant length.
The Postman / int_39eb5a6e	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_3bbecc8b	type	Hell-Bent for Leather
The Postman / int_3bbecc8b	comment	Hell-Bent for Leather: Bethlehem wears a custom uniform that's made entirely out of leather.
The Postman / int_3bbecc8b	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_3cf10fcf	type	Click Hello
The Postman / int_3cf10fcf	comment	Luke does it in Click* Hello style, preparing to shoot the Postman at the end of act two. He can't bring himself to shoot him In the Back, and ultimately, he can't shoot him at all.*
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The Postman / int_3dfdc686	type	Time-Passes Montage
The Postman / int_3dfdc686	comment	During one of the Time-Passes Montages, one of the postal carriers is shot like that by Holnists, throwing his arms on his sides and dying in a Crucified Hero Shot.
The Postman / int_3dfdc686	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_3dfdc686	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_3e5f74c	type	Take That, Critics!
The Postman / int_3e5f74c	comment	Take That, Critics!: After his performance, "Shakespeare" is mocked by an amateur critic who, of course, turns out to be both an idiot and a failed actor, and someone tells the other man that he doesn't have the right to say anything bad anyway since he didn't pay to see Shakespeare perform.
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The Postman / int_3ed23024	type	Surprisingly Realistic Outcome
The Postman / int_3ed23024	comment	Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Postman survives being shot in the torso by a Holnist with an AR-15 ... and, without access to modern medicine, spends five months recovering from the bullet wound. In a broader sense, just like the source material, the movie tries to portray the post-apocalypse in a more grounded fashion. It takes care to show the types of people that would come to power in a vacuum left behind, why laws and the ability to enforce them are generally good things, why communication is vital in maintaining civilization, and in general treats the post-apocalypse like an actual place rather than just a sandbox for a protagonist to be badass in. And the Postman himself mostly just survives with copious amounts of dumb luck.
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The Postman / int_40bb59d0	type	Blatant Lies
The Postman / int_40bb59d0	comment	Blatant Lies: All Shakespeare's lies about the reformed United States government go unquestioned despite how obviously evasive and unconvincing he is. No one questions that the new President of the United States has the same real name as Ringo Starr. It's also possibly justified since his real name isn't as well known in the US, and would be even less so years After the End. (Possibly justified by the fact that it's not that he's convincing, but that people just want to believe in these things that badly. Plus, he's nearly shot the first time he tells these stories, but by the time he gets going he's delivering mail from "the next village over", making his position much more plausible.)
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The Postman / int_421ae215	type	Mysterious Past
The Postman / int_421ae215	comment	Mysterious Past: We never learn anything about Shakespeare's aside from his birth date at the end and how he was a child when the war happened, even his real name. The memorial to him just says "The Postman."
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The Postman / int_44606d14	type	Becoming the Mask
The Postman / int_44606d14	comment	Becoming the Mask: The premise of the movie is basically "Man pretends to be a postman for the fictional Restored United States of America to con people out of food and shelter, in the process ends up accidentally creating the Restored United States of America and becoming a postman for it."
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The Postman / int_4484e50a	type	I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure
The Postman / int_4484e50a	comment	I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: As punishment for housing the Postman, General Bethlehem lays waste to an entire town with his oversized artillery.
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The Postman / int_44eb85fd	type	Wasteland Warlord
The Postman / int_44eb85fd	comment	Wasteland Warlord: General Bethlehem is a particularly interesting example, since he establishes a functional, well-equipped and fiercely disciplined army... all for the goal of oppressing Oregon and surrounding areas. Any sign of disobedience, be it his own troops or the settlements within his "fief" is met with Disproportionate Retribution, and he can also be incredibly petty, too. This becomes a plot point in the end: without him in command of the Holnist Clan, not only Oregon isn't under his boot anymore, but there is the industrial base of said army and hundreds of soldiers that were either Minions with an F in Evil or Punch-Clock Villains to defend the place and help establish order.
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The Postman / int_44fc28e8	type	Honor Before Reason
The Postman / int_44fc28e8	comment	Honor Before Reason: Defied. Shakespeare goes out of his way to impress upon his protÃ©gÃ©s that he does not want them to give their lives to protect the mail.
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The Postman / int_46c1dc8e	type	Someone to Remember Him By
The Postman / int_46c1dc8e	comment	Someone to Remember Him By: Abby insists that the baby she's carrying — fathered by the Postman — is Michael's, in large part as a reminder of her late husband. Unlike the novel, where Gordon actively distanced himself from the baby precisely to avoid any kind of tension, he eventually has an argument with Abby about his parenthood and wanting to protect his own child.
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The Postman / int_474e3977	type	You Have Failed Me
The Postman / int_474e3977	comment	You Have Failed Me: General Bethlehem does it to one member of a conscript batch, to scare the rest into total, strict obedience. It's lampshaded to be his standard procedure, as there is always one chair fewer than men to sit on them, so one man will always be executed for not following orders to sit.
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The Postman / int_479d4e5a	type	Would Hurt a Child
The Postman / int_479d4e5a	comment	Would Hurt a Child: The Holnists start to hunt down postal carries, not being stopped in the slightest by the fact they are mostly just kids.
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The Postman / int_48c99e19	type	Death by Adaptation
The Postman / int_48c99e19	comment	Death by Adaptation: Poor Michael. In the book he was much alive and well by the end. Of course, both he and Abby only appeared in the book briefly.
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The Postman / int_4bba4b6b	type	Counting to Three
The Postman / int_4bba4b6b	comment	Counting to Three: When the Postman arrives at the gates of Pineview, Sheriff Briscoe tells him he will shoot him on the count of three. Persisting, the Postman starts to look for mail addressed to Pineview, and to the confusion of everyone around, he spills the bag full of mail — Briscoe doesn't even start his countdown, too perplexed by the drifter's behaviour. When the Sheriff reaches "three", the Postman conveniently finds a letter addressed to Irene March, one of the people still living in the town.
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The Postman / int_4e7c4536	type	Wham Line
The Postman / int_4e7c4536	comment	Wham Line: When Ford and another captured mail carrier are about to be executed:
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The Postman / int_5036c7d4	type	Time-Passage Beard
The Postman / int_5036c7d4	comment	Time-Passage Beard: The time in the cabin during the winter is a series of compressed scenes, with enough time passing for Shakespeare to first grow a beard and then it becoming shaggy.
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The Postman / int_50a6f4b4	type	Celebrity Survivor
The Postman / int_50a6f4b4	comment	Celebrity Survivor: Tom Petty. One of his subsequent lines implies that Costner's unnamed character, known only as Shakespeare, is Costner himself. The birth-death dates on the Postman's monument shown at the end (1973â€“2043) don't match up, though.
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The Postman / int_521144cf	type	Challenging the Chief
The Postman / int_521144cf	comment	Challenging the Chief: Law Seven explicitly allows any Holnist to challenge Bethlehem for the leadership of the clan - but the general first made sure nobody would even dare.
The Postman / int_521144cf	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_521144cf	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_521144cf
The Postman / int_538a096f	type	Burning the Flag
The Postman / int_538a096f	comment	Burning the Flag: Bethlehem orders the flag of the restored Pineview post office to be burnt when he sees it.
The Postman / int_538a096f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_538a096f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_538a096f
The Postman / int_556a4863	type	Virtue Is Weakness
The Postman / int_556a4863	comment	Virtue Is Weakness: The Holnists' third law says "Mercy is for the weak", followed by sixth "Justice can be dictated", and, boy, does General Bethlehem live it out. He doesn't expect mercy himself at the end as a result, but then the Postman spares him. Then he tries to shoot the Postman after this, but is shot himself. This is all part of the Holnists' cruel Social Darwinist ideology.
The Postman / int_556a4863	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_556a4863	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_556a4863
The Postman / int_590e1c70	type	Frontline General
The Postman / int_590e1c70	comment	Frontline General: Bethlehem and later Shakespeare.
The Postman / int_590e1c70	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_590e1c70	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_590e1c70
The Postman / int_5b6fe35f	type	You Cannot Kill an Idea
The Postman / int_5b6fe35f	comment	You Cannot Kill An Idea: Even after a cataclysmic war, social collapse, and the apparent death of the United States, the idea of America proves resilient and infectious to a degree that it eventually reaches California and beyond.
The Postman / int_5b6fe35f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_5b6fe35f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_5b6fe35f
The Postman / int_5ca80293	type	Pragmatic Villainy
The Postman / int_5ca80293	comment	Pragmatic Villainy: After The Reveal, Bethlehem realizes that he would gain nothing from Ford's execution and calls it off.
The Postman / int_5ca80293	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_5ca80293	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_5ca80293
The Postman / int_5fcb9ad1	type	Time Skip
The Postman / int_5fcb9ad1	comment	Time Skip: The ending which involves the unveiling of the Postman's statue, takes place decades later, with the Restored United States being not only real but also having restored order.
The Postman / int_5fcb9ad1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_5fcb9ad1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_5fcb9ad1
The Postman / int_603f1a80	type	Pragmatic Adaptation
The Postman / int_603f1a80	comment	Pragmatic Adaptation: There was no realistic way that a movie made in The '90s could deal with everything that happens in the novel very well, so the movie took the core concept of the story and ran with it.
The Postman / int_603f1a80	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_603f1a80	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_603f1a80
The Postman / int_627264e0	type	Death Glare
The Postman / int_627264e0	comment	Death Glare: In their parley in the finale, the Postman gives one to Bethlehem when suddenly challenging him for a duel after showing his Holnist brand.
The Postman / int_627264e0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_627264e0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_627264e0
The Postman / int_6331ba26	type	Plot Hole
The Postman / int_6331ba26	comment	Plot Hole: The main character was in his childhood "when the last of the great cities died" plus at the end he was revealed to be born ca. 1973. This would imply that the war took place in the late 1970s or early '80s, and fits with a scenario where the Cold War went hot, to cause World War III. However, the Holnists own a copy of the film Universal Soldier, which came out in 1992, when he would have been 18 or 19, hardly a child. Of course, it's Hope the Postman's daughter relating this, and he had probably just told her the story, so it could well have been garbled (he could have said he'd been "just a kid" at the time for instance, which she took literally).
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The Postman / int_64070096	type	Cowardly Lion
The Postman / int_64070096	comment	Cowardly Lion: Unlike Gordon in the book, who's more of a Pragmatic Hero, Shakespeare is simply put a weakling coward... until push comes to shove. It is most notable where he saves Abby — he has nothing to gain from it and could just bail easily in the resulting confusion.
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The Postman / int_64070096	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_64070096
The Postman / int_6439de78	type	Heroic Sacrifice
The Postman / int_6439de78	comment	Heroic Sacrifice: Idaho orders Woody at gunpoint to kill Shakespeare with a knife. He takes some swings at him, then turns and throws it into Idaho's shoulder, then lunges for him. Idaho instantly shoots him dead, but this distracts him long enough to help Shakespeare escape.
The Postman / int_6439de78	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6439de78	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_6439de78
The Postman / int_6a4c6ec0	type	The Promised Land
The Postman / int_6a4c6ec0	comment	The Promised Land: St. Rose, Oregon.note Actual location: Rosario Beach in the Deception Pass State Park. Supposedly it's a nice and peaceful seaside location that Shakespeare wants to get to from the very start of the movie. He never does, but the statue to his memory is being revealed in the final scene by his now adult daughter, Hope. Ironically, in act three, he finds himself a different place to stay in to fulfill the role of the safe haven he wanted to reach so badly, in the form of the Bridge City.
The Postman / int_6a4c6ec0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6a4c6ec0	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_6b2b3b59	type	The Reveal
The Postman / int_6b2b3b59	comment	The Reveal: The mail-carriers inspired by the Postman aren't the only ones who took up the cause.
The Postman / int_6b2b3b59	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6b2b3b59	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_6b898eb8	type	Post-Apocalyptic Dog
The Postman / int_6b898eb8	comment	Post-Apocalyptic Dog: Bill the mule fulfills the same function for "Shakespeare" in the opening.
The Postman / int_6b898eb8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6b898eb8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_6b898eb8
The Postman / int_6bda9a30	type	Meaningful Name
The Postman / int_6bda9a30	comment	Meaningful Name: Abby and Shakespeare's daughter is named Hope. It is not very subtle.
The Postman / int_6bda9a30	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6bda9a30	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_6bda9a30
The Postman / int_6d4a4c29	type	Unspecified Apocalypse
The Postman / int_6d4a4c29	comment	Unspecified Apocalypse: There are some hints of what happened, but it is never made clear exactly what. General Bethlehem claims to have been at "the Battle of Georgetown" and seen the White House burn to the ground. In the opening sequence, the old news reports playing in the background have what are clearly missiles going off. A nuclear exchange can therefore be inferred to have happened, which explains the "three-year [i.e., nuclear] winter" and why no one goes near major cities (likely destroyed and irradiated). The old letter that Shakespeare delivers talks about strange weather, food shortages and a soldier returning home because the war was already over by the time he got there. The events which brought the world to this are varied and unexplained, with events like "the war", "the rains" and "the bad mumps".note The "bad mumps" is nothing more than having them as an adult, when they are almost lethal and often render males infertile, just like with Abby's husband, although she says he had them "as a boy". It's also mentioned that one catastrophe was "the Bugs". "Bug" being a slang for illnesses, we could surmise some of the WMDs exchanged were biological rather than nuclear. These "bad mumps", then, might have been a version designed to affect people more that he lived through.
The Postman / int_6d4a4c29	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6d4a4c29	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_6e70b12b	type	Nominal Importance
The Postman / int_6e70b12b	comment	Nominal Importance: The first characters to die are left unnamed, or only get named in the credits. And that only if they are lucky — Giovanni Ribisi plays otherwise nameless "Bandit #20", despite almost opening the end titles.
The Postman / int_6e70b12b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_6e70b12b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_6e70b12b
The Postman / int_729c69f3	type	Politically Incorrect Villain
The Postman / int_729c69f3	comment	Politically Incorrect Villain: The Holnists, being built on a rather reactionary foundation, refuse to conscript people with African or Asian ancestry. However, a mixed-race man is also conscripted, which only one Holnist notices (while calling the man a slur), claiming General Bethlehem didn't recognize his African ancestry. This is further notable, because while being more evil in just about every possible way and measure, the Holnists in the book follow Equal-Opportunity Evil as one of their core rules.
The Postman / int_729c69f3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_729c69f3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_729c69f3
The Postman / int_74149fe4	type	Population: X, and Counting
The Postman / int_74149fe4	comment	Population: X, and Counting: The Pineview town sign has a population number that has been repeatedly crossed out and re-written, going from 267 to 132 even before the town came to the attention of the Holnists.
The Postman / int_74149fe4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_74149fe4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_74149fe4
The Postman / int_7426582d	type	Token Minority
The Postman / int_7426582d	comment	Token Minority: Woody, Ford, and Clark are the only people of color with speaking parts in the film (only a few others are even shown). All of them are black.
The Postman / int_7426582d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_7426582d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_7426582d
The Postman / int_786d6cf6	type	You Wouldn't Shoot Me
The Postman / int_786d6cf6	comment	You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Played with. When held at gunpoint by Luke, a man sent to kill him, the Postman doesn't try to plead, goad or play chicken. He walks right on the gun and tells right in the face of his assassin that he's serving a fucking lunatic — and that Luke is better than that. Not killing him, since the Postman doesn't care at the moment, but simply pledging his allegiance to a madman. Luke lowers the gun.
The Postman / int_786d6cf6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_786d6cf6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_786d6cf6
The Postman / int_7b6e47a5	type	Armor-Piercing Question
The Postman / int_7b6e47a5	comment	Armor-Piercing Question: During his first visit to Pineview, Shakespeare is trying to find ways to discourage Ford from trying to be a postal carrier, as it's all a lie he made up for food and shelter. Ford instead asks him a question that makes Shakespeare make a double take and ultimately swear him in, thinking it will just make a kid happy. Much later on, when the Holnists are hunting down the postal carriers - who are almost entirely teens, the Postman has the ever-heavier burden on his conscience. Eventually, he decides to disband the Restored Postal Service, and when Ford tries to call him out on this, the Postman gives him a rebuttal that instantly shuts him down.
The Postman / int_7b6e47a5	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_7c1bf001	type	Character Name Alias
The Postman / int_7c1bf001	comment	Character Name Alias: President "Richard Starkey." Richard Starkey, the drummer? Then who's Vice President? Reginald Dwight?
The Postman / int_7c1bf001	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_7c1bf001	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_7c1bf001
The Postman / int_7f390ebc	type	Developing Doomed Characters
The Postman / int_7f390ebc	comment	Developing Doomed Characters: The first hour involves a group of characters conscripted to join the Holnists, most of whom are dead within an hour and long forgotten by the end of the film. There isn't even a "Postman" until after this — a full hour in. For contrast, the book almost opened with Gordon getting the postman uniform.
The Postman / int_7f390ebc	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_7f390ebc	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_81f8731	type	Chosen Conception Partner
The Postman / int_81f8731	comment	Chosen Conception Partner: Abby and her husband Michael approach the Postman with the proposal that he father a child with her, since Michael is infertile. He rejects the idea at first, but agrees after she enters his room and strips in front of him. At first she treats him as merely "the body father" upon conceiving, viewing the baby as her husband's (who has died by the time she finds out). Later, however, they fall in love for real and end up raising their daughter together.
The Postman / int_81f8731	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_81f8731	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_81f8731
The Postman / int_8573ac0a	type	The Social Darwinist
The Postman / int_8573ac0a	comment	The Social Darwinist: The racist Holnists set up a feudal system and base their leadership on who's strongest at any given time.
The Postman / int_8573ac0a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_8573ac0a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_8573ac0a
The Postman / int_863fa679	type	What Happened to the Mouse?
The Postman / int_863fa679	comment	What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened with the horse of the Holnist patrolman that Abby and the Postman killed after escaping Benning? One shot, we see Abby rummaging through its saddlebags, the next, the horse is gone, and she and the Postman are with their "own" horse. This does, however, bite them back down the line, when they have only one horse for food.
The Postman / int_863fa679	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_87629455	type	No Communities Were Harmed
The Postman / int_87629455	comment	No Communities Were Harmed: Unlike the book, which mixed real and made-up locations, the film uses exclusively fictional places.
The Postman / int_87629455	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_87629455	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_87629455
The Postman / int_8786b01b	type	Vehicular Theme Naming
The Postman / int_8786b01b	comment	Vehicular Theme Naming: Ford Lincoln Mercury.
The Postman / int_8786b01b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_8786b01b	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_87b8f581	type	Refusal of the Call
The Postman / int_87b8f581	comment	Refusal of the Call: For about three-quarters of the film, Shakespeare is visibly uncomfortable about being treated like a hero, actively trying to discourage the various mail-carriers' "do or die" attitude. He's absolutely horrified by Ford's statement that he (Ford) "would die to get a letter through," especially since Shakespeare knows he was the inspiration for it all. It's only near the end that he accepts his role, raising an army to fight the Holnists directly.
The Postman / int_87b8f581	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_87b8f581	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_8878f3be	type	Badass Army
The Postman / int_8878f3be	comment	Badass Army: The Holnists are basically an evil, repressive, violent, destructive group of bandits, but they're extremely well-organized and well-equipped, especially compared to the militias of the disorganized villages they extort. While one town in particular has "five guns and twenty rounds of ammunition for the entire town", which is implied to be a typical situation in Oregon, the Holnists have enough AR-15s to equip their entire army and a seemingly infinite amount of 5.56 ammo, in addition to machine guns, anti-aircraft cannons, and at least one battery of howitzers. Their base seems to be well-equipped too, enough so it's possible they manufacture new ammunition.
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The Postman / int_896459e2	type	Adaptation Decay
The Postman / int_896459e2	comment	Adaptation Decay: Played for Laughs. While in the book, Nathan Holn was a far-right revisionist historian and a Straw Nihilist who eventually got lynched for starting the Holnist movement, in the movie he's merely a writer of a really lowbrow self-help book. That doesn't stop Bethlehem from running his army efficiently based on that book, but casts the affair in a completely different light.
The Postman / int_896459e2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_896459e2	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_8a4ec732	type	Forced into Evil
The Postman / int_8a4ec732	comment	Forced into Evil: The grand majority of Holnists were conscripted at gunpoint and are following orders solely because the alternative is being swiftly executed for disobedience, with numerous instances of that happening on-screen. They also have nowhere to run due to the prominent brand on their shoulders, since people would eagerly kill them out of hatred or even rat them out to Bethlehem, so in the end, they stick with the Evil Army they've been pressed into.
The Postman / int_8a4ec732	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_8be2ef8d	type	Grammar Correction Gag
The Postman / int_8be2ef8d	comment	Grammar Correction Gag: "You spelled 'tyranny' wrong." The Postman told the young people printing the leaflets the same thing earlier.
The Postman / int_8be2ef8d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_8be2ef8d	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_8d83bed9	type	The Vietnam Vet
The Postman / int_8d83bed9	comment	The Vietnam Vet: The Postman runs into a man who's an old Vietnam veteran and operates a radio he tries reaching out to people with (he's had no luck so far, but still keeps trying). Realizing he has valuable combat experience and training, the Postman enlists him to teach his followers. The guy later joins them in an ambush on a Holnist patrol.
The Postman / int_8d83bed9	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_91e894b4	type	Apocalypse How
The Postman / int_91e894b4	comment	Apocalypse How: It seems to be a class 2, since the townspeople ask whether Europe survived, but things are vague.
The Postman / int_91e894b4	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_9203bf6	type	Arc Number
The Postman / int_9203bf6	comment	Arc Number: Eight. The Holnists have eight harsh laws they abide by, and every member is branded with the number on his arm. In the finale, it becomes a plot point when Shakespeare shows he was also forcibly inducted this way, with the right as a result to challenge Bethlehem for the leadership under those laws.
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The Postman / int_966da803	type	Defiant to the End
The Postman / int_966da803	comment	Defiant to the End: Sheriff Briscoe, letter carrier Clark, and Woody.
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The Postman / int_98f19e68	type	Our Founder
The Postman / int_98f19e68	comment	Our Founder: Costner's bronze statute in the epilogue. Gene Siskel sarcastically dubbed the film Dances with Myself.
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The Postman / int_9a6b3140	type	Delayed Narrator Introduction
The Postman / int_9a6b3140	comment	Delayed Narrator Introduction: The narrator who speaks at the beginning is finally shown in the ending as The Postman's grown daughter Rose. It became more obvious over time since she calls him "My father" and then how he conceived a baby with Abby was shown.
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The Postman / int_a220d528	type	What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The Postman / int_a220d528	comment	During his first visit to Pineview, Shakespeare is trying to find ways to discourage Ford from trying to be a postal carrier, as it's all a lie he made up for food and shelter. Ford instead asks him a question that makes Shakespeare make a double take and ultimately swear him in, thinking it will just make a kid happy.
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The Postman / int_a65288e2	type	Ascended Extra
The Postman / int_a65288e2	comment	Ascended Extra: Abby shows up only in the first section in the book, and even then, her role is rather small.
The Postman / int_a65288e2	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_a65288e2	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_a713e674	type	Classical Anti-Hero
The Postman / int_a713e674	comment	Classical Antihero: The Postman starts out as an opportunistic coward and a cheat, with the first 90 minutes hammering it down to the audience what sort of man he is. His arc is growing into a brave hero who is virtually the opposite from how he starts off.
The Postman / int_a713e674	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_a7850fbf	type	Only Known by Their Nickname
The Postman / int_a7850fbf	comment	Only Known by Their Nickname: Along with Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep". The main character is called "Shakespeare" when anyone wants to call him by a particular name, because he made a living traveling from place to place performing the works of William Shakespeare (after a fashion) until the events at the beginning of the movie. For most of the rest of the movie, he is addressed simply as The Postman. He doesn't even get a birth name on his memorial unveiled near the end.
The Postman / int_a7850fbf	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_a796d2a6	type	Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
The Postman / int_a796d2a6	comment	Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Arguably, the scene with the Postman swimming away downriver. Yes, it's hard to hit a target moving independently and with the current just about randomly, but they fired a lot of shots. The Postman rides toward one of the Holnists, closing in on a straight path. The Postman comes within ten meters of the Holnist and the Holnist can't hit him, despite eventually having to reload. Or so it seems — not only did the Postman get shot, but once the adrenaline rush is over, he goes comatose.
The Postman / int_a796d2a6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_a796d2a6	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_a7ae597a	type	No New Fashions in the Future
The Postman / int_a7ae597a	comment	No New Fashions in the Future: The far future of 2043 has distinctively mid-90s fashion, hairstyles included. Apparently, rebuilding civilisation doesn't come with new designs for clothes.
The Postman / int_a7ae597a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_a7ae597a	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_a86069f	type	Alternate History
The Postman / int_a86069f	comment	Alternate History: The film begins in 2013, and it's said the Postman survived "the war" with the last great cities destroyed when he was a child. Because at the end he is revealed to have been born in 1973, plus the other references to what occurred which fits with a nuclear war, there was probably one during the early 1980s. The novel was published in 1985, so it fits with the prospect then. (In view of that, the Postman really ought not to recognize Tom Petty on sight as an erstwhile celebrity.)
The Postman / int_a86069f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_a86069f	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Postman / int_a8abe9d1	type	Separated by a Common Language
The Postman / int_a8abe9d1	comment	Separated by a Common Language: Sort of — while the term "postman" is sometimes used in the United States, the more common word is "mailman". But "The Mailman" sounds silly as the title to a dramatic film.
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The Postman / int_a8e5bc60	type	All Hail the Great God Mickey!
The Postman / int_a8e5bc60	comment	All Hail the Great God Mickey!: Borderline. The Holnists are a survivalist cult founded on the teachings of an author of trashy self-help books whom they worship as a near-deity.
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The Postman / int_a96a045c	type	Droit du Seigneur
The Postman / int_a96a045c	comment	Droit du Seigneur: General Bethlehem tries to pull this with Abby, and kills Michael after he protests it.
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The Postman / int_ab74122a	type	Wasteland Elder
The Postman / int_ab74122a	comment	Wasteland Elder: Decades after World War III and the rise of a powerful racist militia, several towns are still eking out a living. The Sheriff of Pineview (a tough and cagey man), the mayor of Benning (who is eager to seize signs of a better future), and the bedraggled mayor of Bridge City (an implied Celebrity Survivor) are all middle-aged leaders who get along decently with The Postman and work hard for the sake of their communities.
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The Postman / int_ad1db87c	type	Oh, Crap!
The Postman / int_ad1db87c	comment	Oh, Crap!: "...You two don't know each other?!"
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The Postman / int_affcdc91	type	Evil Is Sterile
The Postman / int_affcdc91	comment	Evil Is Sterile: A throw-away line implies that for all his Testosterone Poisoning posturing, Bethlehem is impotent.
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The Postman / int_b1191cb2	type	I Ate WHAT?!
The Postman / int_b1191cb2	comment	I Ate WHAT?!: More of â€œIâ€™ve Just Been Served What?!â€� as during his first night with the Holnists, Shakespeare is told with glee by the servers that the grey slop theyâ€™re eating is his mule, Bill.
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The Postman / int_b2c737e8	type	Klingon Promotion
The Postman / int_b2c737e8	comment	Klingon Promotion: Members of Bethlehem's army may challenge him in one-on-one combat for his position (the last man who did got his tongue and testicles cut off). This becomes important later.
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The Postman / int_b7c53a22	type	Blood Knight
The Postman / int_b7c53a22	comment	Blood Knight: General Bethlehem is obsessed with being able to fight a "real war", against a general and an army worthy of his skill. When the Postal Service reorganizes itself into an army and openly opposes him, he isn't scared or angry, he's ecstatic.
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The Postman / int_b89ab683	type	Hyper-Competent Sidekick
The Postman / int_b89ab683	comment	Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Ford is the real brains behind the new postal service. After leaving Pineview, he sets up an extensive network between towns.
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The Postman / int_bc00493f	type	Precision F-Strike
The Postman / int_bc00493f	comment	Precision F-Strike: When his would-be assassin starts to praise General Bethlehem, Shakespeare drops one. Notably, this is the only "fuck" in the entire film, as it was filmed with a PG-13 rating by the MPAAnote It was rated R due to excessive violence and sex content, rendering the whole "no cussing" moot. in mind, and it was reserved for that moment specifically.
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The Postman / int_bda3d68a	type	Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?
The Postman / int_bda3d68a	comment	Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Combined with Description Cut. A couple of the gatemen at Benning, the second town the Postman visits, do this to Bethlehem when they think that the Postman's presence means order has been restored.
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The Postman / int_bdc94cd9	type	Compressed Adaptation
The Postman / int_bdc94cd9	comment	Compressed Adaptation: The movie omitted a good deal of the novel's plot, especially the augments and practically the entire conflict between the towns loyal to the Reunited States of America and the Holnists. It also omitted things like Reunited-aligned soldiers secretly raping the corpses of their own female soldiers to demonize the Holnists further when the bodies were discovered.
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The Postman / int_c09dbbbb	type	Weaksauce Weakness
The Postman / int_c09dbbbb	comment	Weaksauce Weakness: "Law Seven: Any clansman may challenge for leadership of the clan." This allows the Postman to take over the entire Holnist army after a single fistfight. Well, that and the fact Bethlehem has 0% Approval Rating from his own troops and the top brass, so absolutely nobody minds the new commander. Including his own Number Two shooting the general in defense of the new leader.
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The Postman / int_c145f69b	type	Subverted Trope
The Postman / int_c145f69b	comment	The Postman rides toward one of the Holnists, closing in on a straight path. The Postman comes within ten meters of the Holnist and the Holnist can't hit him, despite eventually having to reload. Or so it seems — not only did the Postman get shot, but once the adrenaline rush is over, he goes comatose.
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The Postman / int_c181a846	type	Dies Differently in Adaptation
The Postman / int_c181a846	comment	Dies Differently in Adaptation: Nathan Holn is said to have died of skin cancer a few years ago, instead of being lynched by an angry mob shortly after his teachings began to inspire real crazies. While the Postman might have been lying (given how many other whoppers he tells in that scene), he likely could have learned this given his time as a Holnist conscript. There is also his sudden confidence and having detailed, specific information, rather than pausing and then blubbering something randomly, indicating at least this part of his story is real.
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The Postman / int_c2288824	type	A Nazi by Any Other Name
The Postman / int_c2288824	comment	A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Holnists. Social Darwinism? Check. Militarism? Check. Racial purity? Check. Being total dicks generally? Check.
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The Postman / int_c3478f1d	type	Badass Bookworm
The Postman / int_c3478f1d	comment	Badass Bookworm: General Bethlehem. He then subverts it by having the books he's done with burned.
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The Postman / int_c3648b87	type	Teeth-Clenched Teamwork
The Postman / int_c3648b87	comment	Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Abby's and the Postman's relationship is turbulent, to say it lightly. It almost entirely runs on the fact they end up keep saving each other, until they get over their personal resentments.
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The Postman / int_c3b51bb3	type	You Are Better Than You Think You Are
The Postman / int_c3b51bb3	comment	You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The Postman's plea to Luke isn't a plea for mercy, but an assurance to Luke that he is too good to serve Bethlehem. In the finale, when Ford has the general at gunpoint, the Postman has just one thing to say to talk him out of it.
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The Postman / int_c3bdfbb9	type	Let's You and Him Fight
The Postman / int_c3bdfbb9	comment	Most factions who help the Postman take heavy losses, but the people of Bridge City field a fighting force that force a standoff with the Holnist soldiers, leading to a Let's You and Him Fight conclusion.
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The Postman / int_c4c9bb40	type	Inner Monologue
The Postman / int_c4c9bb40	comment	When about to face an unknown rider (revealed to be a young girl working as a postal carrier), the Postman complains about how awkward it is to meet strangers nowadays, as you can't tell if they are there to say hi or to rob you. The lines he drops are a paraphrase of Gordon's Inner Monologue from the first page of the book — right after he's been robbed by a group of strangers.
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The Postman / int_c515d358	type	America Saves the Day
The Postman / int_c515d358	comment	America Saves the Day: In a sense, much like the book. The Restored United States of America starts as a lie and becomes very real by the end of the film.
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The Postman / int_c5ccf60f	type	Internal Reveal
The Postman / int_c5ccf60f	comment	Internal Reveal: The audience knows beforehand that Shakespeare was branded with the "Mark of Eight". He keeps it hidden whenever facing people, but Abby finds out on her own when tending to him while he's wounded. And come the final confrontation, when Shakespeare performs a dramatic rip of his own sleeve to present the mark to the entire Holnist army and challenge Bethlehem for its leadership, his own postal carriers are more shocked than anyone else, Ford in particular.
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The Postman / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Postman / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: To another Costner movie. At one point, Shakespeare jokingly threatens Abby with a spoon, as if it were a lethal weapon.
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The Postman / int_c9597a03	type	Self-Deprecation
The Postman / int_c9597a03	comment	Self-Deprecation: After Shakespeare's first performance of, well, a Shakespeare play (Macbeth, incidentally), a local woman tells him, "The children have never seen Shakespeare before." He chuckles and says, "They still haven't." In the same scene, he acknowledges that he was a terrible actor when he first tried acting.
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The Postman / int_c9c756a8	type	Child Soldiers
The Postman / int_c9c756a8	comment	Child Soldiers: Most of the Postman's courier-crew-turned-militia is pretty young. Justified in that life expectancy in a Post Apocalyptic world would be comparable to Real Life pre-Industrial eras, so relative age categories are adjusted accordingly ("late teens" becomes "young adult fit to fight").
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The Postman / int_ca3a6dbd	type	Informed Ability
The Postman / int_ca3a6dbd	comment	Informed Ability: We are told that Bethlehem destroyed his last challenger in five seconds of hand-to-hand combat. Bethlehem's actual unarmed fighting skills, shown at the end of the movie, are about as good as your average second-grader's. Possibly an intentional trope, as the five-second story may have been mere propaganda all along. Of course the man who had challenged him was quite a bit older and seems less fit, so it's not impossible.
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The Postman / int_ca87e3ec	type	No Name Given
The Postman / int_ca87e3ec	comment	One of his subsequent lines implies that Costner's unnamed character, known only as Shakespeare, is Costner himself. The birth-death dates on the Postman's monument shown at the end (1973â€“2043) don't match up, though.
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The Postman / int_cc7e0fac	type	Bluff Worked Too Well
The Postman / int_cc7e0fac	comment	Bluff Worked Too Well: Unlike his book counterpart, the Postman didn't really intend to restart the US Postal Service, but the lie proves to be so powerful and inspiring, others pick it up and make it real. And he is forced to play the heroic courier he presented himself as.
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The Postman / int_d3beb0de	type	Precocious Crush
The Postman / int_d3beb0de	comment	Precocious Crush: Carrier 18 on the Postman himself, who doesn't even notice the girl or the longing gazes she gives him. He's 41 when they meet for the first time. She's barely teen-aged.
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The Postman / int_d500b978	type	Adaptational Wimp
The Postman / int_d500b978	comment	Adaptational Wimp: Holnists are highly organised and well-armed, but still not nearly so effective as the ultra-survivalist Always Chaotic Evil original from books, who even included super soldiers. Even their evilness has been considerably toned down.
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The Postman / int_d7c3ba61	type	Race Lift
The Postman / int_d7c3ba61	comment	Race Lift: In the book, Abby was mixed-race, with Asian ancestry. Here she's White. Ford says his name used to be John Stevens (he's also called "Johnny"), and he's Black. The "Johnny" Stevens in the book is White.
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The Postman / int_da19c62a	type	Leave No Survivors
The Postman / int_da19c62a	comment	Leave No Survivors: During the first battle against the Holnists, the Postman orders his followers to let the last one go, as he's unarmed and defenseless. Others shoot him dead anyway, no doubt wanting revenge after they've suffered so much from the Holnists.
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The Postman / int_da3043c5	type	Fake Ultimate Hero
The Postman / int_da3043c5	comment	Fake Ultimate Hero: Kevin Costner's Postman, at first.
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The Postman / int_dca97045	type	Just Following Orders
The Postman / int_dca97045	comment	Just Following Orders: Enforced by general Bethelehem himself, who makes time and again a show of imposing the Laws of Eight. This makes all the Holnists follow his commands out of fear of facing punishment, rather than anything else, while he expects from his troops an automated response devoid of any passion or hesitation, no matter what inhuman things they are asked to do:
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The Postman / int_dcbe8a6e	type	Chekhov's Gunman
The Postman / int_dcbe8a6e	comment	Chekhov's Gunman: Colonel Getty. Also inverted: we know from early in the film that Ford has personally recruited many, if not all, of the mail couriers in Oregon. Near the end of the film, he is stood up next to another mail carrier whom he's never seen before in his life. The other mail carrier is from the Restored Republic of California, and this serves as The Reveal that the movement has spread significantly.
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The Postman / int_dce448d	type	Reduced to Ratburgers
The Postman / int_dce448d	comment	Reduced to Ratburgers: Over winter, Abby and the Postman eat the horse they used to escape Benning.
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The Postman / int_ddc4f035	type	Heroic Second Wind
The Postman / int_ddc4f035	comment	Heroic Second Wind: After being pummeled silly in their fight, the Postman only starts gaining upper hand over Bethlehem once the general starts to mock his lack of convictions or a case to fight for.
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The Postman / int_e04c0759	type	Unstoppable Mailman
The Postman / int_e04c0759	comment	Unstoppable Mailman: What the protagonist becomes, and what his protÃ©gÃ©s vow to be. Considering they deliver mail in a Post Apocalyptic world, there's not much arguing with this one.
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The Postman / int_e19e68	type	Cruel Mercy
The Postman / int_e19e68	comment	Cruel Mercy: General Bethlehem gets this at one point. Almost.
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The Postman / int_e1acc872	type	From Nobody to Nightmare
The Postman / int_e1acc872	comment	From Nobody to Nightmare: General Bethlehem mentions that before the war, he was a copier salesman. Shakespeare was just a random vagrant who ends up as de facto leader of the Restored Postal Service and one of the biggest players in the northwestern USA. He manages to muster an army just by his sheer charisma.
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The Postman / int_e1fa333c	type	Hannibal Lecture
The Postman / int_e1fa333c	comment	Hannibal Lecture: During their duel in the climax, Bethlehem gives one to the Postman, strangling him to death while reaching for a nearby sword to kill him off.
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The Postman / int_e2737113	type	Cult Defector
The Postman / int_e2737113	comment	Cult Defector: After the End, the eponymous protagonist is Press-Ganged into the Holnists, a cross between a Cult of Personality and a Right-Wing Militia Fanatic group. They attempt to use brainwashing and intimidation to make him a loyal soldier, but he deserts the first chance he gets. Later, in the climax, the cult's second in command turns on their leader, who castrated him and cut out his tongue in the past.
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The Postman / int_e28f88b8	type	Last-Name Basis
The Postman / int_e28f88b8	comment	Last-Name Basis: General Bethlehem and Colonel Getty are only ever referred to by their last names.
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The Postman / int_e5421161	type	Expy
The Postman / int_e5421161	comment	Expy: The Postman starts off as one to Max Rockatansky before Character Development sets in. Several critics noted that he and Costner's Mariner in Waterworld are Max's copycat descendants.
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The Postman / int_e70127	type	The Mole
The Postman / int_e70127	comment	The Mole: Luke, the young recruit send by Bethlehem to infiltrate the Postal Service. Notably, his job isn't much about spying, but to locate and kill the Postman himself. Not only can't he bring himself to carry out the order, but in the end, he switches sides and deserts from Holnist ranks.
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The Postman / int_ea7e3be8	type	Dramatic Gun Cock
The Postman / int_ea7e3be8	comment	Dramatic Gun Cock: Sheriff Briscoe does this intentionally with a shotgun, simply to scare away the Postman when he arrives for the first time in Pineview. The Postman himself, when preparing to face an unknown, mounted stranger, readies his AR-15, including pulling the charging handle right before the rider closes in. Luke does it in Click Hello style, preparing to shoot the Postman at the end of act two. He can't bring himself to shoot him In the Back, and ultimately, he can't shoot him at all.
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The Postman / int_ea8ba51d	type	No Full Name Given
The Postman / int_ea8ba51d	comment	No Full Name Given: Most of the characters (including the titular Postman) are referred to by just one name (first, last or nicknames).
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The Postman / int_ea92aeb0	type	Concealment Equals Cover
The Postman / int_ea92aeb0	comment	Concealment Equals Cover: When, during the Holnists' attack on Benning Abby attempts to shoot Bethlehem, he ducks behind an empty oil drum. It somehow manages to protect him and he comes out unscratched, while seven rounds pierce through the thin metal. In the climax, Colonel Getty shoots Bethlehem In the Back and you can see a squib exploding on his chest, meaning the bullet went clean through — while Ford is standing right there. Neither he, nor anyone in the crowd behind him, gets hit.
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The Postman / int_eadecddd	type	As Long as There Is One Man
The Postman / int_eadecddd	comment	As Long as There Is One Man: General Bethlehem fully realizes the beginning of his own doom towards the end...
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The Postman / int_eb0d7317	type	Men of Sherwood
The Postman / int_eb0d7317	comment	Men of Sherwood: The Restored Postal Service, despite being mostly manned by adolescent teens and (very) young adults, works as an effective and efficient mail delivery, completely outside Shakespeare's influence (or control, for that matter) despite how dangerous the roads are, although many of them are tragically ambushed and killed. Most factions who help the Postman take heavy losses, but the people of Bridge City field a fighting force that force a standoff with the Holnist soldiers, leading to a Let's You and Him Fight conclusion.
The Postman / int_eb0d7317	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_eb0d7317	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_eb0d7317
The Postman / int_eb8f64a6	type	No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
The Postman / int_eb8f64a6	comment	No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Shakespeare gives some of his food to another conscript, who repays him by telling the officers about his escape plan and trying to capture Shakespeare when he makes a break for it. Somewhat forgivable since he was obviously mentally challenged, thus likely trying to do what (apparently) was the right thing (i.e., help the authorities). Also, his efforts in simply delivering mail causes several towns to be attacked, with many people dying in the process and then another being executed for supporting the Postal Service.
The Postman / int_eb8f64a6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_eb8f64a6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_eb8f64a6
The Postman / int_ebb900a7	type	Resignations Not Accepted
The Postman / int_ebb900a7	comment	Resignations Not Accepted: When the Postman tries to escape, the rest of the army tries to kill him. But this trope is important later.
The Postman / int_ebb900a7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_ebb900a7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_ebb900a7
The Postman / int_eda30d58	type	0% Approval Rating
The Postman / int_eda30d58	comment	0% Approval Rating: General Bethlehem's followers apparently hate him every bit as much as the townsfolk they oppress. None of them seems unhappy to see him gone after the one racist redneck killed early on. Then again, several of them (like Shakespeare) are shown to be conscripts recruited at gunpoint who only stay because Bethlehem makes sure they have nowhere else to go, so it makes sense.
The Postman / int_eda30d58	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_eda30d58	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_eda30d58
The Postman / int_ee3aad53	type	Motivated by Fear
The Postman / int_ee3aad53	comment	Motivated by Fear: Bethlehem might be a Know-Nothing Know-It-All, self-declared military genius and a terrible painter, but he's extremely effective with this trope. Unlike their counterparts in the novel, nearly all Holnist troopers are forcibly conscripted and kept under harsh treatment that instill fear of punishment right from the start. And this army has only one punishment: death. On top of that, General Bethlehem always makes a full show of the power of his army when sniffing even the weakest whiff of resistance in the settlements he's touring, making sure everyone else is too afraid to even consider opposing his rule in the aftermath of the resulting slaughter. This goes so far that even his potential deserters have nowhere to run, because everyone hates Holnists, while all of them have the brand on their forearm.
The Postman / int_ee3aad53	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_ee3aad53	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_ee3aad53
The Postman / int_f0864fd9	type	Combat by Champion
The Postman / int_f0864fd9	comment	Combat by Champion: How the Postman tries to prevent a bloodbath between his Restored United States and the Holnists by challenging Bethlehem to a duel for leadership, by virtue of still technically being a Holnist himself.
The Postman / int_f0864fd9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_f0864fd9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_f0864fd9
The Postman / int_f1d7b320	type	Crazy Survivalist
The Postman / int_f1d7b320	comment	Crazy Survivalist: The Holnists appear to be this in the movie, even if this is significantly toned down from the source material.
The Postman / int_f1d7b320	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_f1d7b320	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_f1d7b320
The Postman / int_f2d22a36	type	EvilArmy
The Postman / int_f2d22a36	comment	Evil Army: Averted. The Holnists could well be the least enthusiastic gang of plunderers and murderers in history.
The Postman / int_f2d22a36	featureApplicability	-1.0
The Postman / int_f2d22a36	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_f2d22a36
The Postman / int_f32d85ab	type	20 Minutes into the Future
The Postman / int_f32d85ab	comment	20 Minutes into the Future: A caption at the opening of this movie states that it begins in 2013. The movie was made and released in 1997.
The Postman / int_f32d85ab	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_f32d85ab	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_f32d85ab
The Postman / int_f98356f	type	Right-Wing Militia Fanatic
The Postman / int_f98356f	comment	Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The Holnists appear to have started as a group of these, before the war or during its aftermath. A radio broadcast that plays over the opening scenes blames them for a past rise in hate crimes. Now, with no government left, they have taken over at least part of Oregon.
The Postman / int_f98356f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_f98356f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_f98356f
The Postman / int_fa5699d9	type	Washington D.C. Invasion
The Postman / int_fa5699d9	comment	General Bethlehem claims to have been at "the Battle of Georgetown" and seen the White House burn to the ground.
The Postman / int_fa5699d9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Postman / int_fa5699d9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_fa5699d9
The Postman / int_fea715c1	type	Feudal Future
The Postman / int_fea715c1	comment	Feudal Future: The Holnists have set up this arrangement with the towns they extort into giving them goods and conscripts, as Bethlehem explains when invoking his "right" to sleep with Abby.
The Postman / int_fea715c1	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Postman / int_name	type	ItemName
The Postman / int_name	comment
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The Postman / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Postman	hasFeature	The Postman / int_name
The Postman / int_name	itemName	The Postman

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

PreachingToThePerverted	seeAlso	The Postman
The Postman	hasFeature	A World Half Full / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	All Hail the Great God Mickey! / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Approval of God / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Arc Number / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	As Long as There Is One Man / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Asskicking Leads to Leadership / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	But What About the Astronauts? / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Chosen Conception Partner / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Classical Anti-Hero / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Coitus Ensues / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Combat by Champion / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Conscription / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Courier / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Cult Defector / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Definite Article Title / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Delayed Narrator Introduction / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Desolation Shot / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Don't Create a Martyr / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Droit du Seigneur / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Feudal Future / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Films of 1995â€“1999 / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Flat "What" / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Gate Guardian / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Going Postal / int_ff22ba03
GoldenRaspberryAward	seeAlso	The Postman
The Postman	hasFeature	Grammar Correction Gag / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	If I Wanted You Dead... / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	It Has Been an Honor / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	It's Not About the Request / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Last-Minute Reprieve / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Leave No Survivors / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Men of Sherwood / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Mysterious Past / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	No Full Name Given / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Nominal Importance / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Only You Can Repopulate My Race / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Opening Monologue / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Pony Express Rider / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Population: X, and Counting / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Post-Apocalyptic Dog / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Post-Apunkalyptic Armor / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Prayer of Malice / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Pre-War Civilian Career / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Production Throwback / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Right-Wing Militia Fanatic / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Romantic Plot Tumor / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Sex Starts, Story Stops / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Spared by the Cut / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	The Apunkalypse / int_ff22ba03
ThePostman	seeAlso	The Postman
The Postman	hasFeature	The Social Darwinist / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	The Television Talks Back / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	The Vietnam Vet / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Token Minority / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Unspecified Apocalypse / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Unstoppable Mailman / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Virtue Is Weakness / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	Wasteland Elder / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	You Make Me Sic / int_ff22ba03
The Postman	hasFeature	All Crimes Are Equal / int_ff22ba03

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