10 Movies That Aren't About What You Think
5. It's About The General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit may pretty clearly seem like an affectionate homage to classic film noir, but it's so, so much more than that.
It's eventually revealed that villain Judge Doom's (Christopher Lloyd) nefarious scheme involves buying up the city's railway system, erasing Toontown so that he can build a freeway in its place, and then dismantling the railway system entirely, forcing everyone to buy cars and use said freeway for his enormous profit.
As far-fetched and cartoonish as this might sound, it's actually inspired by a very real corporate conspiracy which took place from the 1930s through to the 1950s.
General Motors and associated companies were implicated in buying up and shuttering railway systems in many American cities, in turn replacing them with buses and forcing an uptick in motor vehicle purchases for their own enrichment.
Though General Motors only received a glorified slap on the wrist for this, their actions have nevertheless shaped American transportation ever since - a fascinating sliver of historical fact that Robert Zemeckis sneaked into his mesmerising fantasy comedy.