Zettelkasten in Media: A Zettelkasten for Wedding Crashers

chrisaldrich

Card Indexes in Wedding Crashers

While watching Wedding Crashers (2005, New Line), I noticed that John Beckwith (portrayed by Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) both have multiple card indexes in their offices in the movie.

One can’t help but wondering if their work leverages one of the variety of card index filing systems? Were they commonplacers? Zettelkasten users? Were they maintaining them as basic databases? Monster rolodexes? There are definitely a lot of them around.

It’s obvious that Jeremy actively uses his as in the opening scenes, his card index is on the credenza behind him and later in the movie it has moved.

If you’re just starting out on your indexing journey, you can purchase the same boxes that Wilson and Vaughn are using: the Globe-Weis/Pendaflex Fiberboard Index card storage box in “Black Agate”. If you need something bigger or different than one of these, try out the Ultimate Guide to Zettelkasten Card Index Storage.

Vince Vaughn obviously explaining the most important points of knowledge management in the office: a zettelkasten (or card index), bubblegum, and plenty of bourbon.

On a side desk in his office Jeremy Gray has a 3×5″ and a 4×6″ card index near all of his most important reference volumes.

Along with shelves full of reference books, John Beckwith has a huge collection of card index boxes of various sizes including 3 3×5″ boxes, 3 4×6″ boxes, and even one 5×8″ box.

A Zettelkasten for Wedding Crashers

Of course, the real aficionado of Wedding Crashers will suspect that at least one of Jeremy’s card indexes is full of weddings they’ve crashed, related research, and maybe women he’s encountered. Maybe names and legends of the people they’re pretending to be (“We lost a lot of good men out there.” “Guess who’s a broken man?”) Naturally there would also be a huge section with the numbered rules of wedding crashing as handed down by pioneer Chazz Rheinhold.

Martin

Ha, Chris, I like your diligence and humour. Yes, the quote sounds absurd. I tried to take it seriously. It’s also a surprisingly good rule of thumb for linking notes in a Zettelkasten.

When you’re building a dense web of interconnected thought, it can be tempting to create links just for the sake of completeness or structure. But here’s the catch: not every note is worth “relating” to others unless it’s truly alive—that is, conceptually meaningful, still resonating with your thinking, and likely to contribute to future insights.

A note with no "pulse" is a dead end. Linking it into your system creates noise, not knowledge. Just like in the movie, where fake commitments to nonexistent relatives get the characters into trouble, fake connections in a Zettelkasten—those without intellectual energy—can make your system bloated and confusing.

So, the next time you're about to connect two notes, pause and ask yourself:

Does this note still have a pulse for me?
Is there real, living meaning behind this link?
Or am I just trying to fill in space?

The Zettelkasten thrives on clarity, context, and curiosity—not empty associations. So yes, only commit to a relative if you’re sure they have a pulse. Even in knowledge work, it’s good advice. Surprising that it comes from a movie.

Andy

Now we need an interview with the set designer(s) for those scenes, so we can find out what they were thinking!

Martin

@Andy said:
Now we need an interview with the set designer(s) for those scenes, so we can find out what they were thinking!

"Hm, we needed some decoration that sets the tone. So let's put some old fashioned boxes on shelves, only books will bore the viewer."?

But sometimes, the "decoration" is the thought—in the Zettelkasten as in design, it's not just about signaling meaning, but shaping it. And the “set” isn’t just visual—it’s epistemological. How we frame a question already begins to answer it. You see: Every single word, every box, could be elaborated on.

chrisaldrich

Now we need an interview with the set designer(s) for those scenes, so we can find out what they were thinking!

@Andy Set designers are typically reflecting back the zeitgeist of their day. They're attempting to answer the questions: "What would these characters have in their environment?" And by extension, "what would a prototypical person have in their environment?" In other words, what would make this look "office-y"? What would make these guys look legitimate for their ages and professions?

As an example, one of my own zettelkasten card index files from the early 1900s was acquired for use as set decoration on the 1982 NBC television series Cassie & Co. starring Angie Dickinson. As a private investigator, Dickinson's character ostensibly used the filing cabinet as a database as many offices did throughout the 20th century prior to computers taking over this office function. At the time, it would have said, "I'm an old-school detective and don't have the income or savvy to be using the cutting edge computers you might see in other television shows." Because it was older, original oak and not a more (then) current steel, it would also have said "I've got a bit more style, have been around the block, and I've been doing this long enough that I'm not the new kid." Currently I'm giving it new life with similar functionality despite the fact that many simply wouldn't understand the use-case anymore, as evinced by many selling them as cabinets for tools or various sundries without even knowing or mentioning them as originally for index card use.

Another fun example of related technology in set decoration can be seen in the Hepburn & Tracy picture Desk Set (20th Century Fox, 1957) which pits old school research and knowledge management methods like typewriters, filing cabinets, card indexes and the human brain against new computer methods. Given its time period, it has a lot more filing cabinets and card index filing cabinets. (As a movie, I think it still has something useful to say with respect to the ascension of artificial intelligence today.)

Here are just two screen captures of the shift in office set up and technology which are interesting for means of comparison of "then" and "now":

chrisaldrich

@Martin Of the dozens of rules I wrote down while watching, I did chose this one explicitly for what it had to say about relations with respect to zettelkasten. I'm glad the incredibly subtle reference wasn't lost on you and that you expanded on it for the benefit of others. I'm sure the movie didn't mean to make the point we're taking from it, but this is the value of true art is that many meanings can be fruitfully drawn from it.