What Will Change If The Reporter Found Out Rosebud?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Citizen Kane
priyono-arif — 9 years ago(May 13, 2016 11:53 PM)
I think this is a very great movie. The photography, story, and plot are just great. Although i find some part that make me sleepy because of the plot repetition, and same pattern.
In the end, we all are pointed what rosebud is
. But what possible difference does it make if the reporter found out about rosebud earlier? Is it possible that he will search for his true parent, or just come to the same ending? What do you all think? -
mariposa-nudrath — 9 years ago(June 19, 2016 08:23 PM)
I honestly don't think there would be a significant change in the ending of the film. I mean, yes after finding out about the sled, he would take it further and dig out the missing childhood. BUT that would defeat the whole purpose of the film which is no matter how much you think you know an individual, they are still a complete mystery.
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Jennie_Portrait — 9 years ago(June 23, 2016 05:17 PM)
It wouldn't have changed anything. "Rosebud" is a plot device that Alfred Hitchcock used to refer to as the "MacGuffin." The pursuit of the item sets the story in motion, but in the end it is sort of dispensable and may be forgotten. At Charles Foster Kane's death, his entire life flashed before him including his childhood sled.
When I pass into the great beyond, perhaps I will say "Barbie." It doesn't symbolize my very existence. It is just a fond memory. I am sure that Kane had other fond memories, unrelated to toys.
I adore this movie. It's never ceases to interest me. Whenever I am flipping channels, if I see it is on, I just stop and watch it. The performances are terrific. Each character - even the small parts are remarkably realized.
Never say never
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snagletooth — 9 years ago(July 05, 2016 04:03 PM)
Actually, doesn't his dwelling on the snow globe and his childhood sled point out what drove him to act the way he did? His stolen childhood joys (a simple childhood filled with things like sledding instead of the loveless yet materially rich life he probably experienced under the care of Thatcher) and the stubborn defiance that welled up in him against those who would do that or similar things to him, to control and restrain him. His need for love from others yet the lack of love within him. Defying control yet needing to control.
I agree that there were many facets to Kane (and anyone) that wouldn't be explained or derivable from this particular sense of deprivation, but that was the starting source of the most lasting psychic damage that lingered in his life. Loss, abandonment, emotional deprivation. A yearning for the simple joys of a simpler life.
So many episodes in the story touch upon this, but never exactly, like Bernsteins' reminiscence about the girl on the ferry he remembered for decades. -
HarvSoul — 1 month ago(January 31, 2026 07:59 AM)
That’s the ultimate "what if" of the movie! It’s a brilliant question because the ending tells us that even if the reporter, Jerry Thompson, had found the sled, it might not have "fixed" the story for him.
If Thompson had discovered the meaning of Rosebud earlier, here is how the movie would have changed:
The "Human" Angle: Thompson realizes that Kane wasn't just a greedy tycoon, but a broken child. Finding the sled would have given his newsreel a "sentimental" ending, showing that the world's most powerful man was actually just pining for his mother and the day he was "sold."
The Search for Parents: You mentioned searching for his "true parents"—the irony is that Thompson already talked to those who knew them. If he found Rosebud early, he might have spent more time investigating the Colorado Lode or the relationship between Mary Kane and Thatcher to understand why she gave him away.
The Journalist's Cynicism: Thompson’s final speech is very important. He says, "I don't think any word can explain a man's life." Even if he found the sled, he likely would have concluded that it was just a "piece of a jigsaw puzzle" that didn't actually explain the complex, selfish, and contradictory man Kane became.
The Same Ending: The tragedy of the film is that no one truly knew Kane. If Thompson finds the sled, he gets a "scoop" for his boss, but Kane is still dead, his collections are still junk, and the people he hurt—like Susan and Jed Leland—are still broken.
The "mystery" is the only thing that keeps the reporter going. Once the mystery is solved, Kane just becomes another sad story in a warehouse.