Recently I've become aware of some bad conversational habits that I and others have, specifically, the tendency to commandeer movie or comedy quotes and use them in conversation as if they were one's own thoughts.
Especially strange are the instances where a quote pops out, and entire conversations turn into recitations of movies.
My question is this: have we become so overstimulated as a society that we are not capable of discourse that is free of media influence?
And is this just a local phenomenon? I doubt it. Although I would say it happens a LOT more frequently amongst men than women.
*If I just get a few thoughtful responses out of this, amongst all of the movie quotes that I am SURE I will get, I will be happy.
if we'd quote books all the time, as some people do, wouldn't we be influenced by media as well?
i guess that if the majority of the conversations you are involved in are like you describe them, you should change crowds, to people who are into other stuff.
I think we are over exposed to media, but there are groups of people that are over-absoving more than others.
Overstimulated we will be, but the quality of what is stimulating us should makes us think if its worth quoting that, hollywood and US TV produce probably the most entertaining fliks all over, but the quality of the text is the lowest in the history of western culture i'd dare say (some exceptions are out there i guess)
i have a movie quote for just this situation...but i'll refrain
in my experience it's much, much more prevalent among us men. i myself can go hours on end. it's a way to display your pop-cultural literacy, i guess, a way to communicate to others your cultural socialization
i would argue, though, that this is not a new phenomenon nor is it strictly limited to movie quotes...not by a long shot. academic writing (in general, across disciplines) is one big referencefest, and often for good reason, as references to other works suggest legitimacy and ubiquity of thinking. the french intelligentsia spends a great deal of time just quoting each other. again, it's a way to display that you belong in the group and to share your group bond with others. we just do it with quotes from "high fidelity" instead of heidegger, that's all
Well said, ochona. I reckon the ancient Greeks quoted a fair bit of Aristophanes. And how long has the world been quoting Shakespeare? We'll probably never quit with that.
umm...i think that when i quote movies it is because i am not intelligent enough to think of something original to say and, also probably, because i am not typically secure enough to be emotionally honest and a quote (an obvious one, at least) serves as a clue to the thinness of my mask and alludes to my inner deficiencies without literally acknowledging them...i suppose it's self-delusion, sort of like the bad combover that i've been sporting since my late twenties.
It is definitely more prevalent in men. My brain can't manage to remember a quote from a movie but I can tell you exactly how a certain bit of dialogue or scene or facial expression made me feel.
No really, Im not even that good at it, butI think it is hillarious. In school we would quote "Jerky Boys", Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld stand-up, etc...
No, I'm not mad but it did get me thinking, which is always a dangerous activity.....
mauOne makes a good point about being influenced by books....and ochona, I only wish I could quote Heidegger, but I'm not smart enough. My brain is too overwhelmed with quotes from movies, TV, and comedy routines!!!! So sad.
in the military we would quote The Simpsons a LOT. making Duh'S!! and Haha's (behind the Drill instructors back of course). Later on, we would quote office space and Saturday night life.
In School one of my favorites ever was when we challenged a fellow student to "meow" (like in "Super troopers") 20 times during his final crit. I cried I thought it was sooo funny.
And finally it is mostly a male trait, but I have a female buddy, who did it better than any guy Ive ever met. She would go on quoting South PArk, Seinfeld, etc...
WonderK although this culture is not "high brow", I think htat you can learn a lot from it. IT is our version of heroic greek novels. We are learning from our surroundings, I hate to be too post-modernist/relativist. But in my opinion the Simpsons are as valid as heidegger, as.... The problem is if you are stock at quoting (either really) and dont take action upon the world they define.
maybe-probably not
Nov 23, 05 11:17 am ·
·
"Only blank usefulness now remains visible."
--Martin Heidegaar
BOOKS VS. MOVIES
it's still the sharing of information to stimulate conversation.
i repeat things that my friends say, things that i read on the internet, things that i hear in a song. it's all borrowing. all of that stuff that we are repeating is probably borrowed from somewhere as well.
i don't think that is stealing, or complete lack of originality, (all of the time, though there certainly are instances where this is the case) it's just how we relate to things we hear or see or read.
I said no offense! It wasn't a low blow! Don't be hurt. Oh jeez. I get your point. Eventually. Besides I appreciate the fact that you actually put some thought into your responses and have the maturity to respond to the topic posted, instead of making snide comments or saying something profane and then just moving on. There are some people on this site who I don't even waste my time responding to, I'm glad you are not one of them.
It was just that last sentence up there that confused me temporarily. To your credit I'm always confused....
what's that one movie where there were these robots who lived in another planet and all they did was watch television broadcasts from earth...and when the earthlings finally met them their statements consisted of phrases from t'v shows?
"Don't forget, you don't know I'm here. No word of the fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell became of me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. Someday I want them to raise up on their hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the goddamn Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again.'"
"We want to get the hell over there. We want to get over there and clear the goddamn thing up. You can't win a war lying down. The quicker we clean up this goddamn mess, the quicker we can take a jaunt against the purple pissing Japs an clean their nest out too, before the Marines get all the goddamn credit."
"Sure, we all want to be home. We want this thing over with. The quickest way to get it over is to get the bastards. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin. When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually, and the hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one. We'll win this war but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans we've got more guts than they have."
"There is one great thing you men will all be able to say when you go home. You may thank God for it. Thank God, that at least, thirty years from now, when you are sitting around the fireside with your grandson on your knees, and he asks you what you did in the great war, you won't have to cough and say, 'I shoveled shit in Louisiana.' No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, 'Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named George Patton!'"
I have a friend who doesn't say much of anything except movie quotes. And when I don't laugh he says, "Ron Burgundy!" or "Top Gun" or whatthefuckever. I HATE IT. I don't watch a lot of pop culture, and what I do watch I never get the lines memorized. Definitely a guy thing, and one of my least favorite traits.
Brings me back to middle school where SNL was huge, and everything every boy ever said to me was quoted from SNL, which I didn't watch, so I didn't get it.
Except Napolean. You can quote Napolean all you want.
Tina, come get your ham!
I use movie/television quotes a lot i guess. When i hear a movie quote i understand a lot more than just those words being said. It references a larger story and context that is impossible to surmise any other way (its like an hour and a half story in a few seconds). That doesn't go for all quotes but i think their real draw is the ability to add a whole sub layer of content that anyone who has seen the movie instantly understands.
What bothers me is when people assume that someone is unintelligent because they quoted a movie. Many movies offer intelligent commentary on current (or timeless) situations. Why is it less valuable because i didn't read it? Of course there are some pretty stupid pointless movie quotes, but i've read some pretty unintelligent things as well.
agree agree lb, wonderk- "It is definitely more prevalent in men". it reminded me of something that happened recently when i had a friendly argument with a close friend. after hearing about five min of non-stop nonsense from me, i said "you have learnt to bury your guilt with anger" (quoting from BATMAN BEGINS)in a funny serious tone.
though funny, i`ve never known any other quotes and it took her a long time to forgive me.
i see reflexivespace's point, but the problem with quoting anything really is that it can only mean something to the situation if everyone is completely aware of the quote.
the number of times i've given my guy friends blank stares because i had no idea what they were quoting from or had any idea how these seemingly random words had anything to do with the current situation is innumerable. they'll just say these one-liners that i can't relate to because whatever situation that was depicted in the movie didn't hit me as anything particularily memorable.
or maybe i'm just soaking it all in at some subconcious level and any original thought or personal relating is really just plagiarized from a compendium of media.
as a secondary note... i notice that most of the people that i know that quote movies so ardently are stunted in emoting themselves to others.
i'm not saying that everyone who quotes movies is emotionally stunted, it's more so that they seem to quote movies so much that they can't find their own words. and most people who quote movies tend to pick out thoughtful, prolific, witty or just simply comedic items and not sentimental ones.
it seems like they're just at a loss for words to be less harsh sounding.
Has no one mentioned that quoting movies and TV is a hell of a lot more amusing than quoting Kant or Derrida? I think that's why those Monty Python guys made the drunken philosopher song, so that we could all have something funny to say about Wittgenstein.
hmmm......i do this constantly, but i think it's because i don't really have anything importantant to say, or am not really that interested in talking about anything that anyone is interested in.
people who use movie quotes as a basis for conversation
Recently I've become aware of some bad conversational habits that I and others have, specifically, the tendency to commandeer movie or comedy quotes and use them in conversation as if they were one's own thoughts.
Especially strange are the instances where a quote pops out, and entire conversations turn into recitations of movies.
My question is this: have we become so overstimulated as a society that we are not capable of discourse that is free of media influence?
And is this just a local phenomenon? I doubt it. Although I would say it happens a LOT more frequently amongst men than women.
*If I just get a few thoughtful responses out of this, amongst all of the movie quotes that I am SURE I will get, I will be happy.
if we'd quote books all the time, as some people do, wouldn't we be influenced by media as well?
i guess that if the majority of the conversations you are involved in are like you describe them, you should change crowds, to people who are into other stuff.
I think we are over exposed to media, but there are groups of people that are over-absoving more than others.
Overstimulated we will be, but the quality of what is stimulating us should makes us think if its worth quoting that, hollywood and US TV produce probably the most entertaining fliks all over, but the quality of the text is the lowest in the history of western culture i'd dare say (some exceptions are out there i guess)
i have a movie quote for just this situation...but i'll refrain
in my experience it's much, much more prevalent among us men. i myself can go hours on end. it's a way to display your pop-cultural literacy, i guess, a way to communicate to others your cultural socialization
i would argue, though, that this is not a new phenomenon nor is it strictly limited to movie quotes...not by a long shot. academic writing (in general, across disciplines) is one big referencefest, and often for good reason, as references to other works suggest legitimacy and ubiquity of thinking. the french intelligentsia spends a great deal of time just quoting each other. again, it's a way to display that you belong in the group and to share your group bond with others. we just do it with quotes from "high fidelity" instead of heidegger, that's all
Well said, ochona. I reckon the ancient Greeks quoted a fair bit of Aristophanes. And how long has the world been quoting Shakespeare? We'll probably never quit with that.
"Who the hell is Baby Jane Hudson?!?"
"Get the butter."
"Let's play battleshits!"
umm...i think that when i quote movies it is because i am not intelligent enough to think of something original to say and, also probably, because i am not typically secure enough to be emotionally honest and a quote (an obvious one, at least) serves as a clue to the thinness of my mask and alludes to my inner deficiencies without literally acknowledging them...i suppose it's self-delusion, sort of like the bad combover that i've been sporting since my late twenties.
i can't remember movie quotes. my brain is too full of other useless stuff.
It is definitely more prevalent in men. My brain can't manage to remember a quote from a movie but I can tell you exactly how a certain bit of dialogue or scene or facial expression made me feel.
I'm such a frickin' girl.
WonderK is just mad by my Napoleon Dynamite yesterday.
"Frankly my dear, I dont give a DAMN!!!"
;)
No really, Im not even that good at it, butI think it is hillarious. In school we would quote "Jerky Boys", Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld stand-up, etc...
No, I'm not mad but it did get me thinking, which is always a dangerous activity.....
mauOne makes a good point about being influenced by books....and ochona, I only wish I could quote Heidegger, but I'm not smart enough. My brain is too overwhelmed with quotes from movies, TV, and comedy routines!!!! So sad.
in the military we would quote The Simpsons a LOT. making Duh'S!! and Haha's (behind the Drill instructors back of course). Later on, we would quote office space and Saturday night life.
In School one of my favorites ever was when we challenged a fellow student to "meow" (like in "Super troopers") 20 times during his final crit. I cried I thought it was sooo funny.
And finally it is mostly a male trait, but I have a female buddy, who did it better than any guy Ive ever met. She would go on quoting South PArk, Seinfeld, etc...
In vogue in the office right now: TEAM AMERICA
WonderK although this culture is not "high brow", I think htat you can learn a lot from it. IT is our version of heroic greek novels. We are learning from our surroundings, I hate to be too post-modernist/relativist. But in my opinion the Simpsons are as valid as heidegger, as.... The problem is if you are stock at quoting (either really) and dont take action upon the world they define.
maybe-probably not
"Only blank usefulness now remains visible."
--Martin Heidegaar
"Who the hell is Martin Heidegaar?!?"
for the longest time i kept thinking that heidiggar was a monster truck, but i finally realized that i was just confusing him with gravedigger.
melquiades, I appreciate your comments, but sometimes I don't understand what you are trying to say. I think it's a grammar issue. No offense.
But yes, I think you are correct....I think it becomes problematic when quotes are the only thing that come out of a person's mouth though.
Is that a quote from this TV show?
BOOKS VS. MOVIES
it's still the sharing of information to stimulate conversation.
i repeat things that my friends say, things that i read on the internet, things that i hear in a song. it's all borrowing. all of that stuff that we are repeating is probably borrowed from somewhere as well.
i don't think that is stealing, or complete lack of originality, (all of the time, though there certainly are instances where this is the case) it's just how we relate to things we hear or see or read.
wow low blow
wonderk im hurt
I said no offense! It wasn't a low blow! Don't be hurt. Oh jeez. I get your point. Eventually. Besides I appreciate the fact that you actually put some thought into your responses and have the maturity to respond to the topic posted, instead of making snide comments or saying something profane and then just moving on. There are some people on this site who I don't even waste my time responding to, I'm glad you are not one of them.
It was just that last sentence up there that confused me temporarily. To your credit I'm always confused....
what's that one movie where there were these robots who lived in another planet and all they did was watch television broadcasts from earth...and when the earthlings finally met them their statements consisted of phrases from t'v shows?
"Don't forget, you don't know I'm here. No word of the fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell became of me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. Someday I want them to raise up on their hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the goddamn Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again.'"
"We want to get the hell over there. We want to get over there and clear the goddamn thing up. You can't win a war lying down. The quicker we clean up this goddamn mess, the quicker we can take a jaunt against the purple pissing Japs an clean their nest out too, before the Marines get all the goddamn credit."
"Sure, we all want to be home. We want this thing over with. The quickest way to get it over is to get the bastards. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin. When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually, and the hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one. We'll win this war but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans we've got more guts than they have."
"There is one great thing you men will all be able to say when you go home. You may thank God for it. Thank God, that at least, thirty years from now, when you are sitting around the fireside with your grandson on your knees, and he asks you what you did in the great war, you won't have to cough and say, 'I shoveled shit in Louisiana.' No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, 'Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named George Patton!'"
"That is all."
from d-day speech.
Whoa...
I have a friend who doesn't say much of anything except movie quotes. And when I don't laugh he says, "Ron Burgundy!" or "Top Gun" or whatthefuckever. I HATE IT. I don't watch a lot of pop culture, and what I do watch I never get the lines memorized. Definitely a guy thing, and one of my least favorite traits.
Brings me back to middle school where SNL was huge, and everything every boy ever said to me was quoted from SNL, which I didn't watch, so I didn't get it.
Except Napolean. You can quote Napolean all you want.
Tina, come get your ham!
Lately my random quotes come from here.
"Vin Diesel coined the phrase, 'I could eat a horse' after he ate every last unicorn in existence."
"When the Shit Hits the fan, I'm gonna be hittin' the road at 110 per."
I use movie/television quotes a lot i guess. When i hear a movie quote i understand a lot more than just those words being said. It references a larger story and context that is impossible to surmise any other way (its like an hour and a half story in a few seconds). That doesn't go for all quotes but i think their real draw is the ability to add a whole sub layer of content that anyone who has seen the movie instantly understands.
What bothers me is when people assume that someone is unintelligent because they quoted a movie. Many movies offer intelligent commentary on current (or timeless) situations. Why is it less valuable because i didn't read it? Of course there are some pretty stupid pointless movie quotes, but i've read some pretty unintelligent things as well.
ReflexiveSpace nailed it; especially true if the situation being commented upon is completely juxtaposed with the movie context of the quote.
what about quoting rap lyrics, how many of ya'll do that?
melquiades, "...it's pay back, from way back."
congrats Reflexive Space and fro9k...tried to find good pic of Edward G. Robinson in The Ten Commandments -- "Where's your Moses Now?!!!"
Put That Coffee Down! Coffee is for closers!
agree agree lb, wonderk- "It is definitely more prevalent in men". it reminded me of something that happened recently when i had a friendly argument with a close friend. after hearing about five min of non-stop nonsense from me, i said "you have learnt to bury your guilt with anger" (quoting from BATMAN BEGINS)in a funny serious tone.
though funny, i`ve never known any other quotes and it took her a long time to forgive me.
i think its just a local phenomena but ofcourse highly annoying to the listener.
My apartment smells of rich mahogony.
I'll be your huckleberry.
Does that mean I really am a man?
I'll be your huckleberry
classic!
i see reflexivespace's point, but the problem with quoting anything really is that it can only mean something to the situation if everyone is completely aware of the quote.
the number of times i've given my guy friends blank stares because i had no idea what they were quoting from or had any idea how these seemingly random words had anything to do with the current situation is innumerable. they'll just say these one-liners that i can't relate to because whatever situation that was depicted in the movie didn't hit me as anything particularily memorable.
or maybe i'm just soaking it all in at some subconcious level and any original thought or personal relating is really just plagiarized from a compendium of media.
as a secondary note... i notice that most of the people that i know that quote movies so ardently are stunted in emoting themselves to others.
ouch ... that hurts ... can't we all just get along ?
so ... if you quote Keats or Shelley or Byron to your lover, does that mean you're emotionally stunted too ?
yeah that huckleberry one is very good. Thanks driftwood.
PABST BLUE RIBBON!
sometimes the characters you're quoting are emotionally stunted as well.
i'm not saying that everyone who quotes movies is emotionally stunted, it's more so that they seem to quote movies so much that they can't find their own words. and most people who quote movies tend to pick out thoughtful, prolific, witty or just simply comedic items and not sentimental ones.
it seems like they're just at a loss for words to be less harsh sounding.
Never make a defense or apology before you are accused.
the dude abides...
Has no one mentioned that quoting movies and TV is a hell of a lot more amusing than quoting Kant or Derrida? I think that's why those Monty Python guys made the drunken philosopher song, so that we could all have something funny to say about Wittgenstein.
Mark it an eight, Dude.
hmmm......i do this constantly, but i think it's because i don't really have anything importantant to say, or am not really that interested in talking about anything that anyone is interested in.
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