# Movie's title awkwardly in movie's dialogue **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258 "2013-08-03T17:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/21 "2013-08-03T22:12:29Z")
Not quite the same, but I thought it was pretty awkward when RoboCop 2 literally introduced a RoboCop 2 character in addition to the original RoboCop. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/22 "2013-08-03T22:21:55Z")
I thought that was pretty neat , myself . May have been making a dig at the current numbering formula for sequels.:): ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/23 "2013-08-03T22:37:51Z")
Another reverse example: When Doc Brown tells Marty he’s sending him _Back to the Future._ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/24 "2013-08-03T22:39:55Z")
Spaceguy: We’re ready to begin operations" Head Spaceguy: “And what plan will we be using?” Spaceguy: “Plan 9, Your Excellency” Head Spaceguy: Ah, yes. Plan 9. That deals with the resurrection of the recently deceased" Bad dialog from a bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/25 "2013-08-03T22:41:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight. No. That line summarized the entire film and deserves to be spoken. It’s similar to “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” a line in the movie that’s absolutely essential. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/26 "2013-08-03T22:49:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No. That line summarized the entire film and deserves to be spoken. > > It’s similar to “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” a line in the movie that’s absolutely essential. Being essential doesn’t keep it from being awkward. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/27 "2013-08-04T00:30:11Z")
In _Don’t Eat the Daisies_ they _sang_ the title as a song. Heck, they did that in _The Sound of Music_, too, but it was a much better song there. The most awkward case I can recall wasn’t even spoken, since it was a silent movie. In _The Lost World_, Lloyd hughes, as Edward Malone, asks Bessie Love (playing Paula White\* how she feels “…in this lost world of ours.” The answer , since they’re surrounded by grunting dinosaurs in the night, and are about to be attacked by an Alosaur and an Ape Man, is “scared out of my mind”. But, of course, she doesn’t say that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/28 "2013-08-04T00:44:09Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Are there other instances where an obvious attempt is made to get the title, or words in the title, into the dialogue of the film resulting in an unnatural moment? Does Bruce Willis ever say, “Looks like I picked a bad day to _die hard_.”? I think in many cases it’s the other way around; the title is pulled out of the script. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/29 "2013-08-04T01:34:03Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown. Great line. Not awkward, though, right? ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/30 "2013-08-04T01:48:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think in many cases it’s the other way around; the title is pulled out of the script. Generally that’ll work better. In the case of “The Cat Creeps”, which I mention in my OP, it takes the title from a 1930 movie which is thought to be a lost film. Evidently someone liked the existing title but felt like they needed to shoehorn, “cat” and “creeps” into the dialogue to justify it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/31 "2013-08-04T02:03:58Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Being essential doesn’t keep it from being awkward. In neither case was it awkward; the use of the term was perfectly reasonable dialog. In the case of “They Shoot Horses,” I’m betting the author of the book decided on that title _after_ he wrote the line. That is a technique that’s fairly common, and it’s also common that movies get their titles the script is written. As such, the title comes from the dialog, instead of the dialog being written to match the title.\* So how is the dialog awkwardly referencing the title if the dialog came before it was the title? **Please Don’t Eat the Daisies** definitely doesn’t belong on the list. The line may appear in the movie, but it was taken from an actual line that Jean Kerr (the 50s Erma Bomback, but funnier) used; the book was a collection of humorous essays based upon true incidents of her family. One essay took that title from something she had said to her kids, and the book took its title from that essay. So again, the dialog can’t be referencing the title, since the line came first. As for the fact that there was a song by that name, hundreds of movies used theme songs that had the title of the film: **Ghostbusters, Theme from the Godfather, Tammy, Cat Ballou, Oklahoma!, A Hard Day’s Night,** etc. It’s silly to call that awkwardness – the entire point of a theme song is to use the title of the movie. " **Plan 9 From Outer Space** , mentioned here, comes to mind: The original title was **Grave Robbers from Outer Space**. While the dialog is awkward, that’s only because _all_ the dialog in the movie is awkward, not that they tried to put the title of the film into the dialog (though Kreskin did say “Grave Robbers from Outer Space,” but that’s perfectly natural in its context: he’s introducing the story. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/32 "2013-08-04T02:18:55Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Family Guy lampooned this with Peter having a cutaway saying that he loves it when they say the title of the movie in the movie itself: > > “I’m telling you, these drug dealers represent a Clear and Present Danger to the United States!” > > “All I’m saying is, what if this is As Good as it Gets?” > > And then finally: > > “The only way for me to solve this crisis is to be Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.” > > Ok so that last one isn’t real, but it serves to point out how heavy handed it is when they do it in movies like we’re all talking about. And later on: Police Officer: I don’t appreciate drug addicts in my town. I’m a Family Guy. Peter: Yes he said it! TVTropes has a shit-ton of examples: [Title Drop](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TitleDrop), for when someone says it. And [Justified Title](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JustifiedTitle), when a very specific title makes sense in context via something in the story, but is often forced. Or [Epunymous Title](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EpunymousTitle), if it’s something corny based on a character’s name, etc. (“John Termin the 8th is… Termin8or”). ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/33 "2013-08-04T02:30:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Great line. > > Not awkward, though, right? It is a good line, but it kind of just hangs out there as a final punctuation on the movie–more of a “line” than dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/34 "2013-08-04T02:37:37Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Does Samuel L. Jackson’s “I’m (extremely upset that there are numerous deadly)…snakes on this…plane” count? I ask because \*Snakes on a Plane \*was the working title until the producers decided to just go for it after the leaked script went viral. Samuel L. Jackson is the one who ensured the title would stay “ **Snakes on a Plane**.” The producers did want to change it (to the ridiculously generic **Flight 180** ), but Jackson put his foot down and basically told them that he signed up for “ **Snakes on a Plane** ,” so he was going to star in “ **Snakes on a Plane**.” Though the “I am sick of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane” line was added after the Internet went crazy for the film. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/35 "2013-08-04T07:23:27Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown. Not only isnt this line not awkward, it is classic. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/36 "2013-08-04T18:32:06Z")
> [@](#): > > In neither case was it awkward; the use of the term was perfectly reasonable dialog. In the case of “They Shoot Horses,” I’m betting the author of the book decided on that title _after_ he wrote the line. > > That is a technique that’s fairly common, and it’s also common that movies get their titles the script is written. As such, the title comes from the dialog, instead of the dialog being written to match the title.\* So how is the dialog awkwardly referencing the title if the dialog came before it was the title? > > **Please Don’t Eat the Daisies** definitely doesn’t belong on the list. The line may appear in the movie, but it was taken from an actual line that Jean Kerr (the 50s Erma Bomback, but funnier) used; the book was a collection of humorous essays based upon true incidents of her family. One essay took that title from something she had said to her kids, and the book took its title from that essay. So again, the dialog can’t be referencing the title, since the line came first. _Don’t Eat the Daisies_ DEFINITELY belongs on the list. Nothing about this thread demands that the line not come first. The problem is that there’s no way to work it into the script. It’s a cathchy book title, but a stupid line, u8nless delivered by a suburban mom to a child (or dog), and for some reason they didn’t want to do that, so they put it in a song. I included this example in a thread I started a long time ago about movies where the script had diverged so much from the book that they had to “explain” the title. _The Color Purple_ is another 9the book uses purple in several ways, not just that line they throw in at the end about God getting pissed off when people don’t appreciate The Color Purple. But I didn’t think that was particularly clumsy, so I didn’t include it. Another was Stephen King’s _Hearts in Atlantis_, where they had to cook up a scene with people playing the card game “Hearts” to cover tyhe fact that they didn’t include the parts of the book that made the title make sense. But no one in the film says “Hearts in Atlantis”, so I didn’t include that one hgere, either. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/37 "2013-08-04T18:58:14Z")
IIRC, there was a time when the Academy required the title be mentioned in a Best Original Song entry. This led to Phil Collins’ “And you coming back to me is **Against All Odds** ,” which I found lyrically awkward and an obvious sop to the Academy and the guys in Marketing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/38 "2013-08-04T19:16:16Z")
I recently watched _Magnificent Obsession,_" starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. At one point, Hudson meets up with a man who is spreading a very altruistic philosophy. Hudson decides to follow this philosophy (making up for wrongs he had committed), and the man says to him (I’m paraphrasing) “This will become your obsession . . . a magnificent obsession.” The line sounded very contrived, as if the screenplay writer was coerced into mention the title somewhere in the script. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/39 "2013-08-04T19:30:50Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I seem to remember Rooster Cogburn being described to whatshername, as a Marshall with, “true grit,” in the recent release, but I don’t remember if the line was in the original. ‘Grit’ was used to describe him in the first movie, but I don’t recall the phrase ‘True Grit’ being used. Definitely in the 2010 version: > [@Mattie Ross](#): > > They tell me you are a man with true grit. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258/40 "2013-08-04T22:22:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > ‘Grit’ was used to describe him in the first movie, but I don’t recall the phrase ‘True Grit’ being used. Definitely in the 2010 version: I believe in both films she says that she is “looking for a man with true grit.” I believe one time it is to the man she convinces to buy and sell the horses. I also believe she says it to Cogburn himself after his testimony. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-title-awkwardly-in-movies-dialogue/665258.md?page=3)