# Please explain this Jonah Hill joke to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032 "2024-07-11T03:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/1 "2024-07-11T03:50:52Z")
I was reading a list of funny tweets and it had this one: > So Jonah Hill is proof than [sic] some men will literally go to therapy instead of going to therapy Can somebody explain the joke to me? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/2 "2024-07-11T04:12:37Z")
I have no idea. The context has “literally” in it which suggests the person would see an actual therapist. The second would be some other kind of therapy. No idea what that would be though. Given the source I would not think too much about it. There is a good chance they do not know what “literally” literally means. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/3 "2024-07-11T04:29:53Z")
Is it possible that he literally went to therapy — showing up for the appointment, and sitting down while a guy with official credentials was in fact in the room — but that he _wasn’t_ out to, like, have a meaningful conversation where he’d open up to someone in hopes of a therapeutic result? To put it another way, if I say I go to the gym three times a week, (a) that implies that I’m doing it to exercise, but (b) it’s literally true if my chauffeur drives me there and carries my limp body inside and then lugs me right back to the car… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/4 "2024-07-11T04:41:20Z")
I do know the background on this. It’s a long, stupid story about a self-absorbed, egotistical jerk. The short version is that he found himself a therapist who would validate his self-image, rather than pushing him to work on himself, and it culminates in gross, controlling attacks on his girlfriend, using perverse distortions of “therapy speak” to make all his problems her fault. Basically he went to fake, neurosis-reinforcing “therapy” so he wouldn’t have to face his real problems and improve himself in _actual_ therapy. Edit to add: **[Here’s a summary](https://www.thestar.com/life/relationships/jonah-hill-s-emotionally-abusive-texts-to-his-ex-sarah-brady-are-a-cautionary-relationship/article_5dcc6214-1683-59f7-a5ab-43422954e499.html)** if you have a strong stomach for emotionally abusive behavior. As an example of what I said above, Hill told his (now ex) girlfriend that it violated his “boundaries” when she spent time with other men without him present. Apologies if anyone was a fan of Jonah Hill. He’s a turd. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/5 "2024-07-11T04:56:28Z")
“Men will literally X instead of going to therapy” is a meme. > **[Instead Of Going To Therapy](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/instead-of-going-to-therapy)** > > Instead Of Going To Therapy refers to a snowclone popular on Twitter with the formation "Men will literally X instead of going to therapy." In the jokes, X ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/6 "2024-07-11T05:01:24Z")
Yes, exactly, I should have mentioned that. The joke takes that established meme format and makes the observation that Hill pretended to go to therapy in order to avoid going to therapy. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/7 "2024-07-11T06:27:47Z")
He made a documentary about his therapist > **[Stutz (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutz_(film))** > > Stutz is a 2022 American documentary film produced and directed by Jonah Hill. The film chronicles the life and career of psychiatrist Dr. Phil Stutz, Hill's therapist. > In August 2022, Hill revealed that he would not be promoting any of his upcoming work, including Stutz, to protect himself from anxiety attacks. The film began streaming on Netflix on 14 November 2022. > In a series of conversations, Jonah Hill and his therapist Phil Stutz delve into their life stories and mental health, their ... ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/8 "2024-07-11T06:40:37Z")
Yeah, the problem with therapy is that it’s EXTREMELY easy to be used as a weapon by a cunning person against his or her partner, or against other people. All that therapy-speak is ripe for distortion and use as manipulation. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/9 "2024-07-11T15:27:26Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Given the source I would not think too much about it. There is a good chance they do not know what “literally” literally means. The OP doesn’t provide a source, other than “seen it on Twitter”. And given the responses that actually answered the question, the source literally did know what “literally” meant. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/10 "2024-07-11T15:50:46Z")
As was made clear on _ **The Sopranos** _. I always wondered why Lorraine Bracco’s name was ahead of Edie Falco’s in the credits. It’s because the series began and ended with Dr Melfi. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/11 "2024-07-11T16:44:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It’s because the series began and ended with Dr Melfi. Did she shoot Tony? Interesting! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/12 "2024-07-11T18:37:24Z")
No, she dropped him as a patient. She cut him adrift and it was clear his end was nigh. She might just as well have been the one who shot him. Didn’t you watch the series? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/13 "2024-07-11T20:41:06Z")
I didn’t watch the series (too cheap to pay for HBO). Did he get shot? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/14 "2024-07-11T20:50:51Z")
**Spoiler alert:** It was not shown, only implied, that he was shot while in a restaurant with his family. The episode ended with a “cut to black” at the moment he probably would have been whacked. Fan reaction varied, to say the least, and the producer has spoken on his choice to end the series. The series has been aired “for free” on cable TV a couple of times since it was on HBO. I watched back-to-back episodes on CTV2 until it ended last week. It was on after midnight, so all of the profanity and violence was preserved, in contrast to some other airings that were parodied on (I think) _ **MAD TV** _. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/15 "2024-07-11T21:10:58Z")
I saw the finale of _The Sopranos_ as it originally aired and the cut to black was so sudden, unexpected and long-lasting that I (and others) thought the transmission cut out at that moment. I thought the ending was brilliant; for the rest of his life, Tony Soprano would never know if or when he might be murdered (hit) and this demonstrated that. Also, Meadow Soprano was _terrible_ at parallel parking. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-jonah-hill-joke-to-me/1004032/16 "2024-07-11T21:19:53Z")
Here’s the MAD TV parody (“edited for broadcast”). The black woman playing Dr Melfi does a perfect imitation of Lorraine Bracco’s voice! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qqE7ZxH7BJE/hqdefault.jpg "MADtv Sopranos on PAX TV") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqE7ZxH7BJE)