# When did movies stop being quotable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594 "2017-01-08T00:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/41 "2017-01-08T16:39:09Z")
The Simpsons was so quotable it replaced movie quotes. Then it went on for so many years that some people stopped watching it. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/42 "2017-01-08T17:53:08Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > The Simpsons was so quotable it replaced movie quotes. Then it went on for so many years that some people stopped watching it. I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/43 "2017-01-08T18:06:08Z")
“Multipass” ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/44 "2017-01-08T18:25:56Z")
He’s got an army! And they’ll be murdered by the world’s greatest lover. This is the deal: You disobey me, you die. You try to escape, you die. You irritate or vex me… And guess what? You die. You’ll die defending this world, Mister… Doctor! Mister Doctor? It’s Strange! Maybe, who am I to judge? ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/45 "2017-01-08T18:50:30Z")
Everyone knows movie quotes attained perfection in _Aliens_. It’s a scientific fact. I am Groot! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/46 "2017-01-09T04:04:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Since 2005, the number of viable entertainment options has skyrocketed. The age of the ubiquitous pop song is gone. The age of the TV show that everyone watched is gone. The age of the movie that everyone saw over the summer is gone. > > There are still plenty of quotable movies, hook-laden pop songs and beloved TV shows. But now, not everyone is limited to a handful of choices. > > ETA: A quote that swept the country post-2005: “Winter is coming.” Not a movie, but still something that permeated the public consciousness. I’d put it down less to the expansion of TV shows and Internet memes as the decline of TV channels. It used to be that you would watch a movie 5-10 times simply because you had the option of rewatching a movie you liked for the umpteenth time or watching informercials. You’d rewatch the movie. I do like The Princess Bride, Big Trouble in Little China, etc. But if I’d had the option of watching those the 15th time, or watching something new, I’d have watched something new. While it’s amusing to know the quote, “You were not put upon this Earth to _get it_.” I wouldn’t put memorizing snappy dialogue as being the real goal of my evening entertainment. But I’d be relatively certain that if you had watched the new Robocop 10 times, you’d start finding a few chunks of dialogue amusing. I’d recommend against it, but it would probably happen. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/47 "2017-01-09T04:48:10Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” I like this quote so much i use it in complete seriousness. It’s good advice. It’s also my stock answer to anyone who wants me to do comedy for free or “exposure.” It’'s such a good quote I tried to find out where they’d gotten it from, but it appears it was written for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/48 "2017-01-09T07:36:04Z")
I’m starving, gimme a scotch. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/49 "2017-01-09T14:19:04Z")
It’s really funny you started this thread because I was prompted with this exact same thought earlier this year via a podcast. They talk about Jerry Maguire and posit the same things you do, that it’s a very quotable movie that we just don’t have anymore. I tend to agree with the OP more than most here, and my evidence are the quotes given in this thread. Most are from a recent run of superhero/“guy” movies. I guarantee you I could poll my office right now and 90% of them wouldn’t recognize half those Joker quotes, because they haven’t seen the movie or saw it once and let it go (heh…“let it go”…) The thing Jerry Maguire was (and Austin Powers too as it was brought up earlier) was a far reaching, multi-demographic movie. It’s technically a Rom-Com, but it was a sports movie too. Men and Women both saw it equally. Then, it came out, that it was a genuinely funny movie…so more people saw it. etc, etc. Sure, a lot of people see the superhero movies, but not to the extent that the general populous is going to remember quotes from them. I think, in certain circles, movies are very quotable…but only within those circles. Unless a general, not-raunchy comedy comes out that takes the country by storm, nationally recognized quotable movies are d-e-d dead. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/50 "2017-01-09T14:30:20Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > The Simpsons was so quotable it replaced movie quotes. Then it went on for so many years that some people stopped watching it. I find it interesting that there’s a million Simpsons quotes in the general lexicon but they’re almost exclusively from the first ten or twelve out of twenty-eight seasons. I tend to agree with the OP but then also agree with the “Because there’s a ton more stuff to watch and a ton more ways to do it” reasoning. Some of the quotes I recognize but never see used in the wild. Some I don’t really recognize even if I saw the film. I’m amused to see “I drink your milkshake” since I was watching an episode of Bojack Horseman the other day where that line was used to date a scene in 2007 in a “Remember when people said that for two months?” sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/51 "2017-01-09T15:45:09Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Sure, a lot of people see the superhero movies, but not to the extent that the general populous is going to remember quotes from them. I think, in certain circles, movies are very quotable…but only within those circles. Unless a general, not-raunchy comedy comes out that takes the country by storm, nationally recognized quotable movies are d-e-d dead. As you say, it will depend on your circle. If you haven’t seen it, it isn’t quotable, and cultural saturation of a show or movie is never as deep as it seems. I honestly don’t personally know anyone who actually sat through _Jerry Maguire_ and found it a pleasurable experience or quoted it without making fun of it. I managed a video store when it was released, but I have never seen it myself. 20 years ago, if someone quoted that movie, they were going to have to explain it to me. Similarly, as a tech worker I hear a lot of quotes from superhero movies. I don’t see them either, so if you quote them, it’s probably going to have to be explained to me. So, things now are pretty similar to what they’ve always been, just with sightly smaller divisions. For example: the people who watch Monty Python will quote it, and the people who don’t wish that they would shut up about it. Hell, you might not know what I’m referring to when I shout “LEEEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!”, but a large portion of the group I work with would absolutely know. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/52 "2017-01-09T15:55:05Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > One way to bypass that is to put the memorable quote in movie trailers in particular and in commercials in general. No, not everyone sees the movie, and not everyone sees it more than once; but you see the _ad_ multiple times, is the thing. The people who put together trailers are generally complete idiots. They are given a set of clips from the studio and just throw stuff together. Adding music that won’t be in the film, etc. Trailers are generally poor representations of the actual movie. These folk often also do the commercials prior to release. If a quote from one of these starts being used, it quickly gets mocked by the “true fans” of the film. It’s the people who create commercials later like when the movie is airing on cable TV that do a better job. And I think those folk used to influence the popularity of certain quotes a lot. But, again, I don’t watch many movies on basic cable and I certainly don’t watch commercials at all thanks to DVRs. I just feel kind of… feel kind of invincible. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/53 "2017-01-09T17:32:41Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > As you say, it will depend on your circle. If you haven’t seen it, it isn’t quotable, and cultural saturation of a show or movie is never as deep as it seems. I honestly don’t personally know anyone who actually sat through _Jerry Maguire_ and found it a pleasurable experience or quoted it without making fun of it. I managed a video store when it was released, but I have never seen it myself. 20 years ago, if someone quoted that movie, they were going to have to explain it to me. > > Similarly, as a tech worker I hear a lot of quotes from superhero movies. I don’t see them either, so if you quote them, it’s probably going to have to be explained to me. > > So, things now are pretty similar to what they’ve always been, just with sightly smaller divisions. For example: the people who watch Monty Python will quote it, and the people who don’t wish that they would shut up about it. Hell, you might not know what I’m referring to when I shout “LEEEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!”, but a large portion of the group I work with would absolutely know. Right, which is why I’m saying a quotable movie, in the sense that we’re talking about here, has to come from outside of a specialized genre…which Jerry Maguire did. Based on your examples, I think we run in what tends to be the same thech-y, nerdy kind of circles, but I absolutely know plenty of people who enjoyed Jerry Maguire who are a variety of ages and of both genders. Like I said, the best chance we’ll have for a movie to do that again will be a non-offensive, PG-13 comedy. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/54 "2017-01-09T19:22:26Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Right, which is why I’m saying a quotable movie, in the sense that we’re talking about here, has to come from outside of a specialized genre…which Jerry Maguire did. Well, again, it depends on the circles you run in. Quoting _Jerry Maguire_ would have generally gotten blank stares from my friends. Quoting _Pulp Fiction_ would have been recognized immediately. My father would have missed a quote from either, and probably would have assumed we were quoting the Simpsons, because my brother and I just about communicated in quotes from that show. But, he would have got " I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man", as would my friends. He’d know it from the John Wayne movie, my friends would know it from a punk rock record that sampled the movie. But then again, it does depend on the movie, too. Maybe _Jerry Maguire_ is just a bad example that we’ve latched onto here. While _Guardians of the Galaxy_ is PG-13, and a superhero movie, I enjoyed the hell out of it. My nephew and I can quote “I am Groot” all day long. It’s a durable phrase. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/55 "2017-01-09T22:44:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > EATA: “I live. I die. I LIVE AGAIN!” Also, “Oh what a lovely day!” You must not have been watching the same movie… the whole “WITNESS ME!!!” bit of the warboys was the real quotable thing from that movie. All my friends and I will say that if we’re about to do something stupid/insane while gaming, or just if we’re about to do something risky. Personally, I think the lack of quotes is more of a result of the fact that people don’t go to the movies like we used to, so there aren’t really the cinematic cultural touchstones that there used to be. Plus, TV seems to be more fragmented than it used to be. I don’t mean that there are more channels, but rather that quality first-run programming is being produced on lots of networks, not just the broadcast stations. So in essence, there are more choices overall, and fewer joint experiences that everyone has seen, which severely limits the quotability of an otherwise eminently quotable show or movie. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/56 "2017-01-10T02:01:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > **What We Do in Shadows** is quoted often in our house: > > “Shame! Shame!”, which many assume is from GoT, but in our house, it’s from Shadows. > > “We’re werewolves, not swearwolves!” Whenever we drive past a police car now my wife and I chorus “Hello, police!” ---
**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:** [January 10, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/57 "2017-01-10T11:41:21Z")
Ever since **What We Do In The Shadows** , Bisketti has been my go-to pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/58 "2017-01-10T15:50:24Z")
Yep, it’s our age. My daughter (35), her husband (34) and especially my grandson (15) all quote frequently from movies (and TV series) I haven’t seen and that came out in the last few years. All I have for myself is from _Marvel’s The Avengers_: “Dost Mother know thou wearest her drapes?” which has limited usage. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/59 "2017-01-10T18:42:31Z")
It takes time for a quote to emerge as iconic. And the longer it’s been around, and is quoted and referenced and reinforced, the more iconic and quotable it gets. For that reason, you’re always going to see a time lag between when a movie is released and when quotes from it are acknowledged as the most quotable. Think about how many references and jokes and paraphrasings you’ve heard of some of those quotes. I know I’ve heard at least a dozen variations on “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”, “May the Force be with you”, and “I see dead people”. There’s a whole movie titled _Play it Again, Sam_. Those were obviously great lines when written, but it’s the cultural remixing that makes them the most quotable. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-movies-stop-being-quotable/776594/60 "2017-01-10T18:46:05Z")
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