One could call them philosophical quotes, but a lot of philosophy is uncritical bullshit. What are your favorite movie quotes that deal with themes loosely categorized as Critical Theory? Here are some i like. In addition to/instead of quotes, if any quote strikes your fancy or pisses you off, tell us what you think about it.
The Devil's Advocate
John Milton: Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? NEVER!
Good Will Hunting
Will: You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.
Will: Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had a no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.
Twelve Monkeys
Dr. Peters: I think, Dr. Railly, you have given your "alarmists" a bad name. Surely there is very real and very convincing data that the planet cannot survive the excesses of the human race: proliferation of atomic devices, uncontrolled breeding habits, the rape of the environment, the pollution of land, sea, and air. In this context, isn't it obvious that "Chicken Little" represents the sane vision and that Homo Sapiens' motto, "Let's go shopping!" is the cry of the true lunatic?
Instinct
Dr. Ethan Powell: These are shadows of gorillas. Born in cages. Only the old male--he was free once. Still alive. Goliath. l named him that. l brought him here. This cage has broken him. Broken his heart,broken his mind. Made him insane. l did that.
Dr. Ethan Powell: Did you think you were free? Where were you going at today? into the gym, right? in the morning,your wake-up call. in the middle of the night when you wakeup sweating, with your heart pounding.What is it that has you all tied up,Juha, tied up in little knots? Is it ambition? You're no mystery to me, boy. l used to be you.
Fight Club
Tyler Durden: Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
The Matrix
Morpheus: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
Play it to the Bone
Vince: Jesus was too good for the church. He was an anarchist. The first thing he'll do when he returns is torch the Vatican.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Chief Bromden: My pop was real big. He did like he pleased. That's why everybody worked on him. The last time I seen my father, he was blind and diseased from drinking. And every time he put the bottle to his mouth, he don't suck out of it, it sucks out of him until he shrunk so wrinkled and yellow even the dogs didn't know him.
McMurphy: Killed him, huh?
Chief Bromden: I'm not saying they killed him. They just worked on him. The way they're working on you.
Jurassic Park
Malcolm: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not
they could that they didn't stop to think if they
should. Science can create pesticides, but it can't
tell us not to use them. Science can make a nuclear
reactor, but it can't tell us not to build it!
Hammond: But this is nature! Why not give an extinct species a
second chance?! I mean, Condors. Condors are on the
verge of extinction - - if I'd created a flock of them
on the island, you wouldn't be saying any of this!
Malcolm: Hold on - - this is no species that was obliterated by
deforestation or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs had
their shot. Nature selected them for extinction.
Hammond: I don't understand this Luddite attitude, especially
from a scientist. How could we stand in the light of
discovery and not act?
Malcolm: What's so great about discovery? It's a violent,
penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you
call discovery I call the rape of the natural world!
Office Space
Peter Gibbons: Doesn't it bother you that you have to get up in the morning and you have to put on a bunch of pieces of flair?
Joanna: Yeah, but I'm not about to go in and start taking money from the register.
Peter Gibbons: Well, maybe you should. You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear.
The Breakfast Club
Allison Reynolds: When you grow up, your heart dies.
Andrew Clark: Who cares?
Allison Reynolds: I care.
The Devil's Advocate
John Milton: Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? NEVER!
Good Will Hunting
Will: You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.
Will: Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had a no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.
Twelve Monkeys
Dr. Peters: I think, Dr. Railly, you have given your "alarmists" a bad name. Surely there is very real and very convincing data that the planet cannot survive the excesses of the human race: proliferation of atomic devices, uncontrolled breeding habits, the rape of the environment, the pollution of land, sea, and air. In this context, isn't it obvious that "Chicken Little" represents the sane vision and that Homo Sapiens' motto, "Let's go shopping!" is the cry of the true lunatic?
Instinct
Dr. Ethan Powell: These are shadows of gorillas. Born in cages. Only the old male--he was free once. Still alive. Goliath. l named him that. l brought him here. This cage has broken him. Broken his heart,broken his mind. Made him insane. l did that.
Dr. Ethan Powell: Did you think you were free? Where were you going at today? into the gym, right? in the morning,your wake-up call. in the middle of the night when you wakeup sweating, with your heart pounding.What is it that has you all tied up,Juha, tied up in little knots? Is it ambition? You're no mystery to me, boy. l used to be you.
Fight Club
Tyler Durden: Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
The Matrix
Morpheus: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
Play it to the Bone
Vince: Jesus was too good for the church. He was an anarchist. The first thing he'll do when he returns is torch the Vatican.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Chief Bromden: My pop was real big. He did like he pleased. That's why everybody worked on him. The last time I seen my father, he was blind and diseased from drinking. And every time he put the bottle to his mouth, he don't suck out of it, it sucks out of him until he shrunk so wrinkled and yellow even the dogs didn't know him.
McMurphy: Killed him, huh?
Chief Bromden: I'm not saying they killed him. They just worked on him. The way they're working on you.
Jurassic Park
Malcolm: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not
they could that they didn't stop to think if they
should. Science can create pesticides, but it can't
tell us not to use them. Science can make a nuclear
reactor, but it can't tell us not to build it!
Hammond: But this is nature! Why not give an extinct species a
second chance?! I mean, Condors. Condors are on the
verge of extinction - - if I'd created a flock of them
on the island, you wouldn't be saying any of this!
Malcolm: Hold on - - this is no species that was obliterated by
deforestation or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs had
their shot. Nature selected them for extinction.
Hammond: I don't understand this Luddite attitude, especially
from a scientist. How could we stand in the light of
discovery and not act?
Malcolm: What's so great about discovery? It's a violent,
penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you
call discovery I call the rape of the natural world!
Office Space
Peter Gibbons: Doesn't it bother you that you have to get up in the morning and you have to put on a bunch of pieces of flair?
Joanna: Yeah, but I'm not about to go in and start taking money from the register.
Peter Gibbons: Well, maybe you should. You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear.
The Breakfast Club
Allison Reynolds: When you grow up, your heart dies.
Andrew Clark: Who cares?
Allison Reynolds: I care.
I can think of very few movies that are more relevant to the present then fight club. just look at the quote i posted from it. if you can't see how that relates to the present i don't know what to tell ya. Extremism has nothing to do with teenagers. That's a popular myth to discredit what are labelled as extremist ideas or actions.
It's not simply about excitement and escape. it's largely about civilization and an alternative to it. i understand what you are saying about a middle ground. maybe some type of nature retreat on the weekends from your office slavery. well, mabye that is what was implied by the ending, seeing how anti-tyler ed norton became. the ending is ambiguous, but could easily be seen as a middle ground. i don't see how you could miss that. just because a movie isn't the way you would have made it doesn't mean it is one sided. a movie doesn't have to spell out everything for you. you say for no reason at all ed norton becomes tyler. use a little imagination, as well as a close analysis of the film. the information for bomb making isn't even true in the film. they changed it, i guess because they are scared of having their precious buildings destroyed by rebellious teens. i say fuck yeah to rebellious teens. i think a lot of them are not misguided, just unable to find an effective outlet to change their alienation.
