Popular Movie Quotes: Reflections of A People and A Culture

By

Stuart Fischoff, Ph.D., Esmeralda Cardenas, Angela Hernandez, Korey Wyatt, Jarod Young,

and

Rachel Gordon, Executive Editor, Journal of MediaPsychology

  Based on a paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 7, 2000

Introduction

        "You can't handle the truth!"  The truth is that film quotes have become an integral part of our everyday language to such an extent that they become separated from their filmic origins.  People use them everyday as a form of informal communication to convey a variety of attitudes and expressions.  Quotes like, "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" and "Here's looking at you kid" are prime examples.  In this day and age, film quotes have not only become a way of expression, but also a top interest in our culture.  Different mediums of communication have devoted attention to this topic.  Newspapers (e.g., Seiler, 1997; Wloszczyna, 1991, 1997) books (Bainbridge, 1999; Corey 1995; Nanda, 1996), and television programs have disclosed information about favorite film quotes.  The World Wide Web has made film quotes and databases accessible to all individuals (e.g., Internet Movie Database).  In addition, there are even a number of web sites that quiz one's knowledge of film quotes and film sources.

Why is it that some quotes have disappeared while others have stood the test of time?  One element could be that what we remember is a reflection of who we are and, according to Denzin (1991), people’s self-perceptions are increasingly influenced by film.

Personal efficacy (Bandura, 1986) is also an element that contributes to individuals’ reliance on movie quotes to express themselves during contentious situations.  For our purposes, an individual may feel more personally efficacious in a conversation when using a movie quote to convey difficult emotional issues.  For instance, many men may find themselves at a loss for words when their partner says, “I love you.”  By using Patrick Swayze’s pithy response “Ditto” from the movie Ghost, men evade what could have turned out to be a disaster.  Humorous quotes (e.g., “Who you gonna call?” from  Ghostbusters) function in much the same way as they take the edge off thorny situations.

        So, it seems, we often borrow quotes from films to fill in the gaps in our imagination.  We use phrases created by wordsmiths superior to us, to impress others, if not so much with our creativity, then in our recognition of eloquence and the facility to conjure up the bon mots. Certain quotes exquisitely capture the mood or feeling we wish to communicate to someone.  We hear them in movies and store them away for future use. 

Some memorable quotes are jarring in their ability to encapsulate the sturm und drang of an entire movie and reveal, in an instantly relatable and recognizable way, the frustrations that both the onscreen character and the off-screen audience have experienced in not dissimilar fashions.  It is a phrase that may provide a perfect ending to a perfectly awful ordeal.  Such a quote is a phrase which is often less elegant than it is thundering in its emotional exactness.  Robert Redford’s line, “What do we do now?” at the end of the movie, The Candidate, when he won a senatorial election and now is confronted by the awesomeness of the task before him, captures a moment that many of us have experienced when we fought the good fight but aren’t quite sure we’re up to the task now that it’s upon us.  Or, in a different emotional chord, we have Rhett Butler’s parting line to Scarlett O’Hara in the classic Gone with the Wind, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”  Both quotes have a timeless utility for all of us, for all of us know that someday, somehow, somewhere, we will need the strength or the self-knowledge to meet the painful truth of the moment.  These are “moment of truth.” quotes.

It is also true that words or phrases enter into the public sphere precisely because they capture the mood of a country and express it in a way that is instantly recognizable, e.g., “Go ahead, make my day,” uttered by the memorable Clint Eastwood character, Dirty Harry, in the film, Sudden Impact, a sequel to the eponymous original Dirty Harry.  The eloquence is less in the exact phrasing than in the succinctness with which it captures a “cultural zeitgeist.” Some of these cultural moods have lasting quality, such as irritation at the perceived spread of unchecked, unprosecuted violence in a country, and thus, “Go ahead, make my day” becomes embedded in our cultural lexicon.  These are “zeitgeist” quotes.

The popularity of other phrases, however, may be short-lived.  They are funny, raunchy, sexy, hostile, etc.  But it is the rapid transmission through the culture of words and phrases in an immensely popular movie that motivates people to exploit them for a while, which is the fuel for the phrases’ popularity.  The salaciously uttered phrase, “Yeah, baby,” from the successful spy spoof series, Austin Powers, is illustrative.  The quote announces to listeners that the person who uses the dialogue is pop culture cutting edge and knows what’s hot and what’s not in the film marketplace.  But as the popularity of the film passes, so may the use of the phrase, because it possesses no particular elegance or pungency.  The wave subsides and the culture moves on.  These are short-lived, “fad” quotes.

Still other memorable lines of dialogue from films appeal to a particular segment of a population and become “insider” phrases, phrases that any self-respecting member of that segment will instantly recognize, know their filmic origins, and, in a flash, identify the user as a kindred spirit.  Gays, for example, might be expected to immediately recognize the phrase from the gay-themed film Boys in the Band, “Give me Librium or give me death,” whereas non-gays might not be expected to either use or recognize the quote or know the film origin of the phrase.  Alternatively, gays might remember a quote not because of what it says but because of how the actor delivered it.  Thus, Bette Davis delivered the line “I’d kiss ya, but I just washed my hair,” from the film Cabin in the Cotton.   Is it the quote itself, the context of the quote in an obscure movie, or the fact that Miss Davis is so enjoyable to imitate, almost regardless of what line she is delivering?   These are “niche” quotes.

Beyond quotes, of course, some people remember whole passages of dialogue from movies as either tour de forces or because they are simply eternally caught up in the movie and its dramatic atmosphere and characters.  The movie Godfather is one such famous example.  This places a movie beyond the realm of a good source of quotes to a cult classic that invites people to not only memorize whole passages but inhabit favorite roles within the movie for the delight of themselves and their friends.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show is another fine example of the spell that can be cast by certain movies.

Clearly then, movies put words in the mouths of audiences and serve a multitude of social and individual purposes.  Moreover, it would seem that movies have replaced books as the chief source of memorable lines in contemporary Western cultures.  If we look at what are the currently popular and/or most memorable quotes from films, it might provide us with some sense of what our culture thinks about and highlight the social agendas that film dialogue often has an uncanny way of revealing.  After all, it can be argued, we are what we find memorable.

But at the same time, can we meaningfully speak nowadays of a single American culture?  With the diversity of ethnic groups and gender preferences in films and with the increasing chasm between generations of Americans fueled by an entertainment industry which finds that the bottom line is best tended to by the dictum, “youth must be served,” might it not be expected that different demographic groups have their cache of memorable quotes from films and that a substantial overlap would be the exception rather than the rule?

Compared with films produced under the aegis of the Motion Picture Code (The Hays Code), which lasted from about 1933-1964, films today are far more sexually explicit and violent and the language is far more laden with sexual and violent sentiments (Shales, 2000).  Previous research on favorite films by the first author (Fischoff, 1994; Fischoff, Antonio, & Lewis, 1997) has clearly indicated that young people tend to prefer films released during their lifetimes; older people tend to have a more chronologically broad distribution of favorite films but with an emphasis on films released before the late 1980s.  It might be expected then, that there would be age differences in favorite quotes. 

Young people, reared on post-Hays Code cinematic freedoms, should prefer more aggressive and profanity-suffused quotes than older people.  Naturally, the release dates of films which are the origins of these favored quotes would vary chronologically as a function of the age of the respondent, with young people preferring more recently minted films and older people casting a temporally wider net from which to draw favorite quotes.  While this would seem less inevitable given the availability of so many early and late films on videocassette, research by Fischoff (1994) found that people were more impressed by films seen originally in theaters than by films first seen on television, however the picture is delivered.

It would also be expected that young people would favor film quotes with more explicit sexual, obscenity-laden or aggressive images given prevailing film production patterns and formulas since the demise of the Hays Code.

Previous research by Fischoff (1994), also found significant gender differences with males favoring films with more violence and action than females, who, in turn, favored films with more relationship issues and romantic storylines.  It might be expected that similar preferences would reveal themselves in film quote preferences.

While there are many popular sources of movie quotes, surprisingly, the present authors were unable to find any scholarly research articles which sought to look at people’s favorite movie quotes and/or draw any conclusions about what such a repository of popular cultural memories says about our society.  The present research was undertaken to explore this surprisingly untapped source of cultural revelation, untapped from just such a research-based perspective.  Specifically, the present study sought to explore the following hypotheses (Hs) and research questions (RQs);

H1: People recall predominantly negative sentiments

H2: Males will cite more negative valence quotes than females.

H3: Males will cite more aggressive/hostile quotes than females.

H4: Females will cite more romantic and affectionate quotes than males.

RQ1: Are the quotes that individuals remember actor gender specific, e.g. males select more male originated quotes while females select more female originated quotes?

RQ2: Is age a determining factor in the sentiment of the quote that is remembered?

RQ3: Is there a bias in the age of respondents regarding the release dates of the films that originated the quotes they favored?

RQ4: Do some films generate more memorable individual quotes than other films?

Methods

Respondent Sample

A nation-wide independent, cross-sectional, convenience sample of 1,083 respondents, ranging in age from 10 years old to 90 years old, and primarily representing the racial/ethnic groups of White (n = 449), Latinos (n = 263), African-Americans (n =174), Asians (n = 151) and (n = 46) other groups or those who gave no ethnic affiliation.   Respondents were grouped according to age with the Young group < 25 years old (n  = 389), Middle group 26 to 49 years old (n = 385), Older group 50+ (n = 303), and those who did not provide an age (n = 6).  There were 521 females and 562 males in the sample.   

Respondents were contacted through a variety of sources including mail, street interviews, e-mail, web-site solicitations, and e-mail in response to live radio interviews where the first author discussed the topic of favorite quotes.  In addition, data was collected through cooperation by faculty and students at universities in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York.  Data was collected between May 1999 and April 2000.

Questionnaire

Respondents were asked to list up to 15 of their favorite film quotes.  Quotes cited by respondents were coded according to the gender or character type of the speaker of the quote and the sentiment expressed in the quote within the context of the film.  Student researchers at the Media Psychology Lab at California State University, Los Angeles analyzed the data and participated in the development of a coding system by which the quotes were classified into sentiment categories.  Sentiments were derived from pilot survey data and represented generalized themes.  The sentiment of a quote was determined by the context in which it was used in the film. These sentiments were then collapsed into 30 new sentiments that were then classified into 13 clusters.  Quotes were classified into 3 different valences according to their affective tone; i.e. positive, negative, and neutral. Quote accuracy was verified using the Internet Movie Database and, when necessary, watching videotape of a film to accurately capture a quote’s contextual meaning. 

The valence category was classified based upon the quotes given by the respondents.  There were 3 types of valances: positive, negative, and neutral.  Positive valances were assigned to quotes that expressed sentiments such as affection, attachment, and romance (e.g., "Here's looking at you kid" from the film Casablanca.)  Quotes that expressed sentiments of irritation, disrespect, anxiety, physical/verbal aggression, etc. were coded as having negative valances (e.g., "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone with the Wind.)  Neutral valances covered quotes that showed neither positive nor negative content (e.g., "You gonna finish that?” from Diner).

There were 31 sentiments extracted from the quotes cited.  Examples of these sentiments are physical/verbal aggression, romance, sarcasm, disrespect, and enthusiasm.  Sentiments were then classified as subgroups of clusters. (see Table 1, below)

 

TABLE 1

Sentiment Clusters by Sentiment Classification  

Cluster #

Name

Sentiment

Sentiment #

100

Emotionally/Sexually Open

 

 

 

 

attachment

102

 

 

sex

101

 

 

romance

100

 

 

verbal affection

103

101

Hostility/Aggression

 

 

 

 

physical/verbal aggression

105

 

 

disrespect

104

 

 

kiss-off

30

 

 

sarcasm/bitchy/catty

38

102

Advice/Assistance

 

 

 

 

warning

107

 

 

wisdom

106

 

 

sharing information

41

 

 

bless/inspire/motivate

27

103

Agitation

 

 

 

 

irritation

110

 

 

anxiety

108

 

 

astonishment/shock/bewilderment

109

104

Emotionally Closed

 

 

 

 

defensiveness

15

 

 

distrust

20

 

 

rejection

34

 

 

cynicism

13

 

 

depressed/defeated

52

105

Emotionally Expansive

 

 

 

 

braggadocio

9

 

 

enthusiasm

22

 

 

playful exaggeration/humor

33

 

 

 

51

Independent Sentiments

identity

 

25

 

nonsense phrases/music notes

 

32

 

irony

 

29

 

directive

 

17

 

declaration

 

14

 

dying/expiring

 

49

 

defiance

 

50

  Based on group deliberations, 23 of the 31 sentiments were then collapsed into and classified under clusters or categories.  These clusters were composed of subgroups of conceptually related sentiments.  The remaining 8 sentiments were viewed separately because the quotes either didn't really fit into any existing cluster or the sentiment expressed was viewed as worth evaluating separately.  For example, any quote expressing defiance seemed to reflect a particular sentiment that possessed a particular psychological meaning that warranted special attention (e.g., "Freedom" from the film Braveheart.)  Clusters with multiple sentiments were assigned 3-digit codes (e.g., Sentiment 102 (Attachment) "I'll never let go" from Titanic) while single sentiment clusters were assigned a 2-digit code pertaining to that particular sentiment (e.g., Sentiment 25 (Identity) "Bond, James Bond" from the 007 series).

        Realizing that film dialog comes from a wide variety of characters, it was decided to code the type of character who generated the quote.  Therefore, the character type of the quote source was broken down into the following subcategories: male, female, animated male, animated female, animal, and alien/non-human.

RESULTS

A total of 1,083 respondents generated 5,652 movie quotes.  If each quote is counted only once, there were 2,638 separate quotes cited.  The average number of quotes cited per person was 5.26. 

Only the “Top 20” for each demographic segment of the sample will be cited and discussed here.  Later discussion of results will focus on all quotes and movie sources viewed collectively in terms of valence, sentiments, and clusters.

 

Quotes

Table 2 (below) shows the results of the “Top 20” movie quotes (in most tables more than 20 actual films are included because of tied ranks), their film sources, release dates of film sources and additional statistics to be discussed below.

 

Table 2

"Top 20"  Quotes for All Respondents (N  = 1,083)  

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes     (N = 1,554)

1

I'll be back

159

Terminator

1984

1

3.8%

10.2%

2

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

145

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

3.8%

9.3%

3

Show me the money

140

Jerry Maguire

1996

2

7.7%

9.0%

4

Go ahead, make my day

123

Sudden Impact

1983

1

3.8%

7.9%

5

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

108

Forrest Gump

1994

2

7.7%

6.9%

6

You can't handle the truth

85

A Few Good Men

1992

1

3.8%

5.5%

7

Hasta la vista, baby

82

T2

1991

1

3.8%

5.3%

8

May the force be with you

76

Star Wars

1977

1

3.8%

4.9%

9

There's no place like home

67

The Wizard of Oz

1939

2

7.7%

4.3%

10

Yeah, baby

49

Austin Powers Films

1998

1

3.8%

3.2%

11

Here's looking at you, kid

46

Casablanca

1942

2

7.7%

3.0%

11**

E.T. phone home

46

E.T.

1982

1

3.8%

3.0%

12

(I'll) make him an offer he can't refuse

43

The Godfather

1972

1

3.8%

2.8%

12**

Bond, James Bond

39

James Bond Films

1981

1

3.8%

2.5%

13

Are you talking to me?

35

Taxi Driver

1976

1

3.8%

2.3%

14

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

34

Network

1976

1

3.8%

2.2%

15

Fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night

33

All About Eve

1950

1

3.8%

2.1%

16

You complete me

32

Jerry Maguire

1996

*

 *

2.1%

17

Hakuna Matata

29

The Lion King

1994

1

3.8%

1.9%

18

Play it again Sam (Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake.  Play "As time goes by.")

27

Casablanca

1942

*

*

1.7%

18**

Run, Forrest, run

27

Forrest Gump

1994

*

*

1.7%

18**

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

27

The Wizard of Oz

1939

*

*

1.7%

 

The five most popular quotes all received triple-digit citations.  In ranked order they included "I'll be back" from The Terminator (159 citations). "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone with the Wind (145 citations) "Show me the money" from Jerry Maguire (140 citations), “Go ahead, make my day” from Sudden Impact (123 citations) and “Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates, never know what you’re going to get,” from Forrest Gump (108).

 

Age

There are obvious differences between the three ages groups in terms of what films and what quotes stand out as memorable (see Tables 3, 4, and 5), suggesting dynamics that will be discussed below.  But, there are also some strong similarities.  Some film quotes seem to transcend age. In no particular order, the quotes that reverberate across the three generations are as follows:

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”                                                     Casablanca

“Go ahead, make my day.”                                                       Sudden Impact

“There’s no place like home.”                                                   The Wizard of Oz

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”             Network

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”                                   Gone With The Wind

“I’ll be back.”                                                                           The Terminator

“(I’ll) make him an offer he can’t refuse.”                                   The Godfather

“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates…”            Forrest Gump

“You can’t handle the truth.”                                                     A Few Good Men

“Show me the money.”                                                           Jerry Maguire

“May the force be with you.”                                                    Star Wars

 Table 3

"Top 20" Quotes

Young: Ages 15-25 (N = 389)  

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes       (N = 620)

 

1

I'll be back

82

Terminator

1984

1

3.7%

13.2%

 

2

Show me the money

59

Jerry Maguire

1996

3

11.1%

9.5%

 

3

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

49

Forrest Gump

1994

2

7.4%

7.9%

 

4

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

38

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

3.7%

6.1%

 

5

Hasta la vista, baby

37

T2

1991

1

3.7%

6.0%

 

6

May the force be with you

31

Star Wars

1977

2

7.4%

5.0%

 

7

Yeah, baby

28

Austin Powers Films

1998

3

11.1%

4.5%

 

8

Go ahead, make my day

24

Sudden Impact

1983

1

3.7%

3.9%

 

9

Do I make you horny?

21

Austin Powers Films

1998

*

*

3.4%

 

10

You can't handle the truth

20

A Few Good Men

1992

1

3.7%

3.2%

 

11

E.T. phone home

19

E.T.

1982

1

3.7%

3.1%

 

12

You complete me

18

Jerry Maguire

1996

*

*

2.9%

 

13

(I'll) make him an offer he can't refuse

17

Godfather, The

1972

1

3.7%

2.7%

 

14

Oh, behave

16

Austin Powers Films

1998

*

*

2.6%

 

14**

There's no place like home

16

Wizard of Oz

1939

1

3.7%

2.6%

 

14**

You got knocked the fuck out

16

Friday

1995

1

3.7%

2.6%

 

15

To infinity and beyond

15

Toy Story

1995

1

3.7%

2.4%

 

16

Say hello to my little friend

14

Scarface

1983

1

3.7%

2.3%

 

17

You had me at hello

13

Jerry Maguire

1996

*

*

2.1%

 

18

Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?

12

Rush Hour

1998

1

3.7%

1.9%

 

19

Hakuna Matata

11

Lion King, The

1994

1

3.7%

1.8%

 

19**

Here's looking at you, kid

11

Casablanca

1942

1

3.7%

1.8%

 

19**

Use the force, Luke

11

Star Wars

1977

*

*

1.8%

 

19**

As if…

11

Clueless

1995

1

3.7%

1.8%

 

19**

Run, Forrest, run

11

Forrest Gump

1994

*

*

1.8%

 

20

Are you talking to me?

10

Taxi Driver

1976

1

3.7%

1.6%

 

20**

Luke, I'm your father

10

Star Wars

1977

*

*

1.6%

 

 

TOTAL

620

Average Release Year

1983.7

 

 

 

 

 

** = tied ranks

 

* = repeat citation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4

 "Top 20" Quotes

Middle: Ages 26-49 (N = 385)  

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes        (N =661)

 

1

I'll be back

65

The Terminator

1984

1

3.6%

9.8%

 

2

Go ahead, make my day

61

Sudden Impact

1983

1

3.6%

9.2%

 

3

Show me the money

59

Jerry Maguire

1996

1

3.6%

8.9%

 

4

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

58

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

3.6%

8.8%

 

5

You can't handle the truth

42

A Few Good Men

1992

1

3.6%

6.4%

 

6

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

41

Forrest Gump

1994

1

3.6%

6.2%

 

7

Hasta la vista, baby

33

T2

1991

1

3.6%

5.0%

 

8

May the force be with you

32

Star Wars

1977

1

3.6%

4.8%

 

9

There's no place like home

24

The Wizard of Oz

1939

2

7.1%

3.6%

 

10

E.T. phone home

21

E.T.

1982

1

3.6%

3.2%

 

11

Yeah, baby

20

Austin Powers Films

1998

2

7.1%

3.0%

 

12

Are you talkin' to me?

19

Taxi Driver

1976

1

3.6%

2.9%

 

13

Here's looking at you, kid

16

Casablanca

1942

2

7.1%

2.4%

 

13

Hakuna Matata

16

The Lion King

1994

1

3.6%

2.4%

 

14

Play it again Sam (Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake.  Play "As time goes by.")

15

Casablanca

1942

*

*

2.3%

 

15

(I'll) make him an offer he can't refuse

14

The Godfather

1972

1

3.6%

2.1%

 

16

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night

13

All About Eve

1950

1

3.6%

2.0%

 

17

Run, Forrest, run

12

Forrest Gump

1994

*

*

1.8%

 

18

I love the smell of napalm in the morning

11

Apocalypse Now

1979

1

3.6%

1.7%

 

18**

Bond, James Bond

11

James Bond Films

1981

1

3.6%

1.7%

 

18**

Here's Johnny

11

The Shining

1980

1

3.6%

1.7%

 

19

Adrian

10

Rocky

1976

1

3.6%

1.5%

 

19**

Say hello to my little friend

10

Scarface

1983

1

3.6%

1.5%

 

19**

We don't need no stinking badges. (Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges.)

10

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (and Blazing Saddles)

1948

1

3.6%

1.5%

 

19**

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

10

The Wizard of Oz

1939

*

*

1.5%

 

20

Oh, behave

9

Austin Powers Films

1998

*

*

1.4%

 

20**

Ditto

9

Ghost

1990

1

3.6%

1.4%

 

20**

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

9

Network

1976

1

3.6%

1.4%

 

 

Total

 

Average Release Year

1974.8

 

 

 

 

 

** = tied ranks

 

* = repeat citation

 

 

 

 

 

Table 5

 "Top 20" Quotes

Older: Ages 50+ (N = 303)

 

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes       (N = 452)

1

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

50

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

3.8%

11.1%

2

Go ahead, make my day

38

Sudden Impact

1983

1

3.8%

8.4%

3

There's no place like home

27

The Wizard of Oz

1939

2

7.7%

6.0%

4

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

24

Network

1976

1

3.8%

5.3%

5

You can't handle the truth

24

A Few Good Men

1992

1

3.8%

5.3%

6

Show me the money

23

Jerry Maguire

1996

1

3.8%

5.1%

7

Fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night

21

All About Eve

1950

1

3.8%

4.6%

8

Here's looking at you, kid

20

Casablanca

1942

4

15.4%

4.4%

9

I coulda been a contender

19

On The Waterfront

1954

1

3.8%

4.2%

10

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

18

Forrest Gump

1994

1

3.8%

4.0%

11

We don't need no stinking badges. (Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges.)

17

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (and Blazing Saddles)

1948

1

3.8%

3.8%

12

(I'll) make him an offer he can't refuse

16

The Godfather

1972

1

3.8%

3.5%

13

Play it again Sam (Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake)

15

Casablanca

1942

*

*

3.3%

14

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

14

The Wizard of Oz

1939

*

*

3.1%

14**

Bond, James Bond

14

James Bond Films

1981

1

3.8%

3.1%

14**

I vant to be alone

14

Grand Hotel

1932

1

3.8%

3.1%

15

May the force be with you

13

Star Wars

1977

1

3.8%

2.9%

16

I'll be back

12

The Terminator

1984

1

3.8%

2.7%

17

Plastics

11

The Graduate

1967

1

3.8%

2.4%

18

Round up the usual suspects

10

Casablanca

1942

*

*

2.2%

18

That'll do pig, that'll do

10

Babe

1995

1

3.8%

2.2%

19

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille

9

Sunset Boulevard

1950

1

3.8%

2.0%

19**

I can see that you're upset, Dave

9

2001

1968

1

3.8%

2.0%

20

We'll always have Paris

8

Casablanca

1942

*

*

1.8%

20**

What do we do now?

8

The Candidate

1972

1

3.8%

1.8%

20**

The horror, the horror

8

Apocalypse Now

1979

1

3.8%

1.8%

 

Total

 

Average Release Year

1963.7

 

 

 

 

** = tied ranks

 

* = repeat citation

 

 

 

 

 

Gender

Table 6 shows the results of the “Top 20” movie quotes for Males only.  The film that was the source of the most individual quotes ending up in the “Top 20” for Males was the 1942 romantic drama, Casablanca.  The second most popular source of quotes was the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz.  Casablanca generated quotes which comprised 12.5% of the Top 20 and The Wizard of Oz (“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” and “There’s no place like home.”) comprised 8.5%.  While no quote from Casablanca came close to the five most frequently cited quotes (I’ll be back” from The Terminator (88 citations), “Go ahead, make my day,” from the Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact (83 citations), “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” from Gone With the Wind (64 citations), “Show me the money,” from Jerry Maguire (58 citations), and “You can’t handle the truth,” from A Few Good Men (54 citations), it did generate, collectively, three of the most memorable quotes.  They were “Here’s looking at you, kid,” “Play it again, Sam (the actual quote being, “Play it once, Sam, for old time’s sake.  Play it, Sam.  Play ‘As time goes by.’”), and “Round up the usual suspects.”

 

Table 6

"Top 20" Quotes

Males (N = 562)  

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes           (N = 768)

 

1

I'll be back

88

The Terminator

1984

1

4.2%

11.5%

 

2

Go ahead, make my day

83

Sudden Impact

1983

1

4.2%

10.8%

 

3

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

64

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

4.2%

8.3%

 

4

Show me the money

58

Jerry Maguire

1996

1

4.2%

7.6%

 

5

You can't handle the truth

54

A Few Good Men

1992

1

4.2%

7.0%

 

6

May the force be with you

42

Star Wars

1977

1

4.2%

5.5%

 

7

Hasta la vista, baby

33

T2

1991

1

4.2%

4.3%

 

8

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

29

Forrest Gump

1994

1

4.2%

3.8%

 

9

Bond, James Bond

27

James Bond Films

1981

1

4.2%

3.5%

 

10

Here's looking at you, kid

25

Casablanca

1942

3

12.5%

3.3%

 

11

Are you talking to me?

24

Taxi Driver

1976

1

4.2%

3.1%

 

12

I love the smell of napalm in the morning

22

Apocalypse Now

1979

1

4.2%

2.9%

 

13

E.T. phone home

21

E.T.

1982

1

4.2%

2.7%

 

14

Yeah, baby

20

Austin Powers Films

1998

1

4.2%

2.6%

 

14**

(I'll) make him an offer he can't refuse

20

The Godfather

1972

1

4.2%

2.6%

 

14**

I'm mad as hell

20

Network

1976

1

4.2%

2.6%

 

14**

Say hello to my little friend

20

Scarface

1983

1

4.2%

2.6%

 

15

Fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night

19

All About Eve

1950

1

4.2%

2.5%

 

15**

I coulda been a contender

19

On The Waterfront

1954

1

4.2%

2.5%

 

16

Play it again Sam (Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake.  Play "As time goes by.")

18

Casablanca

1942

*

*

2.3%

 

17

There's no place like home

17

The Wizard of Oz

1939

2

8.3%

2.2%

 

18

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

16

The Wizard of Oz

1939

*

*

2.1%

 

19

We don't need no stinking badges. (Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges.)

15

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (and Blazing Saddles)

1948

1

4.2%

2.0%

 

20

Round up the usual suspects

14

Casablanca

1942

*

*

1.8%

 

 

Total

768

Average Release Year

1969.1

 

 

 

 

 

** = tied ranks

 

* = repeat citation

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Table 7 shows the results of the “Top 20” movie quotes for Females only.  There was noticeable overlap between males and females in terms of the favorite quotes with nine films and their related quotes cited by both sexes, although females had two, very romantic, quotes from Jerry Maguire, “You complete me,” and “You had me at hello,” on their list (26 citations), while these quotes were absent from the male’s list.

Table 7

"Top 20" Quotes

Females (N = 521)  

Rank

Quote

Citation Frequency

Film Source

Release Date

Number of Quotes From Film Source in "Top 20"

Film Source % of Total "Top 20" Quotes

Percentage of "Top 20" Quotes       (N =743)

1

Show me the money

82

Jerry Maguire

1996

3

12.5%

11.0%

2

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

81

Gone With The Wind

1939

1

4.2%

10.9%

3

Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates…

79

Forrest Gump

1994

3

12.5%

10.6%

4

I'll be back

71

Terminator

1984

1

4.2%

9.6%

5

Hast la vista, baby

49

T2

1991

1

4.2%

6.6%

6

There's no place like home

48

The Wizard of Oz

1939

2

8.3%

6.5%

7

Go ahead, make my day

40

Sudden Impact

1983

1

4.2%

5.4%

8

You can't handle the truth

31

A Few Good Men

1992

1

4.2%

4.2%

9

Yeah, baby

29

Austin Powers Films

1998

2

8.3%

3.9%

10

You complete me

26

Jerry Maguire

1996

*

*

3.5%

11

Hakuna Matata

24

The Lion King

1994

1

4.2%

3.2%

12

Here's looking at you, kid

21

Casablanca

1942

1

4.2%

2.8%

13

You had me at hello

19

Jerry Maguire

1996

*

*

2.6%

14

Oh, behave

18

Austin Powers Films

1998

*

*

2.4%

15

Run, Forrest, run

17

Forrest Gump

1994

*

*

2.3%

16

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

16

Network

1976

1

4.2%

2.2%

17

I vant to be alone

15

Grand Hotel

1932

1

4.2%

2.0%

18

Fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night

14

All About Eve

1950

1

4.2%

1.9%

18**

To Infinity and beyond

14

Toy Story

1995

1

4.2%

1.9%

19

As if

13

Clueless

1995

1

4.2%

1.7%

20

That'll do pig, that'll do

12

Babe

1995

1

4.2%

1.6%

20**

Stupid is as stupid does

12

Forrest Gump

1994

*

*

1.6%

20**

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

12

The Wizard of Oz

1939

*

*

1.6%

 

Total

 

Average Release Year

1978.8

 

 

 

 

** = tied ranks

 

* = repeat citation

 

 

 

 

 

The non-overlapping films that contained the quotes cited by females can be characterized as being less hard-edged than those cited by males and, most important, more likely to feature or star women actors.  Thus, women cited quotes from films such as Grand Hotel, where Garbo utters her famous line, “I want to be alone,” and Clueless (“As if…), and less edgy, animated films like Babe (“That’ll do, pig, that’ll do”), The Lion King (“Hakuna Matata”), and Toy Story (“To infinity and beyond”).

Release Dates – “Top 20”

The average release date of these Top 20 quote film sources is 1974.  Nine films (33%) were released in the decade of the 90s.  The 80s offered 5 films (18.5%), the 70s offered five films (18.5%), the 60s gave us zero films, the 50s provided two films (7.4%), while the 40s and 30s contributed 3 films (11%) each.

Age

Age of respondents provides an explanation for this distribution and bias toward older films as the source for the greatest number of memorable quotes.  The correlation between Age and Release Date of film quote sources is r = -.47 (5,518), p < .001, indicating that age and the year of a quote’s origin film are negatively related such that the older a respondent the earlier in the century the film’s initial release date. 

The average release date for all film quote sources, not just the “Top 20,” is 1980.  This release date average varies dramatically between age groups.  For Young respondents it is 1988.  For Middle respondents it is 1979, and for Older respondents it is 1967.  The decade-wide differences between the three Age groups is significant, F (2, 5515) = 573.67, p < .001.  All differences between each Age group are also significant.

These results provide a definitive “yes” answer to RQ3.  It is also consistent with findings of Fischoff, et al, (1997), which found that older people tended to favor films that are of an earlier release vintage than those cited by younger people. 

It should be noted here that it is entirely possible that many people who cited quotes never, in fact, saw the movie from which it originated.  Certain quotes simply become part of a cultural lexicon of quotes. 

Gender

        Females tended to cite quotes from films that were of a more recent vintage than males.  The average release date for “Top 20” male films was 1969, while it was 1979, a decade later, for females.  This difference is likely due, in part, to the fact that the average age of males in the sample is 39.8, SD = 17.6, while it is 34.4, SD = 16.47, for females, t (1,074) = 5.21, p < .001.  But, for all films cited, females and males differ by only three years in terms of release year of film source for quote citations, Males, M = 1978, Females, M = 1981, t (5391.5) = 5.98, p < .001.  So, only for the top ranking films does age seem to make a major difference between males and females in terms of release dates of films originating quotes.

Films as Quote Factories

Research Q4 asked which films tended to generate the greatest number of separate quotes.  In other words, are some films a treasure trove of memorable lines as compared with other films that may generate only one or two memorable lines?  Results indicate the answer is yes.

As Table 8 shows, when all respondents quotes are taken together, the youth-oriented, obscenity-laden comedy, Friday, won top honors generating 35 separate quotes.  Scarface, with 29 separate quotes, came in second.  Titanic, South Park: Bigger Longer, Uncut, and Pulp Fiction rounded out the top 5 film quote sources.  All of the films except Titanic generated quotes with a remarkable number of expletives, e.g., “You fucking cockroach,” from Scarface.  

Table 8

"Top 10" Films Generating the Most Individual Quote

 

All Respondents (N = 1083)

 

 

Young (N = 389)

 

Rank

Film

# of individual quotes

Rank

Film

# of individual quotes

1

Friday

35

1

Friday

33

2

Scarface

30

2

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

23

3

Titanic

24

3

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

20

4

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

20

4

Pulp Fiction

17

5

Pulp Fiction

19

5

Scarface

15

6

The Wizard of Oz

19

6

Rush Hour

13

7

The Color Purple

18

7

The Color Purple

10

8

Star Wars

17

8

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

9

9

The Godfather

15

9

2001: A Space Odyssey

8

10

Jerry Maguire

14

10

The Empire Strikes Back

7

10

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

14

10

The Godfather

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Middle (N = 385)

 

 

Older (N = 303)

 

Rank

Film

# of individual quotes

Rank

Film

# of individual quotes

1

Scarface

15

1

The Wizard of Oz

8

2

The Color Purple

10

2

A Night at the Opera

7

3

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

9

3

She Done Him Wrong

6

4

2001: A Space Odyssey

8

4

The Godfather

5

5

The Empire Strikes Back

7

4

Dr. Strangelove

5

5

The Godfather

7

4

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

5

5

Titanic

7

4

Sunset Blvd.

5

6

Casablanca

6

5

The Producers

4

6

Animal House

6

5

My Fair Lady

4

6

Three Stooges films

6

5

King Kong

4

6

Top Gun

6

 

 

 

6

Young Frankenstein

6

 

 

 

 

The popularity of most expletive-ridden films like Friday can best be understood by looking at the three age groups separately.  Friday found 33 of its 35 citations with those under age 26, all 20 of the South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 17 of the 19 Pulp Fiction citations.  They also favored the swear-fest action comedy Rush Hour, a film absent from citations chosen by the other age groups.  Only the film Scarface, with its river of four-letter words and violent allusions, was favored equally by Young and Middle age groups.   Scarface was not on the quote radar screen of Older respondents.  Older people were far more interested in quotes from The Wizard of Oz, the Marx Brother’s classic, A Night At The Opera, and the sexual innuendoed Mae West film, She Done Him Wrong (“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you glad to see me?”).  Mae West’s risqué humor which made her so controversial in the 1930s stands in stark contrast with the sexually explicit, gross out dialogue from a film such as American Pie, which was also a trove of quotes for Young respondents.

Dominance of Males in Actor Gender Quote Derby

It is noteworthy that of the top 27 quotes only four (15%) are out the mouths of women.  Table 9, which lists which actors are in the greatest number of movies that were the source of memorable quotes, can shed some light on the gender disparity.  As far as males are concerned, the top five actors in descending order are Al Pacino (14 films), Jack Nicholson (12 films), Humphrey Bogart and Robert DeNiro (9 films), and Marlon Brando (8 films).  With regard to females, the list is shorter and the numbers are smaller: Bette Davis (7 films), Katherine Hepburn (5 films), Whoopie Goldberg (4 films), and Mae West (3 films).  Obviously fewer female actors are provided with dialogue that a cross-section of Americans find memorable.  There are more men than women who have lead roles in movies and more movies with memorable dialogue coming from their mouths.

                        Table 9

       Gender of Actor Quote Source by Males & Females

 

 

Numbers

 

Actor Gender

FEMALE

MALE

Total

Male

1625

2237

3862

Female

603

360

963

Animated Male

87

39

126

Animated Female

9

6

15

animal

45

9

54

alien/non-human

197

212

409

TOTAL

2566

2863

5429

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percentages

 

Actor Gender

FEMALE

MALE

Total

Male

63.3

78.1

71.1

Female

23.5

12.6

17.7

Animated Male

3.4

1.4

2.3

Animated Female

0.4

0.2

0.3

animal

1.8

0.3

1.0

alien/non-human

7.7

7.4

7.5

TOTAL

100

100

100

  Moreover, this is not just a male preference.  As Table 9 shows, Males mentioned males as the source of the quote approximately 78% of the time while only mentioning female quotes approximately 13% of the time.  Females also chose male quotes over female quotes on an almost 3 to 1 basis, with male quotes comprising 63% of the female's responses and female quotes only 23% of the time.  Thus, both males and females listed male-generated quotes the majority of the time, although males did show more same-gender preference than did females.  This is consistent with the results of Fischoff, et al (1997) that also showed males disproportionately preferring male- over female-themed movies than was the case for females.  Clearly the answer to RQ1 is yes, both sexes prefer quotes from gender-congruent actors but females, unfortunately, have fewer gender-congruent options than males.

Valence

All Respondents

Recall that the valence of a quote refers to whether it expressed a sentiment which was positive, negative, or neutral.  Among all respondents there was a significant difference between the frequency of citing each of these quote valences, c2(2, N = 5,497) = 2192, p < .001.  The number of neutral quotes was 226, while the number of positive and negative quotes were, respectively, 2,364 and 2,907.  Both positive and negative quotes were significantly different from neutral quotes and the differences between positive and negative quotes was also significant, c2(1, N = 5,271) = 55.94, p < .001.  Negative valence quotes were cited 52% of the time and positive valence quotes occurred 44% of the time.  Quotes with a neutral valence (e.g., “Shaken, not stirred." from the James Bond series) were only mentioned 4% of the time among all subjects.  These results support H1, which predicted negative quotes would outnumber positive quotes.

Gender

Males and females were significantly different in terms of their preferences for positive or negative valence quotes.  Males favored quotes which were negative 60% of the time and positive 40% of the time while females split their preferences between positive and negative quotes equally, c2(1, N = 5,271) = 51.67, p < .001.  This supports the prediction of H2.

Age

The differences between the three age groups in their preferences for positive or negative valence quotes was effectively small though statistically significant, c2(1, N = 5,259) = 8.85, p < .001.  Young participants preferred negative valence quotes 53% of the time, Middle preferred them 57% of the time and Older preferred them 55% of the time.  While Older and Middle age respondents were not significantly different from each other and Older and Younger respondents were not significantly different from each other, Middle and Younger were significantly different from each other, c2(1, N = 4,004) = 8.80, p < .003.  Thus, while respondents in all age groups favored negative over positive (and neutral) quotes, Middle age respondents tended to favor negative quotes more than respondents in the other age categories.

Having said this, it is necessary to get more specific to see exactly what sort of negative and positive quotes were cited, i.e., what were the sentiments expressed most often in these quotes?

Clusters and Sentiments

        It may be recalled that the 31 sentiments coded for quote classification were collapsed into 13 clusters for ease of understanding.  When clusters are inspected, significant differences emerge not only between genders but between age groups.  A list of Clusters is presented in Table 1 along with the Sentiments of which they are comprised.

All Respondents

As Tables 10 and 11, which contain Cluster and Sentiment percentages for all demographics, indicates, Cluster 101 (Hostility/Aggression, e.g., "Say hello to my little friend" from Scarface) was the most frequently cited cluster for all subjects, occurring 25% of the time.  The Sentiment characterizing the greatest proportion of quotes in Cluster 101 is Physical/Verbal Aggression.  This is to be expected given that two of the quotes in the “Top 20” for all respondents were the physical threats, “I’ll be back” and “Go ahead, make my day,” from The Terminator and “Sudden Impact,” respectively from the lips of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood.  This again supported H1, which predicted that hostile or aggressive quotes would be those most frequently cited. 

 

Table 10

Cluster Frequencies by Demographics