• Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      6 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      6 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      6 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      6 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      6 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      6 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      6 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      6 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      6 years ago
Movie Mezzanine
  • Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      6 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      6 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      6 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      6 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      6 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      6 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      6 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      6 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      6 years ago
  • Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      6 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      6 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      6 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      6 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      6 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      6 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      6 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      6 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      6 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      6 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      6 years ago
<b>Reverse Pop Culture Primer:</b> <i>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</i> vs. Endless Fourth-Grade Quotations
  • Features

Reverse Pop Culture Primer: Monty Python and the Holy Grail vs. Endless Fourth-Grade Quotations

  • by Natalie Zutter
  • April 7, 2013
  • 0
  • 5745

Welcome to Reverse Pop Culture Primer! Every week I take a famous catchphrase, punchline, or spoiler that I learned from another part of pop culture without ever seeing the movie it references. How does knowing the joke backwards affect my experience of the movie once I finally watch it?

As much as I was into (often inappropriate) older humor as a kid, I wasn’t the only one. After all, what was the fun of watching Mel Brooks if I couldn’t quote the parodied punchlines back at my peers? And in some cases, it was my fellow precocious kids who would tell me about movies I hadn’t yet seen.

I’ll never forget sitting in fourth-grade science class listening to one of the boys regale everyone else with a blow-by-blow retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I had only a very vague impression of these droll British guys who made random parodies, so I stopped by to listen. I had entered the conversation about partway through the movie, when King Arthur and the rest of the Camelot knights reach the bridge and must answer several difficult questions in order to cross. I giggled along with everyone else as my classmate imitated the old man’s overexaggerated queries:

“Whaaaat is your name? Whaaaat is your quest? Whaaaat is your favorite color?”

For some reason, I thought that this inflection was something added by my classmate; it seemed to better match a nine-year-old’s overly exuberant sense of humor than some stiff-upper-lipped Brits. But years later, when I watched Holy Grail, I was somewhat dismayed to realize that my friend had gotten the quote down pat. And watching it on video, it was sucked of any humor:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMxWLuOFyZM&hl=en_US&version=3]

I think my problem was that my classmate had done such a pitch-perfect imitation, that the real thing seemed like a poor copy. Think about it—yes, we want to get our friends jazzed about the movies and books that excite us. But you have to retain some of the mystery. Why should your buddy shell out for a DVD — or, more likely, an iTunes rental — when you can just act it out for them?

So, I think my first run-through of Holy Grail was tarnished. In my mind, this kid had also “ruined” the infamous bit where Arthur squares off against the Black Knight, with the latter declaring, “‘Tis just a flesh wound!” But I’ve watched the movie a few times since, and realized that there are several key moments for which I was blissfully unspoiled:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfGpVcdqeS0&hl=en_US&version=3] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9Bynjh2Lk&hl=en_US&version=3] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjio-F47IfM&hl=en_US&version=3]

Probably best that I got to see the “bad girl, Zut!” part for myself, seeing as it partly inspired my high-school nickname.

Photo: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Tags
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related posts

  • MovieMezzanine
0
Top 5 Movies Based on True Stories

Top 5 Movies Based on True Stories

4 years ago
  • AmirGanjavie
0
László Nemes and Géza Röhrig <br>on “Son of Saul”

László Nemes and Géza Röhrig
on “Son of Saul”

7 years ago
  • AdamNayman
0
“Showgirls” At 20: It’s Better Than You Think

“Showgirls” At 20: It’s Better Than You Think

7 years ago

One thought on “Reverse Pop Culture Primer: Monty Python and the Holy Grail vs. Endless Fourth-Grade Quotations”

  1. Steven Flores on April 7, 2013 at 4:04 PM said:

    This is one of the reasons why I love that film. It’s so quotable. I remember quoting that film in high school with the more hip kids. We just did that film from start to finish.

About Us

Movie Mezzanine is an online publication dedicated to covering the medium that connects us all, one film at a time. With writers stationed around the globe, we offer a uniquely diverse perspective on cinema, both old and new. To learn more about us, go here.

Spotlight

Putting the Geek to the Plow

Cleantalk Pixel