Daily Dialogue — August 28, 2012
Alvy Singer: [the man behind him in line is talking loudly] What I wouldn’t give for a large sock with horse manure in it! [to audience] Whaddya do when you get stuck in a movie line with a guy like this behind you?
Man in Theater Line: Wait a minute, why can’t I give my opinion? It’s a free country!
Alvy Singer: He can give it… do you have to give it so loud? I mean, aren’t you ashamed to pontificate like that? And the funny part of it is, Marshall McLuhan, you don’t know anything about Marshall McLuhan!
Man in Theater Line: Oh, really? Well, it just so happens I teach a class at Columbia called “TV, Media and Culture.” So I think my insights into Mr. McLuhan, well, have a great deal of validity!
Alvy Singer: Oh, do ya? Well, that’s funny, because I happen to have Mr. McLuhan right here, so, so, yeah, just let me… [pulls McLuhan out from behind a nearby poster] Come over here for a second… tell him!
Marshall McLuhan: I heard what you were saying! You know nothing of my work! You mean my whole fallacy is wrong. How you got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing!
Alvy Singer: Boy, if life were only like this!
— Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), Man in Theater (Russell Horton), Marshall McLuhan (Himself), Annie Hall (1977), written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Woody Allen, suggested Sean Harris. Today’s suggestion by churnage.
Trivia: The film’s working title was “Anhedonia” — the inability to feel pleasure. United Artists fought against it (among other things, they were unable to come up with an ad campaign that explained the meaning of the word) and Woody Allen compromised on naming the film after the central character three weeks before the film’s premiere. Other titles suggested were “It Had to Be Jew”, “A Rollercoaster Named Desire”, and “Me and My Goy”.
Dialogue On Dialogue: How many times have you been in a public situation where some loudmouth was pontificating opinions on this or that subject? This moment in Annie Hall is a classic ‘wish fulfillment’ moment.