Month: October 2014

“Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.”

From: Billy Madison

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Knibb High School Principal

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from one of Adam Sandler’s first films, Billy Madison. The movie focuses on the titular character’s quest to complete all school levels, starting from the elementary level until high school, and graduate in order to inherit his father’s company.

The quote comes from the very end of the film when Billy is challenged to an Academic Decathlon by the antagonist of the film (played by Bradley Whitford) and get control of the company. When trying to explain how the industrial revolution affected the world, Billy uses a first grade book, The Puppy Who Lost His Way, as a way to answer the question. After delivering a long answer (which Billy is really pleased with), the Knibb High School principal, who was moderating the quiz, tells Billy how stupid his answer is…

Geek wisdom: There are times when you think you have a ingenious answer to something. Or you have something you want to say that, in your mind, seems really clever. So you blurt it out, without filtering it. And, just as you’ve finished saying it, you see, too late, how wrong you were or how stupid the statement really is.

Think before you speak. Sometimes, you have to evaluate what you’re about to say. It’s better than realizing that you’ve just put your foot in your mouth.

“Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen!”

From: Mean  Girls

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Regina George

The story behind the quote: The quote comes Mean Girls, a film that was released roughly 10 years ago. The story is about Cady (Lindsey Lohan), a girl who starts school and immediately draws the attention of the elite trio of girls known as The Plastics, led by queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Regina and the Plastics want to get Cady into their clique and Cady’s real friends use this opportunity to find a way to take down the group from within.

Early in the movie, one of The Plastics, Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert), tries to create her own catchphrase by repeating the word “fetch” frequently. Regina, annoyed by how many times Gretchen’s tried to get it to catch on, finally tells her off.

Geek wisdom: You have to know when enough’s enough and it’s time to throw in the towel. There’s no shame in failure but there is some shame when you don’t know when to quit.

“The truth is out there.”

From: The X-Files

Genre: Television

Who said it?: No one. It’s the tagline from the show.

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The X-Files, one of the most iconic modern science fiction shows. It was a huge hit for the new Fox Network and actually put it on the map.

The X-Files deals with a special investigative branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The higher ups of the FBI want the X-Files division closed as well as disprove Special Agent Fox Mulder’s claims of paranormal activities that are being covered up by the government. To facilitate this, they assign physicist Dana Scully to the same branch and to provide scientific explanations to Mulder in the hopes he will give up.

The quote does pop up from time to time and is actually said by members of the cast at certain times. However, most viewers remember the quote as the tagline from the show as seen during the opening credits of each episode.

Geek wisdom: We don’t know everything. As much as we want this to be true, we’re still growing and learning about how the universe works. Even if you don’t believe in any religion, science cannot explain everything that happens in the world and the universe. In fact, the things that we believe to be fact right this very moment may turn out to be wrong once we discover the truth on how something actually works.

We shouldn’t be complacent and be confident in what we currently know. We should always be searching for knowledge.

“I don’t like to smile unless I have a reason.”

From: Daria

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Daria Morgendorffer

The story behind the quote: Daria was one of my favorite cartoon on MTV, back when the channel would actually show some pretty cool and creative programming. Instead of having a perky teenager headline the show, Daria was a pessimistic, intelligent and sarcastic girl who saw the world for what it was. The show was a huge hit for MTV and garnered a loyal following during its run on the network.

The quote comes from the episode entitled Misery Chick. Daria’s parents got their hands on her yearbook photos and comment on why she doesn’t even try to smile in any one of them. Daria replies to them in the only way she can: intelligently and objectively.

Geek wisdom: People have the tendency to tell you how you should react to a certain topic. They’ll tell you that you shouldn’t be upset when something goes wrong. Or they’ll tell you that they just don’t understand why you feel a certain way since they wouldn’t feel that way if the same thing happened to them.No one should tell you how to feel on a certain topic. They have no idea of how it actually feels. How you choose to feel on a certain topic is entirely your own.

When this happens to others, try to understand why they feel that way. Don’t deny them the freedom to act a certain way.