Month: September 2015

“Go home and be a family man!”

From: Street Fighter II

Genre: Video games

Who said it?: Guile

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from Street Fighter II. While the series has always revolved around karate practitioners Ryu and Ken, Street Fighter has amassed a huge cast of characters. One of the more popular characters is Guile. The quote doesn’t actually come from the arcade/original version of the game. Rather, the only time Guile gives this particular victory quote is in the console versions (SNES and Genesis).

Here’s a little piece of trivia: The win quote is actually a mistranslation of a much longer quote. In the original Japanese, Guile advises his defeated opponent to “Go back home. You need to take care of your family.” However, the translation became the quote as we know it today.

Geek wisdom: Being a father and/or a mother is more than just siring a child. You also have to take care of your offspring. But a lot of people think this is just providing for them. If you give them money or support them, that should be enough. But it’s not.

You have to be there to nurture your children. Be there to take care of them and make sure they grow up the right way.

“If you build it, he will come.”

From: Field of Dreams

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Mysterious Voice

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the critically acclaimed 1989 film, Field of Dreams. The film is about a farmer named Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner), who receives a vision to build a baseball diamond in his field. While he does go through with constructing the baseball field, this does lead to some disastrous financial problems for the family. However, Ray does get some reward in the end…

The quote comes very early in the film. As Ray wanders into his field of crops, he all of a sudden hears a mysterious voice whisper the quote to him.

Geek wisdom: We love to talk ourselves out of our dreams for fears we won’t be successful or all our hard work will never pan out. But, the weird thing is, if you don’t even make the attempt, then there’s no way they will ever come true. The only way our desires and wishes can come to fruition is if we actually go ahead and chase after them. We have to believe we can reach our goal.

“I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?”

From: Meet The Parents

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Admiral Ackbar 

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2000 comedy film, Meet The Parents. The unfortunately named Gaylord “Greg” Fokker (played by Ben Stiller) intends to propose to Pam (Teri Polo), his girlfriend. However, he finds out that he has to ask permission from her parents first. The couple travel to Pam’s home and Greg hopes to get Pam’s parents blessing. Unfortunately, Pam’s father, Jack (played by Robert De Niro), takes an immediate disliking to Greg for several reasons (his name and his occupation as a male nurse for example). Because of this, Greg tries to find way to curry favor from Jack.

The quote comes from one of the tall tales Greg weaves in the hopes of impressing Jack. In order to get out of a lie, Greg says he milked a cat…

Geek wisdom: We do feel the need to stretch the truth now and then. However, if you get caught in a lie, it’s pretty painful. There are a lot of implications when people find out you’re a liar as well. People can start distrusting you or not believe you, even when you are just giving the facts. As much as possible, it’s a good idea to avoid lying altogether.

“Save Ferris?”

From: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Some guy in school?

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the smash teen comedy from the 80’s. While the movie does focus on Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) and his cohort’s adventures while playing hooky from school, there’s actually a small but fun subplot regarding Ferris’ excuse for staying home.

Ferris Bueller managed to convince his parents that he’s sick and that he should not go to school. However, the news of Ferris being “sick” gets misconstrued. All of a sudden, there is a need to help out the ailing high school student…

Geek wisdom: With the prevalence of the Internet and social media, things often get blown out of proportion. The sad thing is, people think and react to this news without hearing all of the facts. They immediately jump to their own conclusions and fight for causes without fully understanding what they’re fighting for. Rather, they only do it because it’s the popular thing to do… even if it doesn’t fully fall into their own beliefs.