Victor de la Cruz

“I have a bad feeling about this!”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: A lot of the cast!

The story behind the quote: During the Star Wars films, the prequels and the original trilogy, practically all of the heroes (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and even C3-P0) will deliver this quote. A lot of the time, it’s used for a humorous effect: there’s obviously something wrong is going to happen so it’s obvious that they feel that something wrong will happen. In fact, it became so popular that a lot of geeks will deliver the quote out of instinct when they know something obviously bad is about to happen.

If you want to see the quote delivered in all of the Star Wars movies, you can watch them in the clip below:

Geek wisdom: You don’t need a mystical Force to know that something is wrong. You’ve got your gut to do that for you. Other people may think it’s just paranoia but there is going to be that time when your gut will be correct even though conventional logic says otherwise.

It’s that gut feeling that tells you to avoid taking that shortcut through a dark alley or crossing the street even though you don’t see any cars incoming. This same instinct help mankind survive for as long as we have. So, it’s something that has worked (and still does) for all of us.

“More than meets the eye!”

From: The Transformers

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: No one really… it’s part of the intro song

The story behind the quote: The Transformers is one of the most beloved cartoons of the 80’s. You probably know the story: Optimus Prime and the Autobots fight to save the Earth from the evil Decepticons led by Megatron. What made the characters incredibly memorable was the fact that they could (as the name suggests) transform into other things. Optimus Prime would transform into a gigantic trailer truck while Megatron would change into a gun. This led to a fantastic toyline. Never mind that people would complain that the cartoon was just a big commercial for the toys. It didn’t matter; the show was fantastic as well.

The quote actually comes from the theme song of each of the seasons of the regular (so-called) Generation 1 continuity (none of the Michael Bay movies or even the later cartoons). The title song lays it out: there is more than meets the eye for the series.

Geek wisdom: There is more to people than what we just see on the outside. Each and every one has different facets and you will not be able to determine them with just a simple look. You would have to go deeper than that.

We can shun people just because, from our initial impressions, we judge them instantly without really getting to know them. But everyone has something to offer so it’s best to really try to understand other people before we judge them. You never really know if your first impression should be your last impression of a person.

“My goal is not to wake up at 40 with the bitter realization that I’ve wasted my life in a job I hate because I was forced to decide on a career in my teens.”

From: Daria

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Daria Morgendorffer

The story behind the quote: Daria was an animated series from MTV that started during the late 90’s. It was a spin-off from another MTV series, Beavis and Butt-Head. However, while Beavis and Butt-head’s humor is usually derived from the duo’s stupidity, Daria was a bit more intellectual. Daria is a very smart teenager but with a very realistic, cynical and anti-social view in life. She may come off as an underachiever but prefers to see things in her own point of view.

The quote comes from the Season 2 episode “Gifted.” Daria is invited to a school for gifted teens and, during the program, one of the counselors asks her what she wants to do. Daria comments that it’s a little too soon to be thinking of that simply because she hasn’t decided. The counselor pushes her to answer and that’s when she delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: When we are young, all we see from our perspective is what we think we should be doing in order to be happy. We may like video games so we think that being a programmer and getting a job making video games will make us happy. However, what we don’t know is that, as we grow older, we gain and lose interest in different things. It’s a fact of life: as time moves on, we change in subtle and different ways.

It’s fun to dream as a child, but we should always leave room in our minds for the possibility that the dream may become a nightmare.

“The controls are online. The switch — and consequences — are yours.”

From: Mass Effect 2

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: EDI

The story behind the quote: While not particularly remembered by a lot of gamers, this quote comes from the 2nd Mass Effect game. Developed by Bioware, each of the Mass Effect games lets you take command of Commander Shepard, a tough space soldier who is destined to save the entire galaxy. However, each game has you making choices that will impact the other entries of the series. For example, in the first Mass Effect game, Shepard has to decide to sacrifice two of his loyal officers, Kaiden Alenko or Ashley Williams. Now, who you select does die and, if you import your save game to Mass Effect 2, this will impact the story. So, each choice you make becomes important.

The quote comes after you retrieve a krogan (think lizard alien) in a pod. Your ship’s AI, named EDI, informs Shepard that it cannot tell if the alien is hostile or not. However, if Shepard says that he/she (you get to choose Shepard’s gender) wants to release the krogan, EDI tells him/her that the choice is ultimately up to him/her… but he/she will have to live with the consequences.

Geek wisdom: Every decision that we make will always have a consequence and we cannot simply run away from the results of our actions. We have to take responsibility for our choices, whether it be good or bad.

“The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42.”

From: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Genre: Books, Movies, Television

Who said it?: Deep Thought

The story behind the quote: This is actually my first “book” and “radio” categories entry, but I am cheating a bit here since I’m getting it from the latest movie adapted from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. The overall story follows Arthur Dent, an ordinary man who survives the destruction of the Earth with Ford Prefect (an alien in disguise) and goes off to have different adventures.

The quote comes from a scene early in the story. Aliens created a supercomputer named Deep Thought and ask it to answer the question of life, the universe and everything. Deep Thought mentions that it would take seven and a half million years to get the Ultimate Answer.

So, seven and a half million years pass. The aliens (their ancestors anyway) come back to Deep Thought to get the answer. Deep Thought gives his reply that the answer is 42. The aliens complain that the answer cannot be correct. Deep Thought then says that he cannot give an answer since the aliens don’t know what the question actually is. The computer does say that another computer, even more powerful than itself, will be able to know what the Ultimate Question is.

SPOILER: The computer more powerful than Deep Thought is actually the Earth.

Geek wisdom: The “meaning of life” question is meaningless since the answer is, and always be, something different for each person. The reason being is that the question is also going to be different for each person. Deep Thought felt that it was a perfectly legitimate answer since, for him, it made sense. For others, it was rubbish. That’s because the Ultimate Question is different for each and every one of them.

When we ask ourselves “what is the meaning of life” we are actually asking how we personally think what we want in life. If you ask ourselves the Ultimate Question and we cannot find what the Ultimate Answer is within ourselves, then you may not know what direction your life is going. If you are able to answer it, then you have already found your purpose in life.

“Give me something to sing about!”

From: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Genre: Television

Who said it?: Buffy Summers

The story behind the quote: Buffy the Vampire Slayer comes from the mind of Joss Whedon (the same guy that thought of Firefly). The idea behind it was it was the direct opposite of what we see in horror movies; instead of the girl being the damsel in distress, it’s actually the damsel that actually does the rescuing. While this was creative in its own right, the series did other creative stuff, such as the episode where no one talked and the one where everyone breaks into musical numbers. Speaking of the musical episode, it’s entitled “Once More with Feeling” and it’s where the quote comes from.

While bursting out into song and dance numbers may not be a problem, it does become an issue since there is a tendency for victims to dance so fast that they burst into flames! Another side effect of inexplicably singing about your feelings is that you tend to tell the truth about stuff you want to keep hidden.

By the way, MASSIVE SPOILERS coming!

Anyway, Buffy goes and confronts the demon while under the influence of the singing and dancing spell. While singing, she reveals that her friends, the Scoobies, don’t understand why she’s been so unhappy since she was brought back from the dead, making them wonder if the spell that did it went wrong. It turns out the spell worked perfectly. It’s just that her soul was brought to heaven and she was happy. Their resurrection of her ripped her soul from heaven and now, even if she is with her friends, it feels like hell.

Realizing that she exposed her true feelings, she starts to smolder and burn up from dancing when Spike (a vampire who can’t kill… long story) stops her and consoles her that there is a lot of pain in life and it will eventually heal in time.

Geek wisdom: Life can be painful and sometimes we cannot find a reason to “sing about” life. However, as Spike said, the pain is just temporary. It will eventually get better as long as we keep on going. It can be a struggle, especially when it feels overwhelming. In fact, it is the hard times in life that makes us appreciate the good things in life.

We have to take the good and the bad. That’s what comprises life and you can’t take it any other way.

“I’m in lesbians with you.”

From: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Scott Pilgrim

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The movie is based on a series of black and white comic books by Bryan Lee O’Malley. While a moderate hit, it never really hit mainstream success. Still, for those who knew about it, it was one of those cult-like things as it focused a lot on geek culture, especially video games, and irreverent humor.

In the film, Scott is depressed since he will have to defeat the Seven Evil Exes of the (literal) girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, in order to be with her. His gay roommate, Wallace Wells, tells him that he has to “break out the L-word” if he’s really serious about Ramona. However, Scott believes that the “L-word” is “lesbians.”

Although he does eventually understand that the “L-word” is actually “love,” when Scott does try to express how he feels for Ramona, he accidentally still doesn’t say that he’s in love with her.

Geek wisdom: It can be pretty intimidating to express our feelings to others, especially about deeper emotional issues, such as love. There are a lot of reasons why this is: fear of being laughed at, fear of rejection, etc.

However, unless we really come out and communicate how we feel, there’s no way any relationship can move on to a deeper and more personal relationship. It is risky (and scary) but sometimes you just have to take the risk.

“Until That Day… Till All Are One”

From: Transformers: The Movie

Genre: Movies, Cartoons

Who said it?: Optimus Prime

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the Transformers: The Movie. Not the live action Michael Bay films. This is from the animated movie that was released in 1986. The film was actually pretty controversial for its time because of the deaths of practically the entire cast of the TV Series… during the first 20 minutes, no less!

The movie is set in the year 2005 (which was pretty far off in the future then) and, somehow, the treacherous Decepticons have managed to conquer the Autobots home world of Cybertron. The Autobots, however, refuses to give up the fight and have set up bases on the planet’s moons. Unknown to them, both factions face a bigger threat than themselves: the planet eater called Unicron.

Geek wisdom: We all have an idea of what our future will be. Unfortunately, the way to get to that future will be difficult and a lot of obstacles will lay in our path, obstructing us from achieving it. We must push through and go beyond these barriers and focus on the end result.

It may be difficult, especially at the start, and giving up may feel like a viable (and easy) option. However, we have to look past the problems and look at our goal. We have to focus on until that day comes and when all that effort will pay off.

“Shut up and take my money!”

From: Futurama

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Fry

The story behind the quote: This is another quote from Futurama, which is odd, since I’m a bigger fan of Matt Groening’s other show, The Simpsons. Anyway, the quote comes from the episode, entitled “Attack of the Killer App” from Season 6.

A new device called the eyePhone (obviously a joke on Apple’s iPhone devices) is being released and Fry is eager to get one. The retail sales clerk begins to warn Fry that the device is very expensive, he has no choice of what phone company to use and the battery life is poor. However, Fry angrily interrupts the person and shoves a lot of money into his face, exclaiming that he should just keep quiet since he’s going to buy the eyePhone.

The quote became somewhat of a meme because of the utter ridiculousness of Fry’s anger regarding the situation and him totally ignoring what the clerk was telling him.

Geek wisdom: We can be like Fry a lot of times, ignoring practicality to just get the next “big” and “cool” thing. We basically just want to be part of the “in” crowd and that’s normal. However, by doing this, we may experience remorse for purchasing an expensive item that really doesn’t meet our needs.

The first iPhone suffered from the exact same problems the fictional eyePhone had, yet a lot of people bought it. What happened afterwards? A lot of people complained that it was too expensive, you couldn’t choose what phone company you wanted and it had poor battery life.

Sometimes, it’s better to wait for improvements and be patient because good things come to those who wait.

“Stay awhile and listen!”

From: Diablo II

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Deckard Cain

The story behind the quote: This is a really classic quote and became synonymous with Blizzard’s massive hit, Diablo. The one delivering the quote is Deckard Cain, essentially a wise man who’s main role is to guide the hero (that’s you) on how to defeat the Lord of Terror, Diablo.

Although Deckard Cain is an old man, he has a vast knowledge of Diablo and his brothers, Baal and Mephisto. In fact, he is a descendant of one of the people who managed to defeat and imprison Diablo eons ago. In Diablo II, he becomes the guide to gives the players the necessary knowledge (and quests) to gain the skills and items to beat Diablo.

In fact, the quote was so popular that Blizzard made the voice actor, Michael Gough, create a rap song.

Geek wisdom: It’s a good idea to stop and listen to the opinions of others. While we may not follow them, it’s always a good idea to get the inputs of others. The reason is simple: they may see things differently from others. This is why, although the president will ultimately make the hard decisions needed to run a country, he (or she) will always turn to his advisers first.

Ask others to give their opinions regarding a topic or a choice; they may have some information that you don’t have or have another way of looking at a problem to help you make a better (informed) decision.