Tag: movies

“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.

“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.

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

From: Star Trek

Genre: Television, Movies

Who said it?: James T. Kirk, Jean Luc Picard

The story behind the quote: This quote is probably something everyone is familiar with. It comes from the opening narration of Star Trek. But first, let’s talk about Star Trek.

The basic premise of all Star Trek iterations is that a huge spaceship, the USS Enterprise, goes around the universe attempting to make brand new discoveries and encounter new alien races to communicate with. One of the things that made each version of Star Trek memorable was the diverse cast and the attitudes of the crew of the Enterprise. The original 1966 series had James T. Kirk, the captain of the ship, who was usually led by following his instincts. However, his First Office, a Vulcan named Spock, who only works with pure logic.

The second series, called Star Trek: The Next Generation, added more diversity. The crew of the new Enterprise now had a Klingon (a race of aliens that were actually the main antagonists of the original series) named Worf and a full-fledged android named Data joining an entirely new cast.

Anyway, every series would always have the same intro, with a narrator stating the full mission of the USS Enterprise.

Here’s the original version from the first series…

Now, here’s the introduction from Star Trek: The Next Generation…

Geek wisdom: We all want to play it safe and stay in our comfort zone and, honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s when we don’t explore and do new things once in a while is when we stagnate. We all have to eventually try new things and go to new places. In fact, this is the best way for us to keep learning new things.

“There is no spoon”

From: The Matrix

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Some kid who can bend a spoon with his mind and Neo

The story behind the quote: We’re already talked about The Matrix before on how it was a groundbreaking film. What we haven’t really discussed is how many memorable quotes there are in the film. So, here’s another one.

Neo (Keanu Reeves) goes to visit the Oracle, a wise person who can see the destinies of people. While waiting for his turn to talk to the Oracle, Neo sees a little boy bend a spoon effortlessly through pure thought alone. The boy, seeing that Neo is astonished by his feat, explains to the hero that there is actually no spoon to bend; it is the person that bends. With this in mind, Neo then proceeds to bend the spoon with his mind as well.

Geek wisdom: A lot of the things we think is impossible is because we doubt ourselves. In the movie, it is easy for the kid to bend the spoon with his mind since he was taught that it is possible to do so. In the same way, Neo finds it incredible that a child can bend the spoon easily with his mind alone since he was taught that it is practically impossible to do it.

The child bending the spoon can refer to the thoughts that our dreams and aspirations are impossible to achieve. What we can learn from the quote is that there are no limits with what we can achieve if we really put our minds to it. In fact, we may find that attaining our “impossible” dreams are effortlessly achievable. We have to think that we can accomplish the impossible and get rid of self-doubt in order to reach for our goals in life.

“I love the Power Glove… it’s so bad.”

From: The Wizard

Genre: Movies, Video Games

Who said it?: Lucas Barton

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the movie long Nintendo commercial, The Wizard. The story of the film is a “special” kid named Jimmy who wants to travel to California to put pictures of his dead sister in a dinosaur. His half-brother (played by Wonder Years’ star Fred Savage) breaks him out of the institution where he stays to help him get to California. Along the way, they meet a girl named Haley and they find out that Jimmy is a “wizard” in playing video games (get it?) so they enter Jimmy in Video Armageddon, a video game tournament with a prize of $50,000 going to the winner.

The quote comes from one of the “villains” of the film, Lucas Barton. Lucas encounters the trio and exclaims that he is the best NES player ever since he has all of the Nintendo games ever made. To emphasize this even further, he produces the Power Glove and uses it to play Rad Racer. After completing the race in the game, Lucas turns to the audience, delivering the quote and plugging the Power Glove to the young kids who are watching the film.

Geek wisdom: While it may seem like arrogance, it’s actually a good thing to take pride in what you have. Whether it be material things or your personal accomplishments, you have to be proud of it. There’s actually nothing wrong with what Lucas did in scene shown above. He’s just stating that he loves the Power Glove… and he proved why it’s awesome.

“A single idea from the human mind can build cities”

From: Inception

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: “Dom” Cobb

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the smash-hit Inception. One of the highest grossing films of all time, Inception tells the story of Dominic “Dom” Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a professional criminal who enters the minds of his targets to steal their ideas. However, Dom’s team has been hired to do the opposite; instead of stealing ideas, their job in the film is to actually implant an idea in the target’s mind.

The story goes deeper into that just that. The director of the film, Christopher Nolan, weaves a brilliant tale regarding Dom’s backstory about his life and why he decides to take the job. Inception is a film that is thought provoking and something that should be seen by geeks and people who love movies in general.

Geek wisdom: It’s hard to underestimate the power of an idea. A lot of our modern culture is actually derived from ideas. The airplane came from the idea that people can fly. Even simple conveniences that we take for granted, such as paper, were derived from the idea that we should be able to write on something light and portable.

We all have ideas. No matter how small they are, we have to nurture these ideas into maturity because we can never know how great the idea actually is until we make the idea into reality.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

From: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Ferris Bueller

The story behind the quote: One of the most memorable films from John Hughes. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the story of the titular character, played by Matthew Broderick,  skipping school for one day to enjoy life. Ferris manages to coax his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), and “spring” his girlfriend, Sloan (Mia Sara), from school to take the day off from school.

The quote is actually mentioned twice. The first time is when Ferris a few minutes into the movie, after he convinces his parents that he’s sick so he can stay at home and “recover.” He walks around the house, talking to the audience to deliver that piece of advice.

The second time the quote is delivered is at the end of the movie. Ferris successfully to return home before his parents get home to check up on him. After his parents leave the room, he looks back to the audience and tells the quote to the audience again.

Geek wisdom: In this day of age, we tend to take life too seriously and postpone our happiness. We think that, once we do this or achieve that, then that’s when we’ll be happy. Well, what’s wrong with being happy now? It’s always a good idea to take a break from the hassles of life once in a while. Take the time to appreciate what life can bring us.

Live it up a little. We only have a short time on this Earth. Take the time to revel in all the good things it can offer because we never know when it’ll be over.

“You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

From: The Matrix

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Morpheus

The story behind the quote: Released in 1999, The Matrix was a groundbreaking film that was unlike any other. First, the trailer did not reveal a single thing about the plot. It only asked “What is the Matrix?” Because of this, people were hooked! They just had to see it!  Before I go into the plot, people that haven’t watched it yet should go watch it first… this will get kinda spoiler-y. Don’t worry. I’ll wait.

Watched it already? Good!

So the plot of the movie is that machines have actually taken over the world and the world that human think they’re living in is just a computer simulation called The Matrix. All of humanity are plugged into machines where our bio-chemistry gives energy to the machines. Essentially, we’re all just giant living batteries. Only a small segment of humanity know about this and are trying to fight the machines.

The hero, Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) gets an audience with Morpheus (portrayed by Lawrence Fishburne). Morpheus gives Neo a chance to take a blue pill (which will just knock him out but he will never learn that we’re just giant batteries) or a red pill (which will make him wake up from The Matrix).

Geek wisdom: Throughout life, we are given the choice of taking the blue pill or ignorance or the red pill of knowledge. While there is a saying that ignorance is bliss, having knowledge is always going to be better. Now, the thing is, every thing that we learn is actually through our own choice.

All of us have a great capacity to learn new things on a daily basis. However, a lot of us don’t even try. Even reading a geeky site about wisdom you can find in pop culture (ahem!) adds to one’s knowledge about life. What we become educated on is wholly dependent on our own choice to educate ourselves with what is available in the world.

“Rule # 4: Double Tap”

From: Zomebieland

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Columbus

The story behind the quote: Zombieland is a 2009 film about, well, zombies. However, unlike previous films of the genre, it is not a horror movie. It’s more of an action-comedy movie about a group of people trying to survive after the zombie apocalypse. Another thing that makes it different from other zombie films out there is that the survivors are actually pretty good at going about living in the world. One of the reasons why they are so successful is because of the rules Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg) created. He created a whole list of them and they all proved pretty effective in ensuring that he lives.

The quote comes from the 4th rule, which is “Double Tap.” In most zombie movies, the survivors shoot at zombies and, when it falls down, they do the stupid action of getting close to check on the supposedly dead body. Columbus suggests that people shouldn’t be stingy with their bullets at a time when survival is the main goal. Shooting the zombie once more make sure that they’re downed.

Geek wisdom: Like in real life, people should always make sure about stuff. There’s  no harm in checking and re-checking if what you did is correct. For students, it could be the answers for a test. For people at their jobs, it could be the work you’re gonna submit to your boss.

“Double tapping” just takes a few minutes of your time and it’ll give you peace of mind that you did your job right.

“Spartans, what is your profession?”

From: 300

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: King Leonidas

The story behind the quote: 300 is a stylized retelling of Battle of Thermopylae. Based on the comic book of Frank Miller called, well, 300, the story revolves around how 300 Spartans from, well, Sparta, took a stand against an huge invading army from Persia. While the odds were definitely against them, since the Spartans were trained to fight since birth, they were very successful in killing off a huge swath of Persian soldiers. While they did lose in the end, their story (or the story that was told to the rest of Greece anyway) inspired the country to stand up against the invaders.

The quote comes from a scene where the 300 Spartans come across a huge number of Arcadians who are willing to fight off the Persians. The Arcadians are initially dismayed as there are only 300 Spartans; that number is just too small when compared to the invader’s army. King Leonidas, played by Gerard Butler, asks several of the Arcadians what their jobs were. They replied that they were simple workers, such as potters and sculptures. King Leonidas then turns to his fellow Spartans and asks them what is their profession. The Spartans all howl in several fearsome bellows in reply. The King of Sparta then states that he actually has more soldiers than the Arcadians assembled there.

Geek wisdom: We have to select the right tool for the right job. Like the Arcadians in the scene, a substitute can do in a pinch. However, if you want the job to be done and done right, the right equipment will beat out the substitute anytime.

The Spartans were bred to be warriors and that’s what they’re good at. They were the right tool to use for fighting and holding off an invading army of thousands, even if they were only 300. Accepting substitutes is okay, but nothing beats the real thing.