Funny? How?

Posted by Lewis on January 06, 2005

In Reply to: I amuse you? posted by ESC on January 04, 2005

: : : : : Can you people tell me more about famous filmy quote 'Are You Talking To Me?'
: : : : : In what context people use this line?

: : : : : Thanks
: : : : : SB

: : : : It's from "Taxi Driver" -- www.msu.edu/ user/svoboda1/taxi_driver/sounds.html

: : : : In my experience, it's used by most people as a goof. In a humorous fashion.

: : : That's interesting because in my experience it is used as an aggressive challenge: the implication being that if 'you' are talking to 'me' there will be trouble.

: : : DFG

: : You're both right. The hostility is in inverse proportion to the square of your distance from New York. In Kansas, it;s an amusing film reference. At 125th and Amsterdam Avenue, it's a danger signal.

: I've got your menacing movie quote right here:

: TOMMY DE VITO (Joe Pesci): "Funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?"
: GOODFELLAS, Warner Bros., 1990

: 400 nominated quotes for best film quotes. At www.filmsite.org

Joe Pesci imbues that line with psychotic menace -In the film, the man said to him "You're a funny guy" intending it as a compliment - and Pesci's character totally goes off on one: ranting about how that has insulted him. "I amuse you?" thus has come to be used both as homage to the film and to convey the implication of threatening psychosis in the mind of the speaker.