Hang On, Voltaire
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- ElGuapo
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Hang On, Voltaire
I love the movie Swingers, but I've never understood what the "Hang on Voltaire" line refers to. Would someone explain it to me?
- Fretmute
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It's referring to Mike's "I'll have pancakes in the Age of Enlightenment" joke. He then went on to complain about what a dumb joke that was, and how the waitress wouldn't get the obscure French philosophical reference.
Voltaire was a French philosopher, and wrote during the Enlightenment, so she got it.
[edits further] - I suppose it's there to illustrate that Mike is money, but he doesn't know it.
Voltaire was a French philosopher, and wrote during the Enlightenment, so she got it.
[edits further] - I suppose it's there to illustrate that Mike is money, but he doesn't know it.
- LordMortis
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The entire exchange:
Edit:
It all stems from Mike trying to be clever about Breakfast at anytime.WAITRESS
Are you ready to order?
MIKE
Coffee...
[(points to Trent, who nods)]
Two coffees. It says "Breakfast Any
Time", right?
WAITRESS
That's right.
MIKE
I'll have "pancakes in the Age of
Enlightenment".
[It goes over like a lead balloon.]
WAITRESS
And you?
TRENT
I'll have the Blackbeard over easy.
WAITRESS
I'll be back with the coffee.
[She takes the menus and goes.]
TRENT
[(genuinely)]
Nice, baby.
MIKE
I should've said Renaissance, right? It
went over her head.
TRENT
Baby, you did fine.
MIKE
[(disgusted with himself)]
"Age of Enlightenment". Shit. Like some
waitress in a Las Vegas coffee shop is
going to get an obscure French
philosophical reference. How demeaning.
I may as well have just said "Let me jump
your ignorant bones."...
TRENT
...Baby...
MIKE
... It's just, I thought "Renaissance"
was too Excaliber, it's the wrong casino.
She would've gotten it, though...
TRENT
You did fine. Don't sweat her. We're
meeting our honeys soon. You know
Christy's friend is going to be money.
MIKE
I hope so.
[(checks watch)]
We gotta go soon.
TRENT
Baby, relax. It's just down the hall.
She's gotta change... we'll be fine.
MIKE
We didn't do so bad after all.
TRENT
Baby, we're money.
[Mike tries to catch the attention of their waitress, who is
passing with a huge platter containing a BREAKFAST BANQUET.]
MIKE
Excuse me. We're in a bit of a hurry.
WAITRESS
Hang on, Voltaire.
Edit:
Wow, am I pessimist, or what? You see it as her getting the joke and making Mike money (which probably makes more sense contextually) and I see it as her way of getting it and telling him to get off his high horse. In effort to be suave, which he thought he looking down on her from to far up, for which she saw through him and thought that he was being needlessly arrogant to be clever... demonstrating that he no right to think that was too far above her head at all.Fretmute wrote:[edits further] - I suppose it's there to illustrate that Mike is money, but he doesn't know it.
- LordMortis
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I guess it's not that easy. Fret and I walked away with the exact opposite impressions of what that statment meant... Or it's that easy and I was off in my own world, which wouldn't be the first time.ElGuapo wrote:Oh, ok. It's that simple? I was searching for some deep meaning to the joke. I guess it's a classic example of making something more difficult than it really is. Thanks for the responses!
- LordMortis
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Dude. It's totally the drama of the movie totally showing the drama of the person, man. Vaughn is totally over the top and, "baby" is like an affectation of his totally over the top personality, man.McNutt wrote:Why does he keep calling him "Baby?"
Where is Trent to way in on this? Isn't he the Swingers scholar?
- Fretmute
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It was clearly a snipe when she said it, but that's after he was down on himself (and further, her) about the joke. Had he shown some self confidence (and, perhaps, been more polite), things might have gone differently.LordMortis wrote:Fret and I walked away with the exact opposite impressions of what that statment meant.
- PR_GMR
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I just love this movie. Every year I watch it.. and it still makes me laugh. Swinger's pretty much a classic.
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- Grundbegriff
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Re: Hang On, Voltaire
The line's based on an old Stephen Wright joke.