Is There Anyone Here Who Knows How to Fly a Plane?

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking... We regret any inconvenience the sudden cabin movement might have caused, this is due to periodic air pockets we encountered, there's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight... By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?

[all hell breaks loose in the cabin]"

Imagine your worst fears of flying came true. The plane pilot and co-pilot are down for the count due to food poisoning. Most of the passengers are sick. The plane needs to land as soon as possible, so that everyone can be taken to the hospital. What do you do?

This is the basic plot of Airplane!, a comedy movie released in 1980 that parodied the disaster film genre. The film centers around Ted Striker, a former pilot who became traumatized by planes from an earlier war experience. After the war, his post-traumatic stress disorder caused him to lose his job and his girlfriend Elaine, who is a flight attendant. He decides to board the Trans American Flight 209 from Los Angeles to Chicago in the hopes of winning back Elaine. After it becomes clear that the pilots are out of commission, the responsibility to land the plane falls on Striker. He must rise to the challenge to save the crew and his relationship.

Amidst the struggle to land the plane, Airplane! hits on some hilarious - if not occasionally offensive - jokes and stereotypes. One of my personal favorites is when two African-American men are speaking in "jive" to a stewardess who cannot understand their slang, so an elderly white woman volunteers to translate.

Yet despite its use of improper language, Airplane! continues to be applauded as a culturally significant film. It, along with many of the other movies I have discussed, is preserved in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry because of the impact it made on American film and culture. Airplane! captured the public's frustration with the formulaic disaster movies that dominated during this time. It even used those same serious actors (from other disaster movies) to deliver these hilarious lines in the same deadpan style.

Through comedy, Airplane! was able to poke fun at the unoriginality found in 1970s films. Even though much of the script is verbatim from movies like Airport 1975, the writers put their own spin on the dialogue to create a film that is not only hilarious, but also critical of this cookie-cutter genre.

Airplane! continues to live on as (arguably) one of the best American comedies. Many people continue to quote its iconic lines today. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend you do. It is definitely worth it.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Lady: Nervous?
Ted Striker: Yes.
Lady: First time?
Ted Striker: No, I've been nervous lots of times.

Rumack: Captain, how soon can you land?
Captain Oveur: I can't tell.
Rumack: You can tell me. I'm a doctor.
Captain Oveur: No. I mean I'm just not sure.
Rumack: Well, can't you take a guess?
Captain Oveur: Well, not for another two hours.
Rumack: You can't take a guess for another two hours?

Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Rumack: The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.

Enjoy the movie!

Animal House: Doing College the "Right" Way

In 1978, National Lampoon released "Animal House," a comedy about what really goes on in fraternities on college campuses. The film follows the story of college freshmen Larry Kroger and Kent Dorfman who want to join a fraternity at fictional Faber College. They end up joining Delta Tau Chi, in part, because no one else would take them.

Now Faber isn't exactly Harvard; to get an idea of the academic caliber of Faber, consider their motto: "Knowledge is good." Similarly, the fraternity they end up choosing, Delta Tau Chi House, is not exactly an elite academic secret society. Instead it's a fraternity struggling to maintain its presence on the campus; Delta Tau Chi is already on probation for campus conduct violations and for its members' appalling academics.

Dean Wormer: Here are your grade point avarages. Mr. Kroger: two C's, two D's and an F. That's a 1.2. Congratulations, Kroger. You're at the top of the Delta pledge class. Mr. Dorfman?

Flounder: [drunk] Hello!

Dean Vernon Wormer: 0.2... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Mr. Hoover, president of Delta house? 1.6; four C's and an F. A fine example you set! Daniel Simpson Day... HAS no grade point average. All courses incomplete. Mr. Blu...

[sees Bluto with a pair of pencils in his nostrils]

Dean Vernon Wormer: Mr. Blutarsky... zero... point... zero.

[Bluto shrugs]

Naturally, Dean Wormer is not very pleased. Throughout the movie he tries to find a way "to kick these punks off campus, permanently." And that's where the fun begins. An all-out war erupts between the two sides resulting in the Deltas being expelled. But, they don't give up easily, launching a counter-attack after Bluto motivates him to action with his compelling, if not historically accurate speech:

Bluto: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? [N]o! And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...

[thinks hard of something to say]

The tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

While Animal House is not exactly the most educational film, it still had a huge impact on American culture. Throughout the film, the authors reference political events like the Kent State shootings and President Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also touched on the Vietnam War (the Deltas are of age to be drafted - as Dean Wormer gleefully points out).

Culturally, it introduced the idea of "gross-out films," movies meant to shock the audience with controversial material. It also inspired a number of comedies that used the same subversive humor and created a new market for low-budget, stupid-humor films.

There are definitely critics out there who point to Animal House and see no value in its occasionally grotesque humor. But, it captures the sentiment at the time: the antiestablishment feelings that college students were having in the 60s and 70s. And the best part about it is that you don't have to be from that time to understand it. It is a truly timeless film - not just about college dropouts, but about underdogs who fight authority in their youth and still turn out okay 20 years down the road.

Post-Graduation

In 3-4 years time we will be in the same situation as Benjamin Braddock, the leading character in the classic movie "The Graduate." Although hopefully, we will handle our entrance into the real world a little better than he did.

"The Graduate" is a comedy drama that was released in the 1960s. It's the story of Ben Braddock, a recent college graduate who has no direction in life. While his parents are thrilled that he is entering a new stage, he seems, at most, apathetic about his future. This leads him to be especially susceptive to the charms of the wily Mrs. Robinson, his neighbor, who seduces him. Later, after a long affair, he falls in love with her daughter.

While certainly eccentric and scandalous for its time, "The Graduate" is much more than shock value. It is a critique of the previous generation's way of life. Braddock's parents (and their friends) value fitting in, settling down with a company for the long haul, and finding a relationship not necessarily out of love, but out of necessity. But Ben decides he wants to do something different. He wants to break out of the shallow lifestyle of his predecessors. Only problem: he's not sure how.

Ben: I'm just...
Mr. Braddock: ...worried?
Ben: Well...
Mr. Braddock: About what?
Ben: I guess about my future.
Mr. Braddock: What about it?
Ben: I don't know. I want it to be...
Mr. Braddock: ...to be what?
Ben: ...Different.

This disinterest in maintaining the status quo was very much a part of the youth culture at the time. As the Vietnam War continued to escalate, many young people struggled to find meaning in life and began to criticize their parents for their beliefs. Throughout the film, several scenes feature Ben surrounded by people, but alone and isolated, continually struggling to find a connection in an increasingly hypocritical and shallow world.

The film's soundtrack also serves as an important device to reinforce the mood of isolation and loneliness. The song "Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel serves as a ever-present reminder of Ben's loneliness.

...And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening.
People writing songs that voices never shared, no one dared disturb the sound of silence...

Throughout the movie, Ben is portrayed as awkward, indecisive, naive, and humorous, all of which fly directly in the face of what he is supposed to be. His parents laud him for his accomplishments: Captain of the Cross Country Team, Head of the Debating Club, Managing Editor for the college newspaper, but when it comes down to it, none of that has helped him discover himself.

I think that this last part, especially, still resonates with people today. In the college arms race to get into prestigious schools, many students spend time racking up accomplishment while not actually understanding and exploring their own interests and potential. This results in many students coming out of college confused about where to go next. While today, this is considered more of the norm, it was a radical thought in the 1960s when "The Graduate" was released.

Similarly, many of our parents still believe in finding one company and working there for life. Today, the millennial generation is expected to continue breaking with tradition by job-hopping between several different companies during their careers. According to the Bureau for Labor Statistics, older millennials (born in the 1980s) have held an average of 6.2 different jobs by the time they reach age 26. This change in perspective may have originated as early as the 1960s when young adults like Braddock became disillusioned with the values maintained by their parents.

Even though "The Graduate" was released almost 50 years ago, we can still use it to learn more about the culture of that time and how we got to where we are today.