Today I want to introduce a concept I'll develop in the next post. You'll soon see where I'm "going" with this, but for now I want to start with a little dialogue (language edited for our audience) from the Quentin Tarentino movie Pulp Fiction.
In this scene, Vincent, a mobster played brilliantly by John Travolta, is just back from a "business" trip and he's sharing his impressions of Europe to colleague Jules (played equally brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson).
VINCENT: But you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
JULES: What?
VINCENT: It's the little differences. A lotta the same stuff we got here, they got there, but there they're a little different.
JULES: Example?
VINCENT: Alright, when you go into a movie theatre in Amsterdam, you can buy beer.
And I don't mean in a paper cup either. They give you a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy beer at MacDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't have a clue what a Quarter Pounder is.
JULES: What'd they call it?
VINCENT: They call it Royale with Cheese.
JULES: Royale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?
VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
JULES: Le big Mac ! Ahh, what do they call a Whopper?
VINCENT: I dunno, I didn't go into a Burger King.
You can see the whole 1:41 minute clip in all its glory by clicking here, but be forewarned that the language is pretty raw.
Anyway mobster Vinnie Vega gets it exactly right in his commentary. In some ways European cities are more familiar than they are dissimilar from our home towns in the States. But those "little differences" truly do make all the difference.
Until next time.
In this scene, Vincent, a mobster played brilliantly by John Travolta, is just back from a "business" trip and he's sharing his impressions of Europe to colleague Jules (played equally brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson).
VINCENT: But you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
JULES: What?
VINCENT: It's the little differences. A lotta the same stuff we got here, they got there, but there they're a little different.
JULES: Example?
VINCENT: Alright, when you go into a movie theatre in Amsterdam, you can buy beer.
And I don't mean in a paper cup either. They give you a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy beer at MacDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't have a clue what a Quarter Pounder is.
JULES: What'd they call it?
VINCENT: They call it Royale with Cheese.
JULES: Royale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?
VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
JULES: Le big Mac ! Ahh, what do they call a Whopper?
VINCENT: I dunno, I didn't go into a Burger King.
You can see the whole 1:41 minute clip in all its glory by clicking here, but be forewarned that the language is pretty raw.
Anyway mobster Vinnie Vega gets it exactly right in his commentary. In some ways European cities are more familiar than they are dissimilar from our home towns in the States. But those "little differences" truly do make all the difference.
Until next time.
2 comments:
Well I for one don't plan on getting any Big Macs in Paris, no matter what they call it!!
Part of our end of the day discussion should include what "little differences" we encountered throughout the day. That would be fun!
As they say vive la difference!
(or something like that)
I can't wait for those end of the day debriefings over a glass of something tasty and red. I have a feeling there will be some funny, funny moments along the way.
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