Funny? How?

I was on the phone with this super-smart young journalist. Call her Nell--as that’s her name.

And I made a wisecrack that caused Nell to laugh and say, “you’re funny.”

To which I reflexively said the first thing that popped into my mind…

“Funny? How? Like I’m a clown? Like I amuse you?”

There was a pause, which told me she did not get the reference. So I said--that's a line from a movie.

Nell—being young and supersmart–immediately looked it up on her phone, and declared: “Oh, Goodfellas.”

And that brings me to the subject of this post, which is…

The cultural divide in which one group of Americans is blissfully unaware that they don’t know something–could be a song, movie, book, fashion brand, celebrity, etc.–that another group of Americans assumes everyone knows cause everybody they know knows it.

If you follow...

In short, we're little bugs, residing in our cocoons, only rarely crawling out to interact with others not like us. Metaphorically speaking, of course--I don't mean to suggest that any of us are actually bugs.

Though you could make the case for Stephen Miller…

Same director, different movie...

As Nell reported, I was referring to a scene from Goodfellas, the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie about gangsters in New York City, which features an exchange between characters, brilliantly acted by Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. 

Liotta’s character (Henry Hill) tells Pesci’s character (Tommy DeVito) that he’s funny.

Hill thinks he’s praising DeVito, who’s just delighted his pals with a bunch of wisecracks that had them cracking up.

But DeVito takes it the wrong way and assumes Hill is insulting him by suggesting he’s a buffoon, or a clown.

And just like that, a friendly moment between buddies turns into an ominous, potentially violent confrontation.

It's one of the most iconic scenes in the history of movies and instantly recognizable to anyone who remembers Goodfellas, which includes roughly every American male (of all races and ethnicities) above the age of 40.

How could they forget it? Pesci’s lines are repeated–in one context or another–on a regular basis by sports talk show hosts everywhere. A way of instantly connecting with their core demographic of flabby and flatulent men who love gangster movies just a little too much.

On the other hand, this scene (and line) is not instantly recognizable to women–even those who have seen Goodfellas—as they have blissfully lived a life outside the cultural confines of flabby and flatulent middle-aged men.

To prove this point, I conducted one of my infamous sociological explorations. And for the next few days, I quizzed men and women--asking if they can tell me the name of the movie the funny-like-a clown line comes from.

And to my nonsurprise, every man I asked recognized the line and knew the movie. Well, there’s this guy in my bowling league—what up, Matt—who thought the movie was Casino.

But I gave him credit cause Casino, like Goodfellas, is a gangster movies directed by Scorsese and featuring Pesci.

Also, I’m a notoriously easy grader, which is why I ultimately forgive Chicago journalists who have no clue of what a TIF is much less how it works.

Oh, my—what brought that on? Back to the Goodfellas culture divide…

Conversely, only one woman knew the line--my dear friend Susan, who’s a movie junkie. Well done, Susan.

Wait! This just in...

Laurie, another dear friend, tells me her romantic partner, David, doesn’t know the line either.

So there are exceptions to the divide, which is a good thing. As I wouldn’t want to think we’re nothing more than bugs in our cocoons.

Other than, you know, Stephen Miller...