June 29, 2010

“I am not an animal!”


FAMOUS MOVIE QUOTE:

“I am not an animal!  I am a human being!”
       John Hurt as John Merrick, “The Elephant Man”
       In the film version of The Elephant Man (1980)
       Based on the 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance


THE PENGUIN’S COUNTERQUOTE:

Danny DeVito (as The Penguin): “I am not a human being. I am an animal!”
       In the movie Batman Returns (1992)


NIETZCHE’S VERSION:

“I am not a human being. I am dynamite.”
       German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
       Ecce Homo (written in 1888, published in 1908)


THE PRODUCERS’ VERSION:

Gene Wilder (as Leo Bloom): “Actors are not animals. They’re human beings.”
Zero Mostel (as Max Bialystock): “They are? Have you ever eaten with one?” 
       In Mel Brooks’ movie The Producers (1968)


MST3K VARIATION:

Tom Servo: “I am not an animal. I am a rubber model!”
       One of the quips Tom made on Mystery Science Theater 3000 while watching a stop-motion dinosaur in the 1951 movie, Lost Continent

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