Cookies for Clint
I regularly complain about my college students’ lack of cultural knowledge. For example, when I refer to the movie “The Matrix” in class, I’m met with blank stares. If I try to quote Bette Davis in “All About Eve,” saying “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night,” they look at me like I’m talking Klingon.
Or at least, that’s what they would think if any of them had ever seen a Star Trek television episode.
Which they haven’t.
So to remedy this appalling lack of cultural knowledge, I have made it my crusade to educate my own little corner of the world: my 15-year-old daughter. Last summer, we rented and watched classic movies so she’d know what her teachers were talking about when they threw out lines like “I’m king of the world!” or “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Just a few weeks ago, we watched the movie “Wayne’s World.” While it might not rank up there with “Titanic” or “Casablanca,” it’s still a cultural reference and film icon, the source of such famous lines as “Party on!” and “EXcellent!”
So imagine my daughter’s delight when her US History teacher mentioned the film in class the other day. He was talking about Delaware and asked if anyone had seen the film “Wayne’s World.” My daughter’s hand shot up: she was totally in the loop.
“See?” I said at dinner that night. “Cultural knowledge is important. Had anyone else in the class seen the movie?”
“A couple people,” she replied, “but not too many. I’m thinking since he mentioned the movie in class, I’m going to suggest we watch it in class, too.”
“I doubt that’s going to happen,” my husband said. “It may be a cultural icon, but it’s really not appropriate for a high school history class.” He spread some jam on a slice of bread. “Now, the ‘Dirty Harry’ movies are something else. Every American should hear Clint Eastwood saying ‘Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?’”
“Make my day,” I added.
My daughter’s eyes lit up. “I am so going to use that line the next time we have a test at school. I’ll say to my classmate: ‘Do you feel lucky, punk?’”
Her remark gave me an idea. Maybe there was a way to increase students’ cultural knowledge after all…
“I know what they should do at schools,” I said as the idea began to take clearer shape in my head. “They should have incentives for students to learn famous movie lines and then use them correctly. The faculty could choose a movie line for each day, and everyone who uses it properly gets a free cookie. They could publish a list of the movies the week before, so the students have time to see the movies. Or they could show them on the television monitors during lunch periods.”
“So if it’s a ‘Dirty Harry’ day, and I ask my classmate if she feels lucky before a test, I’d get a free cookie at lunch?”
“Absolutely,” I told her. “In fact, they should use a ‘Dirty Harry’ movie for the first day, and just call the whole incentive program ‘Cookies for Clint.’”
“It sounds like a fundraiser or a government initiative,” my husband pointed out. “No ‘Dirty Harry’ Left Behind.”
“’Cookies for Clint,’” my daughter repeated, ignoring my husband’s comment. “I like it. EXcellent, Mom.”
“Party on,” I told her.
A round of cookies for the house, please.
Tags: trust me
