Characters
People of Seattle, listen to me! We are not barbarians! We are not neanderthals! And we are not French!
— Frasier • Frasier
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A pompous rallying cry that lists what 'we' are not, building up to a punchline that treats being French as the worst insult of all. The comedy is in the mounting grandeur, then the snobbish swerve. It's a speech that puffs itself up and pops itself.
Context reviewed