Original artwork, not a still
I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
— Airplane! • 1980
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a joke that answers a joke: Striker uses a cliche of disaster movies, and Rumack punishes it with a pun delivered in the same grave voice. Nielsen's deadpan, a dramatic actor playing a ridiculous line as truth, was the template for the rest of his career in spoofs. People still use it when someone says 'you can't be serious', and the wordplay works so well that the 'Shirley' reply is shorthand for the whole film.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Airplane!Show the scene
On a Los Angeles to Chicago flight in the 1980 disaster-film parody, the fish served at dinner has food-poisoned the entire flight crew. Passenger Dr. Rumack works out the cause, and with nobody flying the plane he and flight attendant Elaine try to persuade Ted Striker, a war-veteran former fighter pilot with a pathological fear of flying, to take the controls. Rumack asks whether he can fly the plane and land it. Striker answers "Surely you can't be serious." Rumack replies that he is serious, and tells him not to call him Shirley. The line ranks number 79 on the American Film Institute's list of top movie quotes.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: Airplane!Rumack and Striker in the cockpitReference checked
- Wikipedia: Airplane!Lead, Casting and AccoladesReference checked
Context reviewed
