Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a recovery-group joke turned into a mantra: a predator reciting a motto he plainly does not trust himself to keep. The comedy is that everyone in the room, including Bruce, is one drop of blood from a relapse. People use it for any struggle with temptation, and it is the film's best-known gag about villains who are trying to be good.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Finding NemoShow the scene
In Finding Nemo (2003), Marlin the clownfish and Dory the blue tang attend a meeting of sharks who are trying to give up eating fish. It is led by Bruce, a great white, and opens with a pledge: he says he is a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine, and that to change his image he must change himself. Then comes the slogan, with a prickly exception for dolphins. The meeting goes wrong when Marlin accidentally hurts Dory and Bruce smells her blood. Bruce is named after the nickname of the mechanical shark in Jaws.
Sources (2)
- Finding Nemo transcript, Springfield! Springfield!the shark meetingReference checked
- Finding Nemo, WikipediaPlot and ProductionReference checked
Context reviewed
