Original artwork, not a still
I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.
— Spaceballs · 1987
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Mel Brooks parodies Darth Vader's big reveal by putting it through a family tree that collapses into nonsense. It is the film's best-known gag and the line fans reach for when someone claims a very tenuous relation. The film pointedly makes the reveal mean nothing: 'what's that make us?' gets the answer 'absolutely nothing'.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for SpaceballsShow the scene
Just before the duel that ends Spaceballs (1987), Lord Dark Helmet and Lone Starr face off inside Mega-Maid. Before killing him, Helmet tells Starr he has something to know about the two of them: a relationship, he says, that runs through a brother, a nephew and a cousin and ends at a former roommate. Starr asks what that makes the two of them, and Helmet says it makes them nothing, which is what Starr is about to become. Both men then light their Schwartz rings.
Sources (2)
- Spaceballs, WikiquoteDark Helmet; DialogueReference checked
- Spaceballs, WikipediaPlot; ProductionReference checked
Context reviewed
