Original artwork, not a still
He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!
— The Jerk ‧ 1979
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Navin's mistake is the film's whole joke in one sentence: a man so oblivious that bullets flying at him read as a grudge against cans. The line is pure Steve Martin, a naive yelp played with total sincerity. Fans quote it for any misplaced alarm, and it stuck so hard that one writer later titled a retrospective 'that movie about hating cans'.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The JerkShow the scene
In The Jerk (1979), gas-station attendant Navin Johnson is thrilled when the new phone book arrives with his name in it, "Johnson, Navin R.", unaware that a madman has picked that listing at random and means to kill him. When the gunman opens fire on the station, shots punch holes in the cans there and they start to leak. Navin decides the stranger must hate the cans and cries that everyone should keep away from them. Someone has to point out that the gunman wants to put holes in a person, not in cans.
Sources (2)
- The Jerk transcript (Springfield! Springfield!)gas-station sequence after the phone book arrivesReference checked
- Wikipedia: The JerkPlot summary and cast listReference checked
Context reviewed
