Original artwork, not a still
The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!
— The Jerk · 1979
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Navin has never been counted before, and a printed name is the first proof that he exists. The joke is that the book that makes him feel famous is the same book that makes him a target. Fans shout it at any delivery that thrills the wrong person with the right squeal, and it has outlived the phone book itself, now a relic of the print age.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The JerkShow the scene
In The Jerk (1979), directed by Carl Reiner and co-written by Steve Martin, Navin R. Johnson is a sheltered young man who has left his sharecropper family and ended up working at a gas station. When the new phone book is delivered, he announces it and flips to page 73, where his own name is printed. He is thrilled: millions of people look at this book, he says, and he is somebody now. The film then cuts to a madman at home, thumbing through the same book and choosing Navin's name to kill.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: The JerkGas-station and phone-book scenesReference checked
- Wikipedia: The JerkPlot and productionReference checked
Context reviewed
