paranoid

[Shapiro, Fred]

I think that Garson's not finding the "paranoid" quotation in screening the film of Catch-22, together with the absence of citations of any sort from the 1970s and other indications such as the absence of any Catch-22 quotation like this in any of the several good books of film quotations, makes it clear that the citation to Catch-22 for the "paranoid" quotation is erroneous.  I take responsibility for this error since Charlie Doyle, in editing the Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, must have relied on my saying it occurred in the film.  I must have gotten the erroneous film citation from secondary sources.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2013 12:23 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: paranoid

Thanks, Hugo. I watched a version of Catch-22 with a running time of 2
hours 2 minutes and did not see or hear the quotation. It is certainly
possible that I missed it. It is also possible that I saw an edited
version of the film. I hope others will watch the film.

As suggested in my previous message, I found that the version of the
dialog given in the subtitles at subzin and the version given in the
script at script-o-rama were somewhat inaccurate. Rapid dialog was
compressed, and some words and phrases were dropped. Here is an
example:

[Excerpt from subtitles]
00:07:41 "You've got a persecution complex.  "Damn right.
00:07:43 "You admit it!    "I'm being persecuted.
[End excerpt from subtitles]

[Excerpt from movie dialog transcribed by me]
Unknown: You've got a persecution complex.
Yossarian: Your damn right I have.
Dobbs: You admit it!
Yossarian: I admit I'm being persecuted.
[End excerpt from movie dialog]

The dialog that Hugo presented from the book was reflected in the
movie. The lines below were spoken at the end of the dialog I gave in
the previous message.

[Excerpt from movie dialog transcribed by me
Milo: No one's trying to kill you, sweetheart. Now, eat dessert like a good boy.
Yossarian: Oh yeah, then why are they shooting at me Milo?
Dobbs: They’re shooting at everyone Yossarian
Yossarian: And what difference does that make?
[End excerpt from movie dialog]

Garson

On Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 4:09 AM, Hugo <hugovk at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Hugo <hugovk at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: paranoid
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I didn't find it in this 1961 version of the Catch-22 book (for some =
> copyright reason the print-disabled text shows on my phone but not =
> computer):
> =
> http://archive.org/stream/catch22anovel027516mbp/catch22anovel027516mbp_dj=
> vu.txt
> http://archive.org/details/catch22anovel027516mbp
>
> Nor in the subzin.com database of subtitles or this transcript of the =
> 1970 film.
> =
> http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/c/catch-22-script-transcript-he=
> ller.html
>
> But there is this in the book:
>
> [Begin extract]
> =93They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly.
> No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried.
> Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
> They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to =
> kill everyone."
> And what difference does that make?=94
> [End extract]
>
> ---
>
> The earliest, easily verifiable version I found in Google Books was a =
> 1974 New Scientist magazine, with a number of likely-looking early 1970s =
> snippets in magazines attributing it to "they say", "a poster", "a =
> popular bumper sticker", "others have said" or "the warning" (and one to =
> Thomas Pynchon), so it was well-known by then.
>
> New Scientist, 7 Mar 1974, Vol 61 No 888 Page 627
> [Begin extract]
> There is a poster for sale in the Harvard Co-op, and no doubt many other =
> places in the US, which says: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean =
> they're not out to get you".
> [End extract]
>
> =
> http://books.google.com/books?id=3DDA7kWFGxzigC&pg=3DPA627&dq=3D%22just+be=
> cause+you're+paranoid%22&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DICLVUZ-qIaLf4QSDsIDwBw&ved=3D=
> 0CC8Q6AEwAA
>
> ---
>
> The Wikipedia discussion page for paranoia includes this:
>
> [Begin extract]
> Regarding the quote "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they =
> aren't after you," being from the 1961 book Catch-22 by author Joseph =
> Heller, I looked through an e-book version of that book and did not find =
> that sentence. However, I did find that it is a line said by Alan Arkin, =
> playing Capt. John Yossarian in the 1970 film, Catch-22, which may mean =
> that the film screenwriter, Buck Henry, authored the line. Juanaquena 7 =
> June 2013 =97Preceding undated comment added 00:26, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
> [End extract]
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AParanoia
>
> ---
>
> However, if it was well-known in the early '70s, I'd expect plenty of =
> contemporary references to it coming from the 1970 film.
>
> Hugo
>
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