---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The movie cheerfully offends all…"
description: "\"The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of taste, decorum, manners and hygiene... The movie is vulgar? Vulgarity is when we don't laugh. Whe..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg"
---

#  The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of…

![“The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of taste, decorum, manners and hygiene... The movie is vulgar? Vulgarity is when we don't laugh. When we laugh, it's merely human nature.” quote by Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg)

> “The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of taste, decorum, manners and hygiene... The movie is vulgar? Vulgarity is when we don't laugh. When we laugh, it's merely human nature.”

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The film deliberately breaks social norms, using vulgarity to provoke laughter and reveal human nature.

**In simple terms:** The film uses vulgarity to challenge taste and provoke laughter.

Key Takeaway

Accept that humor can be crude yet human.

Themes

film humor social norms vulgarity human nature

Mood

critical analytical

Type

critical observational

When to use this quote

- movie reviews
- comedy writing
- censorship debates
- social commentary

Key Concepts

satire cultural critique psychology of laughter

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes humor effective for you?
- When does vulgarity cross a line?

A Different Perspective

Audience may find vulgarity offensive, limiting its reach.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Comedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comedy/) [Decorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decorum/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Hygiene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hygiene/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Vulgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgar/) [Vulgarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgarity/)

## Related quotes

> [There is never vulgarity in a whole truth, however commonplace. It may be unimportant or painful. It cannot be vulgar. Vulgarity is only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/there-is-never-vulgarity-in-a-whole-truth-however-commonplace-it-may/)

[John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/)

> [No crime is vulgar, but all vulgarity is crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/no-crime-is-vulgar-but-all-vulgarity-is-crime/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [The undressed is vulgar; the nude is pure, and the well-dressed tainted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/the-undressed-is-vulgar-the-nude-is-pure-and-the-well-dressed-tainted/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [One is born with good taste. It's very hard to acquire. You can acquire the patina of taste. But what Elsie Mendl had was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/one-is-born-with-good-taste-it-s-very-hard-to-acquire-you-can-acquire/)

[Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/)

> [Vulgarity is, in reality, nothing but a modern, chic, pert descendant of the goddess Dullness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/vulgarity-is-in-reality-nothing-but-a-modern-chic-pert-descendant-of/)

[Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/)

> [Donald Trump did his usual softball interview on "Fox News" where the interviewer agreed with Trump that using that Yiddish vulgarity is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/donald-trump-did-his-usual-softball-interview-on-fox-news-where-the/)

[Lawrence O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-o-donnell/)

> [The physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/the-physicists-have-known-sin-and-this-is-a-knowledge-which-they/)

[J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/)

> [It is an immense loss to have all robust and sustaining expletives refined away from one! At. moments of trial refinement is a feeble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/it-is-an-immense-loss-to-have-all-robust-and-sustaining-expletives/)

[Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/)

> [The vulgarity of inanimate things requires time to get accustomed to; but living, breathing, bustling, plotting, planning, human vulgarity is a species of moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-vulgarity-of-inanimate-things-requires-time-to-get-accustomed-to/)

[Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/)

> [Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of charm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/vulgarity-is-the-garlic-in-the-salad-of-charm/)

[Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/)

> [There is a point in portraying surface vulgarity where tragedy and comedy are very close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-stanwyck/there-is-a-point-in-portraying-surface-vulgarity-where-tragedy-and/)

[Barbara Stanwyck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-stanwyck/)

> [Vulgarity is setting store by the things which are seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-lady-morgan/vulgarity-is-setting-store-by-the-things-which-are-seen/)

[Sydney, Lady Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-lady-morgan/)

> [To endeavor to work upon the vulgar with fine sense is like attempting to hew blocks with a razor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/to-endeavor-to-work-upon-the-vulgar-with-fine-sense-is-like/)

[Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/)

> [A lot of warm vulgarity is incomparably preferable to a little bit of pinched niceness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-thomas/a-lot-of-warm-vulgarity-is-incomparably-preferable-to-a-little-bit-of/)

[Caitlin Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-thomas/)

> [One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marshall-harlan-ii/one-man-s-vulgarity-is-another-man-s-lyric/)

[John Marshall Harlan II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marshall-harlan-ii/)

## More by Roger Ebert

> [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [It is an interesting law of romance that a truly strong woman will choose a strong man who disagrees with her over a weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-an-interesting-law-of-romance-that-a-truly-strong-woman-will/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [I am, beneath everything else, a fan. I was fixed in this mode as a young boy and am awed by people who take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/i-am-beneath-everything-else-a-fan-i-was-fixed-in-this-mode-as-a/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [“We’d had a revelation. This was the direction American movies should take: into idiosyncratic characters, into dialogue with an ear for the vulgar and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/we-d-had-a-revelation-this-was-the-direction-american-movies-should/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [“Most courtroom movies feel it necessary to end with a clear-cut verdict. But 12 Angry Men never states whether the defendant is innocent or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/most-courtroom-movies-feel-it-necessary-to-end-with-a-clear-cut/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [What every human being should do is eat a vegetarian diet based on whole foods. Period. That's it. Animal protein is bad for you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/what-every-human-being-should-do-is-eat-a-vegetarian-diet-based-on/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [I value the kind of prayer when you stand at the edge of the sea, or beneath a tree, or smell a flower, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/i-value-the-kind-of-prayer-when-you-stand-at-the-edge-of-the-sea-or/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [“One of my delights in these books, on the other hand, has been to include movies not often cited as “great”—some because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/one-of-my-delights-in-these-books-on-the-other-hand-has-been-to/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [A movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons, though you might agree or disagree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/a-movie-isn-t-good-or-bad-based-on-its-politics-it-s-usually-good-or/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [It is human nature to look away from illness. We don't enjoy a reminder of our own fragile mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-human-nature-to-look-away-from-illness-we-don-t-enjoy-a/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [ Gene \[Siskel\] often mentioned something François Truffaut once told him: the most beautiful sight in a movie theater is to walk down to the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/gene-siskel-often-mentioned-something-fran-ois-truffaut-once-told-him/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/a-movie-is-not-about-what-it-is-about-it-is-about-how-it-is-about-it/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [James Cameron's films have always been distinguished by ground-breaking technical excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/james-cameron-s-films-have-always-been-distinguished-by-ground/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [Friends don't let Jackasses drink and drive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/friends-don-t-let-jackasses-drink-and-drive/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [I think we have to get beyond the idea that we have to categorize people. We can now have action movies with two stars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/i-think-we-have-to-get-beyond-the-idea-that-we-have-to-categorize/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

[Explore all 427 Roger Ebert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

## More Civilized quotes

> [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/)

[Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/)

> [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/)

[Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/)

> [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/)

Joseph Anderson

> [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/)

[Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/)

> [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/)

[Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/)

> [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/)

[Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/)

> [As long as there are prisons, police, armies, navies; we are not civilized. When the Earth joins together and uses the Earth intelligently, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-there-are-prisons-police-armies-navies-we-are-not/)

[Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/)

> [We're all intrigued, in our civilized world that we live in, and curious about how we would get on, on an undiscovered island that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/we-re-all-intrigued-in-our-civilized-world-that-we-live-in-and/)

[Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/)

> [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/)

[Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/)

Browse all 1,043 Civilized quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of taste, decorum, manners and hygiene... The movie is vulgar? Vulgarity is when we don't laugh. When we laugh, it's merely human nature.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Roger Ebert"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civilized-notions-of-taste-decorum/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Civilized"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civilized-notions-of-taste-decorum/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d2/roger-ebert-655_civilized_the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civiliz_2271031.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The movie cheerfully offends all civilized notions of taste, decorum, manners and hygiene... The movie is…” — Roger Ebert",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Roger Ebert",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The movie cheerfully offends all civilized...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civilized-notions-of-taste-decorum/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/the-movie-cheerfully-offends-all-civilized-notions-of-taste-decorum/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
