MovieChat Forums > Swingers (1997) Discussion > Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

posted 10 years ago by quietrobert
5 replies | jump to latest

Does anybody get what that joke is supposed to be? I've wondered this for years. I'm pretty familiar with what the age of enlightenment is and I just don't understand why trying to order it is a joke.

[–] davidrwalter71 10 years ago

The restaurant offered breakfast any time - so you could order ham and eggs at 3 in the afternoon if you wanted to. Mike was trying to be funny by ordering pancakes during the age of enlightenment - time period vs. time of day. He felt the reference was too obscure for the waitress, rather than that the joke was terrible - which is why the real punch line in the scene is when she calls him voltaire.

[–] quietrobert 10 years ago

Ohhh. He was making like you could order a time period to go with your meal? That is odd.

[–] davidrwalter71 10 years ago

more like he was trying to order the meal and (somehow) eat it during the age of enlightenment: "Breakfast served any time." It's a lousy joke that fell flat, and Trent gives him the "that was pretty bad" look.

[–] userrrrr 10 years ago

gods this thread is as sad and pathetic as the failed joke in the movie was.

[–] Jarrold 10 years ago

I think the scene was pretty good for a couple of reasons. One, what is one of the quintessential things you do in vegas? Eat a big meal late at night, maybe even a breakfast, (also dress up nice, get free s#it, double down on 11, get something for free).

Also, Mike was a comedian, always trying to puff himself up (I have a booking agent), but his jokes always fell flat in the worst possible way. This was a big running joke in the movie, and I found it to be pretty amusing.

"You're not in Kansas anymore"

If you read about the adverse conditions under which they made this film, (see this article, http://grantland.com/features/an-oral-history-swingers/), it makes me think they were geniuses or there was some divine intervention at play.