Explain recent Jon Stewart Pope Joke Please
April 4, 2013 6:42 PM Subscribe
What does "his Holiness lives in Florida!" mean?
In a recent bit on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart was talking about the new Pope Francis's penchant for humility, and played a clip in which an announcer reported that the Pope preferred to be called "Bishop of Rome" rather than more elevated titles such as "Pope" or "His Holiness." Stewart followed up on this clip by quipping "Please! His Holiness lives in Florida!"
Despite the enthusiastic studio audience response to the gag, Mrs. Bastard and I have. no. clue. why that's funny or who or what Stewart is referring to. The only Google result for the phrase is a transcript of the show. Please educate us.
In a recent bit on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart was talking about the new Pope Francis's penchant for humility, and played a clip in which an announcer reported that the Pope preferred to be called "Bishop of Rome" rather than more elevated titles such as "Pope" or "His Holiness." Stewart followed up on this clip by quipping "Please! His Holiness lives in Florida!"
Despite the enthusiastic studio audience response to the gag, Mrs. Bastard and I have. no. clue. why that's funny or who or what Stewart is referring to. The only Google result for the phrase is a transcript of the show. Please educate us.
Lots of sinkholes in Florida; Florida is holey like Swiss cheese. See karst.
posted by dfriedman at 6:48 PM on April 4, 2013
posted by dfriedman at 6:48 PM on April 4, 2013
Best answer: It's a variation on "call me firstname! Mr. Lastname is my father!" - a lot of people's parents retire to Florida.
posted by moxiedoll at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2013 [38 favorites]
posted by moxiedoll at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2013 [38 favorites]
I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, I missed this joke when it aired too.
posted by Think_Long at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Think_Long at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
...and by 'belief', I mean the bit about the Bishop of Rome having any sort of primacy.
posted by jquinby at 6:52 PM on April 4, 2013
posted by jquinby at 6:52 PM on April 4, 2013
Also possibly relevant: the Pope chose to live in an apartment, instead of the archbishop's palace, and cooks his own meals. He also refused a limousine chauffeur. This, plus his age, potentially makes him seem reminiscent of a FL retiree?
posted by ancient star at 6:57 PM on April 4, 2013
posted by ancient star at 6:57 PM on April 4, 2013
I don't know, but there's a twitter account @PopeInBoca, which is basically just a retirement joke.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 7:09 PM on April 4, 2013
posted by DestinationUnknown at 7:09 PM on April 4, 2013
Gotta agree with moxiedoll, it sounds like the point is that the ex-Pope is old, therefore Florida (retiree).
posted by stoneandstar at 7:10 PM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by stoneandstar at 7:10 PM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'd be willing to wager that the "...lives in Florida" variation on "...is my father" might be a kind of New Yorker/East Coast injoke that nobody really considered could be out of reach of a lot of the nation. If I made the same joke here, I'd probably say Arizona, because that's where the seniors from west of the Mississippi tend to migrate to. (At least that's how it appears from here on the west coast.)
posted by Sunburnt at 7:58 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sunburnt at 7:58 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's a variation on "call me firstname! Mr. Lastname is my father!" - a lot of people's parents retire to Florida.
OK, the votes are in and this is a winner. But I STILL don't get it.
What's the 'call me firstname' reference? I hate to be so dense but I follow the news, I really do. Anybody?
posted by LonnieK at 8:00 PM on April 4, 2013
OK, the votes are in and this is a winner. But I STILL don't get it.
What's the 'call me firstname' reference? I hate to be so dense but I follow the news, I really do. Anybody?
posted by LonnieK at 8:00 PM on April 4, 2013
It's when someone meets Ted Smith and says "Nice to meet you, Mr. Smith!" And then Ted Smith says, "call me Ted, Mr. Smith [his father] lives in Florida!"
posted by charmcityblues at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by charmcityblues at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
"Nice to meet you mr. Kitterman"
"Mr. Kitterman! Please, call me 'Lonnie'. 'Mr. Kitterman' is my father."
posted by jeb at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013
"Mr. Kitterman! Please, call me 'Lonnie'. 'Mr. Kitterman' is my father."
posted by jeb at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013
A cursory Google search: Please, call me ______. My father was Mr. ________. It's just a thing some old dudes say. (I love it, old dudes!)
posted by ancient star at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by ancient star at 8:06 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Could part of it be a rif on Florida = retirement and "his holiness" is the honorific for the former pope? His holiness lives in Florida seems like a reference to the last pope who retired.
Since they are playing a joke on how humble he is, here Francis is demurely deferring the honorific by playing it off as the last pope's thing, his father, just call him Francis.
posted by jalitt at 9:05 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Since they are playing a joke on how humble he is, here Francis is demurely deferring the honorific by playing it off as the last pope's thing, his father, just call him Francis.
posted by jalitt at 9:05 PM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
The clip is here. FYI Jon isn't referring to "His Holiness that is now living in Florida" as being the retired pope (or god) - it was just a comedic aside.
Like the above posters said, some men don't like to be called Mr. [name] because Mr. [name] is way too formal for their liking so they'd just rather people use their first name. More casual that way.
Person: "Hello Mr. Jones, nice to meet you".
Mr. Jones: "Please, call me Tom. Mr. Jones was my father's name".
[insert some sort of laugh from either party]
Also, a lot of people's parents move to Florida when they get older, so that's where the "my father lives in Florida" part comes from.
posted by littlesq at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2013
Like the above posters said, some men don't like to be called Mr. [name] because Mr. [name] is way too formal for their liking so they'd just rather people use their first name. More casual that way.
Person: "Hello Mr. Jones, nice to meet you".
Mr. Jones: "Please, call me Tom. Mr. Jones was my father's name".
[insert some sort of laugh from either party]
Also, a lot of people's parents move to Florida when they get older, so that's where the "my father lives in Florida" part comes from.
posted by littlesq at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2013
So here are all the things you need to know before you can get this joke:
posted by pracowity at 12:53 AM on April 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
- The new pope doesn't stand on formalities.
- The previous pope, a more traditionally formal guy, has not died, but has retired (and presumably moved away somewhere).
- People in the US (especially those who live on the East coast, where Stewart's show comes from) frequently retire to sunny Florida.
- Some guys who don't stand on formalities respond to being called "Mr. [lastname]" with something along the lines of "Please, call me [firstname]. Mr. [lastname] [was my father/retired to Florida 20 years ago]."
posted by pracowity at 12:53 AM on April 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
It also (too me at least) has kind of smarmy overtones. Like in an old movie from the 60s or 70s where the swinging son of the stodgy old businessman is trying to pick up a woman at an office party and says "Please, baby, Mr. Williamson is my father, call me Steve!" or he's a salesman type trying to show how easy going he is.
posted by interplanetjanet at 6:17 AM on April 5, 2013
posted by interplanetjanet at 6:17 AM on April 5, 2013
What's the 'call me firstname' reference? I hate to be so dense but I follow the news, I really do. Anybody?
The first time that I heard it was in the movie Rushmore, when Max's dad says it to Bill Murray in the barbershop. When he delivers the line, it is meant in a sort of welcoming way. The idea is that formality is not necessary between the speaker and his new acquaintance.
I couldn't find the clip online but here's the script excerpt:
Max: Mr. Blume, this is my father, Bert Fischer.
Herman: Nice to meet you, Mr. Fischer.
Max's Father: Now Mr. Fischer was my father's name. Call me Bert, please.
posted by AgentRocket at 8:43 AM on April 5, 2013
The first time that I heard it was in the movie Rushmore, when Max's dad says it to Bill Murray in the barbershop. When he delivers the line, it is meant in a sort of welcoming way. The idea is that formality is not necessary between the speaker and his new acquaintance.
I couldn't find the clip online but here's the script excerpt:
Max: Mr. Blume, this is my father, Bert Fischer.
Herman: Nice to meet you, Mr. Fischer.
Max's Father: Now Mr. Fischer was my father's name. Call me Bert, please.
posted by AgentRocket at 8:43 AM on April 5, 2013
> So here are all the things you need to know before you can get this joke
tl;dr: It wasn't a good joke. Anything that requires that much background and that many mental leaps should have been left on the drawing board.
posted by languagehat at 9:08 AM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
tl;dr: It wasn't a good joke. Anything that requires that much background and that many mental leaps should have been left on the drawing board.
posted by languagehat at 9:08 AM on April 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
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In any case, it's the position of Bishop of Rome that makes him the Pope, or Supreme Pontiff. While all of the Bishops are part of a sort of collegial group, the Bishop of Rome is considered primus inter pares, the first among equals. Why? Western Rite Catholics believe that Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, was given this authority by Jesus himself (the Eastern Church does not share this belief).
posted by jquinby at 6:48 PM on April 4, 2013