Andy Griffith-filter, help me with this quote?

June 9, 2015 3:13 PM

Why was his heart shaped in a bowl? Andy's I mean. From Season 4, Episode 5, Mr. Darling says to Andy, after the latter offers to have him over for dinner, "That haircut of yours may be city style but your heart was shaped in a bowl."

A link that to substantiate the quote, but that didn't really provide any insight, can be found here.

I did google and found some mildly biblical references (big surprise) but didn't find anything definitive. Perhaps something related to hearts being "shapen" in a bowl if that makes any difference.

Further googling led me to heart shaped bowls on Etsy and the like.

Thanks.

posted by RolandOfEld to Society & Culture (14 answers total)

Haven't seen the show, but that sounds like a reference to a bowl cut; ie, a cheap, "not city" home haircut.
posted by zinful at 3:15 PM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think he's referring to a bowl haircut--kind of a variation on "you can take the girl out of Texas, but..." Andy's haircut may be citified, but his heart still has a bowl cut.
posted by pullayup at 3:15 PM on June 9, 2015 [9 favorites]

Response by poster: I could use many adjectives to describe Andy's haircut but "bowl-cut" is nowhere to be found among them. You're forgiven for the mild sacrilege.

But I suppose I see where the meaning might go that way a bit...
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:17 PM on June 9, 2015

I think the point's that his physical haircut is not a bowl cut anymore. The bowl cut is on the inside.
posted by pullayup at 3:21 PM on June 9, 2015 [28 favorites]

Right, but what is being said is not that he has a bowl cut but rather his heart is that of someone (countrified) who might have a bowl cut. Does that make sense?
posted by janey47 at 3:21 PM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

I agree with the above, but just had to add that "Meat!" got yelled with alarming frequency at the dinner table when I was growing up.
posted by hwyengr at 3:22 PM on June 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

The outward man has a fashionable haircut but his soul has a bowl-cut.
posted by frobozz at 3:23 PM on June 9, 2015 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Well shit, I thought Mr. Darling was having a deep religious (as opposed to just homely I suppose) moment, as he is wont to do at times.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:25 PM on June 9, 2015

Noooooo, I think he's saying Andy's heart is like a bowl, ie, the way to win him over is with food.
posted by kate blank at 3:58 PM on June 9, 2015

If anyone cut their hair at home with a bowl, it was definitely the Darlings. So yeah, I agree with the interpretation of "You get a fancy haircut instead of cutting it at home with a bowl like we do, but your heart is humble, just like ours."
posted by holborne at 4:07 PM on June 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yes. Old-fashioned, humble heart.
posted by harrietthespy at 4:29 PM on June 9, 2015

Commentary on the line. Another reading.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:47 PM on June 9, 2015 [4 favorites]

My mind went to letting bread rise in a bowl, like you may cut your hair in the city but your heart was shaped at home. The bowl cut seems to be the consensus though.
posted by stray thoughts at 9:28 PM on June 9, 2015

Another angle – could it be a reference to the Dust Bowl? That is, Andy may look like a city slicker, but at heart he’s a country bumpkin, formed by the hardships of 1930s rural America.
posted by HandfulOfDust at 4:07 AM on June 10, 2015