MovieChat Forums > Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) Discussion > Can anyone explain to me the significanc...

Can anyone explain to me the significance of the title?

posted 20 years ago by jmbagget
38 replies | jump to latest

I believe the title refers to Diane Keaton's character's search for the right man that will make her happy and help her escape from her troubling childhood. Any ideas?

[–] bethpage89 18 years ago

Phallic.

[–] ruderabbit 18 years ago

The two above saying it's the actual series of murders and a play on the phrase "Looking For Mr. Right" are correct. The actual killer in real life was called the Goodbar Killer (I think because of a wrapper left behind), so the title is a wordplay joke (not haha obviously) on that old female cliche. The fact that the goodbar also sounds phallic and sexual makes it a kind of double pun. Now...have we cleared that up? It's an extremely clever title.

[–] ruderabbit 18 years ago

PS> I also think some people misinterpret the movie as almost anti-feminist, as if she gets "punished" for casual sex. The opposite is true, I think. It's saying that men are inherently dangerous animals and she is playing Russian Roulette every time she invites one home. The fascinating aspect of the movie is KNOWING she will be killed and wondering which of the unblanced men she hooks up with is 'The One'. What it does is make us look at them all with a certain dread and a more discerning judgmental eye than she's using. They're ALL possible wackos. It's actually anti-male. But...true!

[–] foxystoat 17 years ago

ruderabbit. You should warn people before you give out *spoilers*.

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[–] sstavsky 15 years ago

Mr. Goodbar was the name of a singles bar in the book. It is the bar in which the protagonist picks up her killer.

[–] swlabr 8 years ago

You are right. It was the name of the bar in the book.

[–] LadyMargaret 14 years ago

I think the title can have several meanings:

1. She is looking for the thrill and excitement of a life polar opposite of the typical marriage and family that she cannot have because of her congenital scoliosis. She buries her pain from the deprivation of the socially normal relationship in the one-night stands and drug use.

The Nightclub "Goodbar" represents this psychological move from moral law.

2. She steals a candy chocolate bar which also represents her life now moving out of the boundaries of civil law for the thrill and fun.

3. There is a play on words with "good bar" and its masculine counterpart that Ms. Dunn thoroughly enjoys and for which she is 'hungry'.

4. All of the 3 intersect at the end of the movie when she finally decides that the stakes are getting too high and she wants to return to normalcy, her luck runs out and the inevitable probability of a 'bad' bar rears its ugly head.

[–] Woodyanders 10 years ago

I think the whole concept of looking for Mr. Goodbar can be interpreted as looking for a good time in particular and looking for happiness in general. Moreover, one key point this film makes is that the more aggressively one tries to pursue either happiness or a good time the more it can and will elude you at every turn.

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