Why Was This Called The Jerk?
When he was more of an idiot?
Lets put a SMILE on that face!
Because while it is, of course, a rags-to-riches-to-rags story, it is also an idiot-to-jerk-to-idiot story.
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MovieChat Forums > The Jerk (1979) Discussion > Why Was This Called The Jerk?
Traditionally a Jerk was an idiot, not an a-hole, like we think about it today.
from WordOrigins.org
The most common usage of jerk, meaning a fool or inept person, dates to the early years of the 20th century. Which of the above senses it comes from is uncertain. It may originally have been a reference to a chronic masturbator or it may have been to a resident of a jerkwater town. The earliest clear attestation of this sense is from 1935 in Albin Jay Pollock’s The Underworld Speaks:
Jerk, a boob; chump; a sucker.
Traditionally a Jerk was an idiot, not an a-hole, like we think about it today.
I agree; the word has evolved since I was a kid. A jerk used to be somebody who was an idiot or at best very naive.
It's kind of like the word geek, which has an entirely different meaning now than 30 years ago. It went from referring to somebody who performed disgusting acts (like biting off a chicken's head or a carnival performer), to a nerd.
Cause "The M-F'ing White Boy" was already taken?
although the OP has a good point. "Jerk" implies someone who actively bothers you or intentionally tries to irritate you or give you a hard time.
While Steve was just unknowingly stupid.
There already have been movies called "The Idiot" though so I guess Martin just didn't want to confuse things.
LOL... I kind of like "The A-hole" as a title. He should have been really wild and crazy and used that.
In a way, they should kind of re-name that title....
When I first heard about this movie I was thinking maybe it was about a middle class guy who loses his job and family and crap because he was a such an ass and became nice again in the end...
Then I read the description and was like, "WTF??"
Pretty good movie though...
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Because it's a story about a jerk (based on his actions toward the end of the movie).
The whole movie is a story being told by Navin. He mentions at the beginning, before he starts the story, that he's "not a bum. [he's] a jerk".
Steve Martin and director Carl Reiner met constantly and the film's title grew out of their conversations: "It needs to be something short, yet have the feeling of an epic tale," Martin remarked. "Like Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, but not that. Like The Jerk."