During the Thanksgiving Day dinner, an elderly lady (probably someone's Grandmother) made a funny - and very short - comment about the cranberry sauce.
I only heard it when watching the film a second time. It was hilarious, because it had nothing at all to do with the critical and sarcastic words tossed among the other diners.
Does anyone remember exactly what she said?
E pluribus unum
It's the Carrigan family Thanksgiving dinner, circa 1966, including Grandma, Mom and Pop, Uncle Teddy, 3 sibs (Max, Lucy, Julia), and guest Jude.
Link to scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeFp65UW4t4
starting at around 1 minute 40 seconds into the clip:
Uncle Teddy: Do you have any idea what your father pays for those tuition fees?
Father: Please...
Max: You know, Uncle Teddy, he won't have to pay them much longer. I'm dropping out.
Grandma: Cranberry sauce isn't as tangy as last year.
Mother(to Max): Don't be ridiculous.
The cranberry sauce line works as comic relief, probably Grandma's attempt to defuse the tenseness of the table conversation by changing the subject.
However, there is another reason for the line which has to do with the "Paul is dead" rumors and speculation which began shortly after the initial release of "Strawberry Fields Forever" as a single. Near the end of the song, it sounds like John is saying "I buried Paul", but supposedly he was really just saying "cranberry sauce" which he liked to throw in every now and then for sheer nonsense value. The listener can decide for themselves at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9pGRtP9WsI
Yes, that's it. Thanks!
Another possibility is Grandma's age and her being out of the loop of critical comments being tossed among the "younger" guests arguing about one thing or another.
It emphasized how unlike a "Thanksgiving Dinner" it was. I found it so funny because of how off-the-wall her comment was.
E pluribus unum
It emphasized how unlike a "Thanksgiving Dinner" it was. I found it so funny because of how off-the-wall her comment was.