Chewing gum is so simple, so easy, and so inherently gross at times. It’s a great way for smokers to relax and not focus on their next cigarette, if they can refrain from chewing on the whole pack. Aside from that it’s essentially just another habit that gives your mouth something to do besides open all the time. In a film it can also be a funny moment that leaves you wondering just what the director was thinking about when they decided to fit it in.
With that said, here are some of the more unique moments when chewing gum was a big part of the scene.
5. Coneheads
Very little about the Coneheads was conventional. They were aliens stranded on earth and forced to live among humans in an attempt to get by until they could be rescued. The only problem they had when trying to blend in, aside from their dome-shaped heads, was that they had some seriously interesting quirks that even the craziest and most forgiving humans found a little odd. Like the habit of chewing on condoms and calling it gum for example.
4. Stand Up Guys
Okay you got me, there’s little to do with the actual chewing of gum in this film, but the words alone are part of one of the greatest quotes in film. When you hear “What’ll it be? We can chew gum, or kick ass.” and the response is, “I’m all out of gum.”, you can’t possibly tell me you don’t get a little pumped up at the prospect of what could happen next. Walken and Pacino as aging thugs are entirely believable and are able to pump up a movie that in truth wasn’t all that great but still delivered when it counted.
3. Elf
Mmm, subway gum. There’s a lot that Buddy just doesn’t know about the world and obviously what type of gum to eat and what to avoid is one of them. Will Farrell’s performance as the naive and out of his element elf is charming and even amusing in most cases, but this moment is absolutely cringe-worthy. Barring the fact that it’s not real, the mere thought of even touching the hardened, mashed mini-discs that are pressed firmly to hand rails and iron bars that have untold numbers of hands gripping them each day is just beyond gross.
2. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
Pee Wee isn’t much of a fighter, but he definitely knows how to get the last lick in. The trick gum he gives to Francis and Mr. Buxton is no doubt either super hot or some other kind of nasty surprise judging by the look on the elder Buxton’s face. And of course Francis is just oblivious because his mouth doesn’t hurt and a guilty conscience will always attempt to be absolved by the perpetrator trying to get someone on their side.
1. Blazing Saddles
Who knew bad guys had such a strict code when it came to standing in line? I guess it pays to be ruthless when you’re trying to recruit the baddest men in the west. But a bullet for a wad of gum seems excessive, even if it is a Mel Brooks film. It definitely gets a laugh though since it’s not the most over the top moment the film has to offer. Think about showing this as a comedy in today’s theaters. Do you think it would still get the same reaction?
I’ll reiterate that the act of chewing gum is kind of gross. It’s not for everyone obviously and is useful in a way, but one way or another, unless you swallow it, that chewed up wad of bacteria-laden material has to come out of your mouth eventually.
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