So, I'm sure almost everyone on here has seen Donnie Darko (if you haven't, crawl outta your hole.) In the scene where Drew Barrymore's character has to quit and she's talking to Donnie she says that a famous liguist once said that out of all the phrases and combinations of words that the phrase "Cellar door" is the most beautiful. First off, is this true? I mean, did any famous linguist ever say such a thing? Second, why would the writer/director say that? Is there some reason why cellar door could be considered the most beautiful phrase in the English language? Does it sound so pretty as it rolls off the toungue or is it because of what "cellar door" means or symbolizes? Third, if it isn't really supposed to be particularly beautiful and is just a part of the movie... what purpose does it serve? I mean, the scene could have been left out and the only two times the phrase gets mentioned again are at the party when Donnie daydreams and hears the phrase and right before he walks into Grandma Death's house he says, "Cellar door." after his girlfriend asks him what's wrong. I can't figure out why this scene was necessary or what signifigance it had. I think it's the last thing I don't get about this movie... and there's a whole lot of weird shit to get in that movie. So, cellar door... wtf?
He says "cellar door" right before he walks through her cellar door... I think it has to do with the whole "seeing the future as a form of time travel" thing. I don't know if the linguist part is true or not, I'm curious now though.
It was JRR Tolkien who started the talk about the beauty of the phrase. He didnt say it was the most beautiful phrase, he just said that if you disregard the meaning and spelling that it is beautiful. He was making a greater point about the english language but I forgot what it was. From there the cellar door folklore spread.
So, it was just how the phrase sounded? So, does this phrase sound particularly beautiful to anyone else? I don't hear anything that great. I found a little info. about the phrase on Wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellar_door BTW, thanks BlazinTalon, you got me my second bar. +rep
I dont think the phrase is all that important on its own. Its just a phrase that people use to show that words have a transcendent value beyond their meaning and spelling. Some people who didnt understand what Tolkien was saying took it to mean something else. Its just like 420, we all get the point but nobody understands how it got so big.