Flipping the Bird: Difference between revisions

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* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', Haru does this to Kyo during their fight as he's saying "Go to hell!"

* In ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', the Hitachiin brothers do this rather frequently.

* In an episode of ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma ~~One Half~~]]'', when they fight the Gambling King, the King uses it to punctuate his rant/challenge. Then it gets returned to him... by Akane, of all people. It's apparently considered a somewhat milder insult in Japan than in the West; it shows up in anime and manga quite a lot.

* In an episode of ''[[Ranma ½|[[Ranma Â½]]'', when they fight the Gambling King, the King uses it to punctuate his rant/challenge. Then it gets returned to him... by Akane, of all people. It's apparently considered a somewhat milder insult in Japan than in the West; it shows up in anime and manga quite a lot.

** Akane did it also in another episode, to Ranma; while hitting <s>him</s>[[Gender Bender|her]] on the head with her [[Hyperspace Mallet]] at the same time.

** Ryoga also did it once when talking smack to Ranma.

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* [[Russell Peters|"Ryan, go clean your room!"]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn5jlrxcpkI "FUCK YOU BITCH!"]

* [[Stage Magician|The Amazing]] [[Subverted Trope|Johnathan]] during one skit covered his hand with a kerchief and asked if a lady in the front row like birds. When she answered yes, he whipped away and flipped her the bird. He did then proceed to recover his hand and make a bird appear... [[Crosses the Line Twice|which he then promptly pummeled into a fistful of feathers]].

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qcaR-GjlJs Dane Cook discusses the finger.] (From about 1:10 on - [[Cluster F-Bomb|audio NSFW]])

* One [[Peter Kay]] routine discussed the art of stealthily flipping someone off by pretending to scratch your face.

== [[Comics]] ==

* [[John Constantine]] (who used to be pictured above) knows the [[Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?|appropriate moment]].

* Lula from the German comic ''[[Lula und Yankee]]'' does that at least once.

* Guy Gardner flips off Mr. Terrific and [[Martian Manhunter]] as his Power Ring flies to him and lands on his middle finger in [[Green Lantern]]: Rebirth. [[Word of God]] confirms it was intentional, as they were surprised that panel got approved.

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== [[Film]] ==

* One of the earliest examples of this in a mainstream film would be ''The Miracle Woman'', a Barbara Stanwyck drama made in 1931 (in other words, prior to the implementation of the [[Hays Code]]), which has a scene where the chauffeur of Stanwyck's character does this to their boss.

** An even earlier example comes in [[Harold Lloyd]]'s silent 1928 comedy ''Speedy'', which has a scene where Lloyd [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4w77jd1KEQ does this to his own reflection] in a funhouse mirror.

* In a deleted scene in ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', Max Patel cheerfully flips the bird at Parker Selfridge, just before {{spoiler|ripping through the command center's windows with a titanic slash cutter, letting in the rogue avatar team.}}

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* In ''[[Tank Girl (film)|Tank Girl]]'', the titular heroine (played by Lori Petty) says this to the Head of Water and Power ([[Malcolm McDowell]]):

{{quote|'''Rebecca:''' There is a great, big, humongous honking booger in your left nostril... I suggest you use ''this finger'' to get it out!}}

* The younger sister of the heroine in ''[[Final Destination]] 3'' flashes the double-deuce when her big sister takes her picture at the amusement park.

* In ''[[Groundhog Day]]'', in at least one loop, Phil does a countdown to filming on his fingers, the middle finger being used for "one".

* One character does this in ''[[Liar Liar]]''.

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* In one of the ''[[Police Academy]]'' movies, a snarky guy flips off a mounted police officer twice, once vertically and again horizontally (i.e. for the officer and the horse he rode in on).

* ''[[Road Trip]]'' had a blind girl giving Seann William Scott's character the bird after he feeds her seeing-eye dog a Slim Jim.

* In ''[[School of Rock]]'', after finding out that he's being booted from his own band, [[Jack Black]] holds up three fingers. "Read between the lines, my friend."

* ''[[Spaceballs]]'': Barf does this at two guards when he and Lone Starr park at the Spaceball Prison Complex.

* Spritle [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|does it]] in ''[[Speed Racer (film)|Speed Racer]]''.

* ''[[Top Gun]]'' had Maverick and Goose tell the story of when they "flipped the bird" at a Soviet pilot (at the beginning of the film). Maverick originally decides to refer to it euphemistically- "improving international relations," until Goose both explains and demonstrates the gesture by flipping off the officers holding the briefing.

* ''[[Tremors]]''. The protagonists have decided to make a run for the bulldozer so they can make their escape, but they need something to distract the man-eating Graboids away from them. Melvin (an annoying minor character) is nearby.

{{quote|'''Earl:''' Hey, Melvin, you wanna make a buck?

'''Melvin:''' Aww, eat it! ''[gives him The Finger]'' }}

* ''[[Undercover Brother]]''. The title character and Sistah Girl are being chased by two security guards in golf carts. The guards try to warn some senior citizens (also in golf carts) to clear out of the way, and one elderly woman gives them The Finger.

* [[Roddy Piper]] does this in ''[[They Live]]'' as he {{spoiler|lies dying, having exposed the true, unpleasant form of the [[Not Quite Human|aliens]] .}}

* [[Roddy Piper]] does this in ''[[They Live!]]'' as he {{spoiler|lies dying, having exposed the true, unpleasant form of the [[Not Quite Human|aliens]] .}}

* ''[[2012|Two Thousand Twelve]]''. Tamara does this to her {{spoiler|now exboyfriend who had tried to leave her dead, as she climbs into a secret compartment of the ship, now leaving him for dead in return.}}

* In ''[[X-Men 1]]'', Wolverine flips Cyclops off with one of his claws during the climax.

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* In ''[[Inception]]'', Yusuf does this to a projection when he drives off the bridge to set off the kick in Fischer's first dream layer.

* The South Korean [[King Kong]] rip-off, ''A.P.E.''features a giant monkey giving the finger to an exploding helicopter. Seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH-fNG9GH5E here].

** And speaking of apes, in the movie ''[[Cannonball Run]] II'', an orangutan chauffeur gives an old lady one when she waves to him!

* Unintentionally in ''[[Rat Race]]'', when Randy burns his finger in the cigarette lighter of Hitler's car and holds it up while next to a biker. His wife [[Stop Helping Me!|tries to explain while wagging hers]]. He next tries explaining the situation to [[World War II]] veterans.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLy8BuGsTg4\]

* The poster for ''[[Trainspotting]]'' includes Begbie giving the V-sign to the viewer.

* In ''[[Ali G Indahouse]]'', Ali G thinks he's being rebellious by giving the V-sign to a cop car just below the rim of his car window, so it's completely hidden.

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* The V-sign is obliquely referred to in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', where it is always referred to as an "obscene hand gesture" so as not to give the children any ideas.

** The most direct reference to it being the V-sign is in ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince|Half-Blood Prince]]'', in which Mrs Weasley threatens to jinx Ron's fingers together if she sees him doing it again.

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Arya lists a number of things she's learned in Braavos, including obscene gestures such as "the fig."

* In ''[[Stephanie Plum|Plum Spooky]]'', Stephanie comments "getting and giving the finger is a way of life in Jersey". She does, however, find it a bit odd to be getting this gesture from a pet monkey she's babysitting.

* Several times in the [[Maximum Ride]] books, including once when it's used as an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]] (and lampshaded as such by Max herself).

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* Jewel Staite and Nathan Fillion of ''[[Firefly]]'' engaged in an ongoing competition of finding the most creative ways to [http://shades-of-moonlight.com/birdflip/index.php flip each other the bird].

* One ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode had George thinking that one of the waitresses at Monk's was giving him the finger as she handed him the bill.

* ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'':

** Brad Sherwood asks something like, "You wanna see me turn my hand all blurry?" He then makes The Finger, which, yes, gets censored by being blurred. Unusual for this show; usually they use a Censor Box.

** Another episode had Ryan accidentally banging his head, with Drew joking "How many fingers am I holding up?" Ryan replies with "How about me?", holding up just the one (censor box'd, of course)

** There is also a running gag in which all the cast members give the director [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elgr_3c2N3k the finger.] (Starts about 0:33 in, NSFW)

* Done [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1uyc-sc5E&feature=related beautifully (if surreptitiously) by Glenn] in ''[[The Thick of It]]'': Julius asks him to hold up his fingers to count something and while he's talking, Glenn slowly lowers his fingers except for the middle one and keeps flipping the bird to Julius's face for a while.

* A promotional (we think) image for ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has pretty much the ''entire cast'' flipping off the camera in costume, with Peter Jurasik (Londo) giving both barrels. It can usually be found as an [[Image Macro]] with a caption like "Babylon 5 agrees that you're a fucking idiot".

* The [[Snick]] show ''[[Roundhouse]]'' pulled one off in its episode about discrimination with the "Race Krispies" sketch. Self-censored (with a cardboard sign), of course: "Hey four-eyes, how many fingers am I holding up?"

* There's an episode of ''[[Roseanne]]'' in which Leon starts making changes to the restaurant when Roseanne isn't there by persuading Nancy and Jackie agree on said changes. Nancy and Jackie inform Roseanne that they all voted in favor of uniforms and breakfast in her absence. Then...

{{quote|'''Nancy:''' We also voted that the restaurant's official bird should be the toucan.

'''Roseanne:''' Would you like to see the bird I voted for? ''(she makes a gesture behind her hand that implies flipping the middle finger)'' }}

** The episode, '''''Bird Is The Word''''', evolves around this.

* In ''[[Porridge]]'' Fletcher is reading off a list of the things he's learned from his time inside, counting them on fingers as he goes. He forgets to add the third finger until Mackay notices it.

{{quote|'''Fletch:''' All right. I'll just tell him three things. One - bide your time. Two - keep your nose clean. And three - don't let the bastards grind you down. }}

* One imprisoned criminal on the short-lived series ''Hooperman'' goes the extra mile with this. He not only gives the title police detective the finger, he ''cuts it off and mails it to him''.

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* Ben Stein would get away with this on his game show ''[[Win Ben Stein's Money|Win Ben Steins Money]],'' scratching his face with his middle finger in the direction of Jimmy Kimmel, whenever he said something humorously insulting to Stein.

* As mentioned above, Spike in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' used the two-finger variant as an eloquent response to Xander's accusatory gesturing when they were struck speechless.

** And next season, [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|that shot made it into the opening credits sequence.]]

** Spike pulled off the same gesture to Angel during a flashback to WWII in Season five of ''[[Angel]]'', quipping "Heil Hitler".

* [[R. Lee Ermey]] on ''Mail Call'' said that the Marine salute done properly has the index finger and 'social finger' touching the brim of the cap.

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{{quote|'''Earl''': Honey, this is for you ''(kisses his two fingers in Joy's direction).'' Blake, one of these two fingers is for you.}}

* [[David Letterman]] got away with it on his show; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbovi0XHadU&feature=related a guy wrote him a letter saying that he's hanging upside down, so Dave flipped him the bird upside-down.]

* In ''[[The Wire]]'', McNulty's superior officer Rawls is introduced by giving him an extended "Fuck you" speech while holding up a double deuce.

* In one episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', Barney attempts to do this to Ted. Unfortunately, [[It Makes Sense in Context|he's wearing a penguin costume at the time]], so he refers to it at [[Incredibly Lame Pun|"flippering you off".]]

** Also implied (since Ted's telling the story to his kids) as giving the thumbs up.

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* [[Steve Austin]]'s "Stone Cold Salute" in the [[WWE]].

* [[Ric Flair]] flipped off [[Triple H]] at ''Survivor Series 2005''.

* [[Kevin Nash|Diesel]] after costing [[The Undertaker]] the title at [[Royal Rumble]] 1996, which was notably before the [[Attitude Era]].

* Upon elimination from the 2004 Diva Search, [[WWE/Characters/Divas|Maria]] gave the finger to [[Elimination Houdini|Carmella]].

* [[Vince McMahon]] does this a lot.

** He was [[Bullying a Dragon|idiotic enough to flip off]] [[The Undertaker]] and [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]] once. They broke his leg.

** During a Steel Cage Match against [[Steve Austin]], Austin nearly escaped twice. Vince flipped him off both times to enrage him into coming back.

** After being defeated by [[Shawn Michaels]] at ''[[Wrestlemania]] 22'', Vince was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled away. Vince defiantly flipped Shawn off right before he disappeared.

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* A 1972 [[Monday Night Football]] game between the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers had a incident in which [[ABC]] cameras caught several Oilers fans leaving (the putrid Oilers were losing badly to then-AFC powerhouse Oakland). One guy that stayed happened to be caught on camera and, [[Medium Awareness|seemingly aware of it]], raised the middle digit. This incident also provided commentator Don Meredith's "[[Crowning Moment of Funny|We're number 1 in the nation]]" quip.

** Similar to this incident, the late newscast for [[San Francisco]] [[ABC]] station KGO following [[Super Bowl]] XIX (won by the hometown 49ers) shows a clip of some Miami Dolphins fans in a hotel to support the defeated Dolphins and one fan on an escalator flips the bird briefly ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TanoA3QTp8Q around the 1:51 mark]).

* Has cropped up a couple of times in [[NASCAR]]. One was in Dale Earnhardt's last race, done rather like an irate driver in traffic (which, in a way, he was), on Kurt Busch. Mike Joy interpreted it as Earnhardt telling Busch, "Kurt, you're number one."

** Then, in the 07 November 2010 race at Texas, Kyle Busch did this to a NASCAR official who was enforcing a penalty on him. One (lap penalty) plus one (finger raised) equalled three (lap penalty).

* [[Formula One]] had a few infamous cases. Heinz-Harald Fretzen did it to Mark Blundell after passing him, and his finger itself was caught on the on-car camera. Johnny Herbert [http://www.atlasf1.com/2000/mal/preview/cunliffe1.jpg did one on the podium].

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* Jack Cayman of ''[[MadWorld]]'' has a variation of this, though he replaces "Middle Finger" with "Chainsaw from his arm".

* In ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' Turner Grey flips off the player when he pushes up his glasses in his normal pose. In Japan though, it's not offensive, though it was overlooked in the American translation.

* ''[[Bayonetta]]'' has a blink and you'll miss it moment where she flips off some angel that had just destroyed the road and then uses the finger as an ignition key for a motorbike.

* In ''[[Gears of War]] 3'' Cole asks politely if one of the stranded have a vessel they could borrow, the response; "Here are the keys to my luxury yacht" while giving him to finger.

* Brutal Doom, a recent mod for ''[[Doom]]'', uses this as the player's taunt. "FUCK YO' SELF!"

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** And let's not forget [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwNvIM2W9Aw what the Japanese think about whales].

** Ike also gave the finger after Cartman rejects him when auditioning for the boy band.

** Cartman [http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/176023/wax-his-crankshaft when he doesn't get invited to a party].

** [http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/165187/canadas-strike-song Canadians on strike from Vancouver to St. John's, raise their middle fingers for you all to sit upon!]

* Ignignokt of the Mooninites in ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' likes to flip the bird to anyone he doesn't like. His middle finger even extends for use when he's really displeased with someone.

{{quote|'''Ignignokt:''' [[Deadpan Snarker|I hope they can see this because I am doing this as hard as I can.]]}}

** Err likes to smoke as he shoots the bird.

* In one of [[Looney Tunes|Tweety's]] first appearances, he is being chased by a pair of [[Abbott and Costello]]-like cats. During the cartoon, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiywOTiRPkE the following exchange occurs]:

{{quote|'''Babbit''': Give me the bird! Give me the bird!!

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* In ''[[Titan Maximum]]'', this appears to be Gibbs's favorite gesture. He usually gets pretty creative with it.

* Lois once did it to her mother on ''[[Family Guy]]''.

** It was digitized on [[~~Fox~~]], but uncensored on [[Adult Swim]].

** It was digitized on [[FOX]], but uncensored on [[Adult Swim]].

** In “Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q”, a squirrel does this to Brian.

** Let’s not forgot this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzwWGPDkSqw Road Trip].

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[[Category:Hand Tropes]]

[[Category:Flipping the Bird]]

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