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Funny / The Trial of the Chicago 7

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  • The opening scene makes for several moments of clever Mood Whiplash, cutting back and forth between the principal characters and showcasing their disparate personalities and methods.
    Dellinger: If the police try to arrest me, I'll do what I always do, and what I taught you to do, which is what?
    Dellinger's son: Very calmly and very politely ...
    The scene cuts to the Black Panthers headquarters.
    Seale: Fuck the motherfuckers up!
  • The moment when two of the defendants wear judge robes to court.
    Judge Hoffmann: Do you have clothes underneath (the robes)?
    Abbie: Yes. Hold on. (Looks down the collar, as if to make sure) Yes.
    • Then when ordered to remove said robes, they are happy to oblige... And reveal they are dressed as policemen.
  • When Abbie and Jerry arrive at the courthouse, someone tries to throw an egg at Jerry, but he manages to catch it. Then he just awkwardly continues to hold the egg since he doesn't know what to do with it next.
  • Tom asks the other defendants what their strategy for the trial is.
    Tom: Are we using the trial to defend ourselves against very serious charges that could land us in prison for ten years? Or to say a pointless "fuck you" to the establishment?
    Jerry: Fuck you!
    Tom: That is what I was afraid...wait, I don't know if you were saying "fuck you" or answering—
    Abbie: I was also confused.
  • The Receptionist, while in front of Kunstler, casually asks a caller for donations since they now need to pay a high-priced lawyer. Kunstler snarks that the high-priced lawyer is working for free and that the money goes to support his employees.
  • This bit of the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue text:
    Abbie Hoffman wrote a best-selling book, though the number of copies in circulation is unknown as the title was Steal This Book.note 
  • Schultz's boss asks if he really thinks that the trial will have an audience, at which point protestors chanting "The whole world is watching" become audible.
  • The judge repeatedly misreads Dellinger's name as Derringer even as Schultz repeatedly tries to correct him. 
  • When John is asked if he has any opinions about how things are going, he says that he thinks their judge might be crazy.
  • When Kunstler asks if everyone has everything off their chest after the first day of court Fred barges in, accusing Kunstler of speaking for Bobby, which causes Kunstler to dryly answer his own question with "evidently not."
  • When Rubin asks why none of the jurors are hippies, Kunstler asks if he's ever answered a jury duty summons.
  • Allen Ginsberg's relentless "ohm-ing" to channel and calm down the energy of the crowd. In a possible shout-out to A League of Their Own, Jerry finally says "You're killing me, Allen. You're goddamn killing me."

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