The World According to Garp (1982)

Glenn Close: Jenny Fields

Photos 

Quotes 

• Jenny Fields : You know, everybody dies. My parents died. Your father died. Everybody dies. I'm going to die too. So will you. The thing is, to have a life before we die. It can be a real adventure having a life.

• [noticing scantily clad prostitutes] 

  Jenny Fields : Is that the latest fashion?

  T. S. Garp : No, Mom, that's the oldest profession.

• Roberta : I mean, I had mine removed surgically under general anesthesia. But to have it bitten off in a Buick...

  Jenny Fields : It's lust!

• Jenny Fields : Are you gonna go to sleep or you gonna stay up and think your weird thoughts?

  Young Garp : I'll stay up and think weird thoughts for a while.

• [telling Dean Bodger and her son about his father, who was a brain-damaged WWII veteran she tended as a nurse] 

  Jenny Fields : Where was I?

  T. S. Garp : He kept having erections.

  Jenny Fields : Thank you. He was dying. I wanted a child. Seemed like a good way to have one without the bother of a husband around who had legal rights to my body. So, one night when I was on duty and the the wounded and maimed were all asleep, I went to him. He was asleep. But his erection was there, as always. I removed my undergarments and climbed on top of him. He woke up then. He said the only word other than his name that I ever heard him utter. He said, "good." It didn't take very long, and that once was all that was needed.

  Dean Bodger : You raped him! You raped a dying man!

• Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : [to Roberta]  Hey, you! Dildo! Is this the nut house where you're keeping my Laurel?

  Roberta : Laurel's here but we're not exactly keeping her.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Bullshit, ya big dyke.

  Roberta : I'm not a dyke. Is Laurel expecting you?

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : I'll kill you, douchebag!

  Roberta : That's all you men understand is violence.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Now look. I know what sort of freaks hang around here. It's a big lesbian scene.

  [Garp walks on to porch] 

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Ooooh, oooh, what are you, the man of the house or the court eunuch? Laurel, you in there, you bitch?

  Jenny Fields : Hello.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Oh, I know who you are. My Laurel's not your type sweetie.

  Jenny Fields : Perhaps she's not your type either.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Listen, goddammit. If you don't get Laurel's ass out here I'm gonna...

  [Roberta knocks down Randy] 

  Laurel - Dog's Head Mansion : Randy!

  Jenny Fields : Are you all right?

  Laurel - Dog's Head Mansion : Baby, you found me.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Oh, I don't think I can drive the fuckin' car.

  Laurel - Dog's Head Mansion : That's all right. I can drive, you just never let me.

  [to Jenny] 

  Laurel - Dog's Head Mansion : I guess Randy needs me.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Easy!

  [In pain as Laurel helps him to the car] 

  Laurel - Dog's Head Mansion : Sorry, baby, I'm sorry.

  Randy - Dog's Head Mansion : Crazy dyke blind-sided me.

• [first lines] 

  Mrs. Fields : Garp?

  Jenny Fields : Garp.

  Mrs. Fields : Garp.

  Mr. Fields : Garp?

  Mrs. Fields : Yes, Garp.

  Mr. Fields : Sounds like a fish.

• Jenny Fields : Didn't want to get married. I wanted a baby.

  Mrs. Fields : But a wedding ring, dear...

  Jenny Fields : I didn't need a ring, Mother. I needed his sperm.

  Mr. Fields : No! Don't you *dare* say sperm in this house.

• Jenny Fields : Sick. Even when they're healthy they're sick with lust.

• Mr. Fields : Jenny! In the war - which side was he on? Was he on our side at least?

  Jenny Fields : He wasn't on any side. He was flat on his back in a hospital. One night, when he had one of his usual erections, I got on top of him and he squirted it in me. He ejaculated almost immediately. And as a result, I've got a wonderful baby.

• Jenny Fields : Bosworth! A word of warning, you filth monger! If you expose my baby one more time to cheap shots like this

  [holds up a Girlie magazine] 

  Jenny Fields : l'll inoculate your jock strap with bubonic plague and t'll do such a job on you, you'll have nothing left to scratch down there.

• Jenny Fields : His erections continued, however, quite unabated.

• Jenny Fields : It was lust.

  Ernie Holm : Beg your pardon?

  Jenny Fields : Lust. Mr. Holm, you have a daughter. I have a son.

  Ernie Holm : He's a fine boy. He's a good wrestler.

  Jenny Fields : He's also full of lust. I can spot it a mile away. He's lusting after your daughter.

  Ernie Holm : I wouldn't worry about that. Helen can take care of herself. After all, it's only natural.

  Jenny Fields : Diseases are natural, too. It doesn't mean we have to give in to them. Keep an eye on your daughter, coach.

• Jenny Fields : Do you like her?

  T. S. Garp : She's very nice, Mom, but...

  Jenny Fields : What is it about her that you want? I don't mean just her sex parts. I mean, is there something else that's satisfying?

  T. S. Garp : Well, it's a combination.

  Jenny Fields : How do you feel to be wanted in that way? Does it degrade you to have my son want you in that way? Or do you think it only degrades him?

  The Hooker : I don't know.

  Jenny Fields : Do you want her? Do you want her like you want Helen? Is it the same kind of want? You really want to have sex with her. Well, do you?

  T. S. Garp : Yes. Of course I do.

• The Hooker : Don't give me money here!

  Jenny Fields : Why not?

  T. S. Garp : Because it's illegal, Mom.

  Jenny Fields : Why?

  T. S. Garp : Because it is, that's why.

  Jenny Fields : That's silly. It's her body. Why shouldn't she use it the way she wants to?

• T. S. Garp : That's not fair. I showed you mine. You should show me yours.

  Jenny Fields : What do you think you're doing? Playing "Doctor's Office" with Cushie?

• The Hooker : Hey, look, it's all right with me if your mother wants to buy me for you. But she can't come along with us.

  T. S. Garp : Oh, Jesus, no.

  The Hooker : Absolutely not. I will *not* have her watching us. I am still a Catholic, believe it or not. You want anything funny like that, you just go over to 8th Avenue.

  Jenny Fields : I don't intend to watch.

• Walt : How old are you, Granny?

  Jenny Fields : Old as the hills.

  Walt : Really?

  Jenny Fields : That's right. You'll be old, too, someday. "Old Man Walt." It's not bad, being old. It's kind of nice, actually. You can have cake and ice cream, and you don't have to worry about cavities. You're done with school. And if you're very lucky, you'll have many, many friends and many, many memories. And you can think about them.

• Jenny Fields : What happened happened. Your blaming her isn't going to change that. She's hurt and you're hurt. And you just keep pouring salt on the wounds. That's no way for the son of a nurse to behave. Heal yourself, damn it! And help her heal herself, before it's too late for both of you.