Funny / Dead Poets Society

• On the first day of classes, one of the professors struggles against the tide of students marching down the stairs.
  "Slow down, you horrible phalanx of pubescence!"
• Charlie slipping a crumpled-up page of the introduction to the poetry textbook into his mouth when Mr. McCallister interrupts the textbook-ripping session. The look on his face is priceless.
• For that matter, the entire first lesson with Mr Keating, particularly when he tells the class to tear out the introduction to the poetry text. Reactions range from incredulous to gleeful.
  Keating: It's not The Bible, you're not gonna go to Hell for this!
• Knox is at a party with a lot of drunk football players, and two of them assume he's the brother of one of their friends, "Mighty Mutt". He tells them he's not. They completely ignore him, pour him a drink, and keep him there as they go on about what a great guy his "brother" is.
• Charlie convincing Knox that the Society will help him win over Chris (using what Keating had told them about the original DPS):
  Charlie: "Women swoon", Knox!
  Knox: But why do they swoon? (Charlie runs off and Knox takes off after him) Charlie, tell me why they swoon!
• Mr. Keating doing Shakespeare by way of Marlon Brando and John Wayne, starting it with an impression of Laurence Olivier.
• When the boys must read their own poems to the class, Mr. Keating calls up Hopkins to do his. He pulls out his paper, reads "The cat sat on the mat", and returns to his desk.
  Keating: Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. You have the first poem to ever have a negative score on the Pritchard scale.
• Charlie's prank — sneaking an article into the newspaper saying that girls should go to the school as well, followed by a phone call from God at the subsequent assembly called to find the culprit — is rather stupid, but still funny.
• After Charlie's prank of God "calling" the school to say girls should attend the school, Mr. Keating gently but firmly chides him for it. Then, as he leaves the room, he pauses momentarily:
  Mr. Keating: Phone call from God? If it had been collect, that would have been daring.
• Neil and Todd's jokes about the desk set that Todd's parents sent him on his birthday for the second time in a row. Eventually, Neil notes how "aerodynamic" it is, and, with Todd's permission, frisbee-throws it off the edge of the balcony.
  Neil: I wouldn't worry about it... you'll get a new one next year.
• Charlie deciding that from now on, he wants to be called "Nwanda", especially after he gets paddled for his prank, and Neil, calling him Charlie, asks what happened:
  Charlie: Dammit, Neil... the name's Nwanda.
• Charlie is made of funny. Other examples include "getting red" — unlike the modern meaning, it means drawing a huge lightning bolt on his chest, for power and virility, and his Large Ham delivery of "TO INDEED BE A GOD" during the poetry and football scene.
• On The Graham Norton Show in 2018, Ethan Hawke discussed introducing his son to the film. 90 minutes in, the boy turned to him and said "So when do you come in?"

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