What is the Bengal Lancer joke?
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The joke is from Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Rick Dalton, is trying to make a pun out of a serious conversation with Luke Perry’s character, Wayne Maunder. The joke falls flat, and the little girl, Trudi Fraser (played by Julia Butters), initially doesn’t find it funny until Dalton tries to explain his logic. Here is the conversation:
Dicaprio: Where did you get that limp?
Luke Perry playing Lancer’s son: In the war.
Dicaprio: Which side?
Luke Perry: I rode with the British Cavalry… in India.
Dicaprio: What did they call that outfit?
Luke Perry: The Bengal Lancers.
Dicaprio: (Starts laughing.) Nah, that’s funny.
Little girl: No, that’s not so funny.
Dicaprio: Don’t you get it? Bangel…Lancer?!
Little Girl: (smiling) Okay… now it’s kinda funny.
In “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, makes a pun between “Bengal Lancers,” a real British cavalry regiment in India, and “Lancer,” the name of the fictional TV show in which they’re acting. Dalton mispronounces “Bengal” as “Bangel” to force a connection with “Lancer.” He thinks it’s ironic that the Lancer dude was in a company called Bangel Lancer…while in India.
The humor isn’t in the joke’s cleverness but in its awkwardness. Dalton, trying to be witty, actually reveals his lack of sophistication. The joke serves to showcase Dalton’s character, a fading Hollywood actor desperate to reclaim relevance, often resorting to misplaced humor in inappropriate situations.
Also in the UK, Bengal Lancer is English slang for someone who is unqualified for a job.