Manta joke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Opel Manta B with wide body kit

Manta Jokes are jokes , which are typically on the alleged social and behavioral characteristics Manta driver and image of the Opel Manta aimed, in part, on the supposedly typical partner of the typical Manta driver, one (blond or bleached) haircut .

background

The Manta was a successful model from the Opel car brand , which achieved cult status , particularly in the later phase of its production cycle and the time thereafter . This status is positive for Manta lovers, but extremely negative for large sections of the population. The Manta is considered a cheap wannabe sports vehicle, the owners are assumed to have low social status and low intelligence. They are portrayed as members of the lower class, as stupid and primitive, and the tendency of manta drivers to tinker with their vehicles is viewed negatively.

Opel held on to rear-wheel drive for a long time and the Opel models of the time were largely robust and reliable, but the Manta could never achieve the sporting performance that its design suggested. As a result, this difference between what looks promised and actual performance was counteracted by pimping and tinkering. When refurbishing , the Mantas were often retrofitted with tuning kits, often based on the rally Opel of the time (e.g. with Walter Röhrl ). This made manta drivers ideal for mockery and a large number of manta jokes arose.

The group Norbert & die Feiglinge had considerable success with their song Manta from 1989. In the early 1990s, manta rays were at times so fashionable that even cinema films were released that highlighted the cliché of the manta driver common in jokes to the length of a feature film ( Manta, Manta and Manta - The Film ) . Both films were huge box office hits. Also the TV show Wetten, dass ..? took up the subject on March 2, 1991; In a hall bet, at least ten Manta drivers should come into the studio, all of whom are called Manni (Manfred) and have a partner who is a hairdresser by profession.

At the end of the 1990s, the DEA petrol station brand took up the topic again in a large-scale advertising campaign. A Manta driver, visually as well as in behavior, strongly clichéd Manta driver was addressed by numerous people with "Super, Ingo" and considered that a compliment until he realized that it was a warning not to carelessly refuel with diesel instead of premium gasoline.

The terms Manta cup for a serving of fries and Manta plate for a Currywurst with chips, which also come from the context of the Manta joke wave after 1990 have retained a reputation in Germany until the 2010s. They caricature the supposedly simple and unhealthy eating habits of the Manta drivers.

The manta jokes are said to have been part of a marketing campaign launched by the competitor Porsche to publicly denigrate the successful car and to ruin the Manta brand. The comedian Karl Dall invented the first hundred manta rays on behalf of Porsche, everything else then happened by itself. This conspiracy theory goes back to a short film by the then film students Johannes Kümmel and Max Penk, which they created with the intention of creating a viral video , which they did. Even after the discovery of the hoax by Spiegel online in 2008 found there are still people who believe this conspiracy theory.

The manta driver in the joke

The typical manta driver in these jokes speaks Ruhrpott - slang , bears the name “Manni”, as shoes “Mantaletten” ( cowboy boots ), around the neck a gold chain and on the head a mullet hairstyle. He has his elbow sticking out of the open side window at any temperature when driving (which is why the Manta door should be rusty from armpit sweat), has a blond hairdresser on the passenger seat, and his car is tuned , spoiled , lowered and decorated (plush cube on the rearview mirror, foxtail on the antenna, " Kenwood " sticker on the rear window, ...). At most he was in secondary school and likes to use the interjections “ey!” And “wow!”. With women, he shows an extremely direct flirting behavior ("Ey, fuck ?"). He maintains a hostility especially towards VW Golf GTI drivers ("Gulf War"), with whom he also prefers to organize races, and in many jokes he has a fatal accident with his car.

New kids

A good 20 years after the German Mantawitz wave, the topic became a stylistic element of a Dutch production around 2010 : An essential element of the television series, which is also very successful in Germany and the New Kids movies, is a green Opel Manta B , built in 1978, which was produced in Almost the same way as in the German Mantawitz is used to comedically caricature the behavior of a group of uneducated young men. Processed clichés were the tuning and styling of the vehicle, the low intelligence, the proletarian sociolect of the driver as well as his tendency to race in public transport, and his love for an equally uneducated, blond woman including his very clumsy and strongly fixated on the sexual act Behavior towards women.

The new kids, however, often behave very aggressively and largely antisocial , characteristics that the rather socially friendly German manta ray cliché around 1990 did not have.

Web links

Wiktionary: Mantawitz  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rolf Wilhelm Brednich , Christine Streichan. The manta joke: a car cult and its narrative consequences . In: Volkskunde in Niedersachsen , 1991, pp. 34–43
  2. ↑ Wolfram Nickel, Opel Manta - between Proll-Karre and classic . At: Welt Online , February 14, 2010
  3. ^ Telly fatal: How TV entertainment destroys lives, p. 320
  4. ^ Ulrich Ammon: The German language in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Problem of National Varieties , p. 373
  5. ↑ Opel Manta - cult vehicle full of clichés . ( Memento of November 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) At: Wallstreet Online , September 29, 2009
  6. ↑ Igniting Manta Hymn . In: Der Spiegel 32/1990, August 6, 1990
  7. ↑ Alexander Storz, Standing a Manta in front of the University , Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 7, 2001
  8. ↑ Cult car Opel Manta Fummelbunker with rear apron . In: One day
  9. ↑ Dissolution of the hall bet from Wetten, dass ..? on March 2, 1991 video on YouTube (3:55 min.)
  10. ↑ Germany's Top 200, episode 16: Opel Manta , autobild.de , October 2, 2005
  11. ↑ Jung von Matt brings DEA soap to life - now for RWE . At: horizont.net , July 31, 2009
  12. ^ Chrismon plus 09/2011
  13. ↑ Fat Manta plate - health days at the commercial schools. In: MuensterscheZeitung.de , May 17, 2008
  14. ↑ Christian Teevs: The Sportwagenintrige or: Why Karl Dall devised the Manta jokes. In: Christian Rickens (Ed.): The light bulb plot. The most spectacular conspiracy theories - and what's true about them. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2014, pp. 156–159.
  15. ^ Opel Manta B 1978 , published in flash - Opel Scene 11/2012
  16. ↑ What is the truth of the "New Kids Turbo" hype ?: "Don't screw up your evening!" . In: the daily newspaper , May 19, 2011
  17. ↑ New Kids Turbo
  18. ↑ "New Kids Nitro" Holland chicks celebrate their cinema comeback . In: Express , November 20, 2011