Inigo Montoya has none of Elon Musk’s bullshit—or at least not Mandy Patinkin. Wednesday, Princess Bride The actor, who made the phrase “prepare to die” famous, called out to Musk for being inept at citing the movie. During a recent (frantic) CNBC interview, the Tesla CEO tried to circumvent a question about his haphazard tweet referencing the 1987 adventure-comedy movie.
In a video clip from the interview, Musk takes a long pause before responding. “There is a scene Princess Bride—great movie—where is he [Montoya] He comes face to face with the person who killed his father. He says, ‘Offer me money’. Offer me strength. I do not care.'”
“I’ll say what I want to say,” Musk added shortly, “and if the result is losing money, so be it.”
Musk got the gist of the line in terms of the words on the page (although certainly not quite) but the real mystery here is the meaning.
It’s unclear which thematic thread Musk believes connects him with Patinkin’s. Princess Bride character or why he believes his incessant tweeting is comparable to Montoya’s quest to avenge his father. Musk and his father are estranged, but the man is quite alive; In fact, Errol Musk recently gave an interview. Sun about the emerald mine that supposedly financed his son’s career.
Patinkin found a succinct way to inflate the odd reference with his own callback. Quoting one of his most popular lines in the movie (one of many that has become a prolific meme over the years), the actor retweeted the interview clip with the caption, “I don’t think it means what you think.”
Between that and Patinkin’s recent going viral at a WGA protest (complete with a banner emblazoned with the words “You killed my leftovers, prepare to die”), there has never been a better time to support Inigo Montoya.