How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
Quote #1
THEATER CRITIC PRESS GUY: Are you afraid at all that people will say you're doing this play to battle the impression that you're a washed-up superhero?
RIGGAN: No. I'm not. And that's exactly why, twenty years ago, I refused to do Birdman 4.
Despite Riggan's denial, the stuffy theater snob pretty much hits the nail on the head. Riggan wants to prove his worth as an actor and artist and human being, and he doesn't want to use the Birdman costume to do so.
Quote #2
RIGGAN: The last time I flew here from LA, George Clooney was sitting two seats in front of me. With those cuff links and that f***ing chin. We ended up flying through this really, really horrible storm. I mean, plane was like rattling, shaking, and all the people on board crying. I mean, crying, and praying, right. I just sat there—they're crying; I sit there. And I'm thinking, oh boy, the next morning when Sam looks at the paper it's going to be Clooney's face on the front page, not mine. You know? Boom…how do you… [A beat.] Did you know that Farrah Fawcett died the exact same day as Michael Jackson?
This is right after Sylvia is trying to talk to him about Sam and their house and their marriage. All of these things are of little concern to Riggan, whose only worry is that he'll be remembered.
Quote #3
MIKE: A lot. Exactly. F*** you. Yes. This doesn't work out for you, you f*** off back to your studio pals and jump right back into that cultural genocide you guys are perpetrating. "There's a douchebag born every minute." That was P.T. Barnum's premise when he invented the circus. And you guys know nothing much has changed, and if you crank out any toxic piece of crap you make people will line up and pay to see it. But long after you're gone, I'll still be here, earning my living, baring my soul, wrestling with complex human emotions.
Mike's monologue is at once both laughable and heartfelt. We could think of him as a silly actor who doesn't really know what complex human emotions are, but we definitely understand that this play means a lot to him, just like it means a lot to Riggan. Maybe they have more in common than they think.
Quote #4
MIKE: […] this is my town and, to be honest, most people don't give a s*** about you here.
FAN LADY: You're Riggan Thomson, right? Would you mind having a picture with us here?
RIGGAN: No, no, no, no.
FAN LADY: Just, oh, thanks. [handing her phone to Mike] Would you mind? The button's on the bottom. [Mike takes the picture.] Oh, thank you. You're such a doll—so sweet…handsome [she kisses his cheek as her husband pulls her away].
Sure, Mike says he doesn't care for popularity but he's wrong to imply that Riggan isn't popular. This scene tells us that Birdman is right, Riggan was living the good life, full of fame an adoring fans. Now instead of pleasing the people the only person he has to please is the woman writing the theater reviews.
Quote #5
RIGGAN: Look, I'm trying to do something that's important.
SAM: This is not important.
RIGGAN: It's important to me, okay! Maybe not to you and your cynical friends whose only ambition is to go viral. But to me, my God, this is my career! This is my chance to finally do some work that means something!
SAM: That means something to who? You had a career, dad, before the third comic book movie. Before people started to forget who was inside that bird costume. You are doing a play based on a book that was written sixty years ago, for a thousand rich, old white people whose only real concern is gonna be where they go to have their cake and coffee when it's over. Nobody gives a s*** but you. And, let's face it dad, you are not doing this for the sake of art, you are doing this because you want to feel relevant again.
Riggan's only response to Sam is a downward glance. He has nothing to say because he knows she's right. The play has to be successful, not for the sake of the play itself, but for Riggan.
Quote #6
LESLEY: Why don't I have any self-respect?
LAURA: You're an actress, honey.
Maybe it's constantly pretending to be someone you're not that draws actors to their profession. Their willingness to sell their true, authentic selves to play a character that doesn't exist off the screen. Or maybe this is a commentary on how many awful movies Nick Cage has done…either way.