Dear Harry,

To understand Hooper’s quote (1:47 in the above clip), you must first understand that Steven Speilberg’s first love is not motion pictures, but filthy jokes. This particular line alludes to the following classic chuckler: 

A sailor on a Navy ship had been out to sea for weeks, and was beginning to go through sex withdrawals. Fed up with the lack of sex, he asked one of his shipmates what he did when the pressure was too much to take.

“Well, there’s a barrel with a hole in it near the mop storage. When it gets to be too much for us, we use that.”

So the sailor went over to the barrel and decided to give it a go. Finding it was better than he’d expected, he began using it regularly, and his problems seemed to vanish.

After a couple of weeks, his commanding officer began to take notice, and said, “You seem to be a lot more relaxed. What’s your secret?”

The sailor, embarrassed to give a straight answer, simply said he’d been getting better rest.

“Well good, sailor. You’re going to need it,” replied the officer. “Today’s your turn in the barrel.”

So when Hooper says, “Your turn, Quint,” he’s referring to Quint’s time in the barrel, which is all Hooper can think about, even with a gigantic killer shark bearing down on the boat, because he’s lusted after Quint since he first laid eyes on him. Also, the day before, it was Hooper’s turn in the barrel, and Quint really let him have it, so Hooper is seeking a modicum of revenge.

Your picture pal,
Professor Popcorn

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