Martin Scorcese's Daughter Films A Masterpiece — By Having Her Dad Guess Slang Terms
The award-winning filmmaker is fire.
Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash / Resty, Bianca Marie Arreola, Sketchify and KVASVECTOR via Canva Martin Scorsese is famous for his emergence in the 70s as a major figure of the New Hollywood era, creating films depicting the harsh, often profane realities of Italian-American people living in the US. He’s worked with icons like Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio, and now, he can add another artistic genius to his roster — his daughter, Francesca Scorsese.
Martin Scorsese’s daughter, Francesca, filmed a masterpiece by having her dad guess slang terms on TikTok.
The 23-year-old asked her 80-year-old father to tell her what specific slang terms mean. She started slow, working up in complexity as she went through her list.
“Tea — I’m gonna spill the tea,” Francesca said, posing the term to her dad. “It means you’re gonna tell all you know,” Martin answered.
“Yeah! Okay!” His daughter approved, and Martin broke out in a wide smile, his characteristic bushy brows rising. Francesca then offered her second example, “He clapped when the plane landed, and that gave me the ick.”
“You were, um, uh…” Martin hesitated, trying to conjure up the right words. “You were thoroughly repulsed by him.”
The next slang term Francesca had her dad guess was the phrase “sneaky link.” She gave the phrase in the form of a sentence, saying, “I would not tell you about my sneaky links.”
“These are personal peccadillos that you may have, your own life, your own thinking, things that you don’t want other people to know about or just, I dunno… something like that,” Martin shrugged and trailed off.
A big red “X” appeared above Martin Scorsese’s head, signaling he got the slang term wrong.
“It’s like a booty call,” Francesca corrected him. “Oh, really?” Martin answered. His daughter confirmed, “Yeah, it’s a term for, like, the specific person, ‘I’m gonna so see my sneaky link.’”
"Oh, no, I didn’t get that, no,” her dad said. “We never used that, we never saw specific people, in my day,” he continued dryly.
“You got a nice little variety?” Francesca asked. “Yeah,” Martin said. “What else you got? Come on.”
The next phrase was “hits different,” which Francesca used in a sentence that suited her cinephile father, “Watching a movie in 70 mil hits different.”
“That’s an easy one!” Martin exclaimed. “You perceive it in a totally different way. Not totally different, but you see it, like, um… it as another perspective on the image, so to speak, and the effect the film has on the audience."
“Yeah, like it’s much better,” Francesca clarified. “Like, this is amazing.”
As an example of the phrase “slept on,” she called on some of her father’s own work, saying, “‘A King of Comedy’ was slept on.”
“People hated it when it came out,” Martin said, and Francesa gently replied, “Pretty much.”
“It was the flop of the year,” Martin exclaimed. “That’s what it was called. On Entertainment Tonight.” He pointed at the camera, his memory highlighting that no matter how successful a person is, they’re still more likely to remember criticism than praise.
“Lily Gladstone ‘ate’ in Flowers of the Moon,” came Francesca’s next slang offering, using her dad’s most recent film as a reference point.
“Oh, I mean,” Martin started. “Consume the screen, like, took over. But they used to say ‘ruled.’” A green checkmark floated in the air above him, confirming another correct answer.
“No cap, that movie is amazing,” came Francesca’s next article of slang. “That means, no lying at all. It’s like, I’m telling the truth.” Martin said, before asking how many slang terms there were left for him to guess.
“Ship,” she gave as the next term. “A ship is a boat,” Martin confidently answered. “No,” Francesca disagreed. “Like, I ship them. They’re so cute.”
“I have great fondness for them,” Martin tried next, which is actually a pretty good guess. The red X appeared once again.
“I ship you and mom,” Francesca said, as Martin’s face shifted into a bewildered smile. “Like, take us around somewhere?” He asked, which made his daughter laugh. He then explained to his daughter that in his world, “simp” meant “sympathize, or a simpy person, who’s like, whining all the time. They’re simps, right? We dislike them, they get really annoying.”
Francesca corrected him through another fit of laughter, saying, “You have a crush on someone, you’re simping for them.”
“Simp used to mean, like, a wimpy person,” Martin interjected. “A person who’s always complaining — I do that a lot. I complain a lot.”
The award-winning filmmaker offered the correct meaning for the words “shade,” “slap,” and “slay.” Francesca ended the game by declaring, “This video slays,” and her dad agreed.
The post received over 2000 comments, many proclaiming that living in an era where they get to watch Martin Scorsese on TikTok is a true gift.
One person noted how poetic the auteur was with his definitions. Another person declared that Francesca Scorcese’s TikTok account makes her “the greatest filmmaker of all time.”
Francesca’s TikTok presence offers fans of her father’s work a window into what he’s like as a person, outside of being a famous filmmaker. Her posts show her dad as someone who’s smart, funny, and thoughtful, and someone who clearly loves and enjoys spending time with his daughter.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.