Comments on: Attack of the pop culture references

By: Daniel E. Friedman

Daniel E. Friedman — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:31:01 +0000

Pop culture lingo can get stale fairly quickly. So can overused, day to day phrases like “at the end of the day…”

Thanks for the comedy youtube video… it was kind of entertaining.

By: Holly

Holly — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:00:27 +0000

family guy, robot hcicken, american dad (well, anything that seth mcfarlane or seth green have to do with…) and basically every other show out there references pop culture. pop culture IS pop culture anymore. when i was younger, i hated when i didn’t understand pop culture references because i didn’t get any of the jokes and i thought it was my sense of humor that was lacking.

By: heather

heather — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:11:57 +0000

The one pop culture reference is the annoying “Git R Done!” quote by the chrmingly erudite Larry the Cable Guy (sarcasm not included)

I hear it all the time on the comedy network whenever he’s mentioned (I admit I DO like the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, though.), and I hear even little kids saying it without realizing that it’s a shortening of a longer saying by Larry basically about doing a girl. Hilarious.

By: SpaceMonkeyX

SpaceMonkeyX — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:59:19 +0000

Jessie:
I can definitely understand that perspective and in some ways I agree with it. I know it endears me to a character when I hear them talking about their love of Star Wars or something else from my childhood.

However, think about the Shrek movies (esp. 2) for a minute. Some of those pop culture references were out of style, overused or irrelevant by the time the films came out in theaters. While those films have made a mint in our modern times, they’ll be forgotten in the years to come because their humor relies so much on the here-and-now. Whereas the films of Pixar, on the other hand, have a much more timeless aspect to them because so very few of their gags rely on current pop culture.

I think referencing pop culture can be a crutch for writing – sometimes it props a character up as more realistic, other times it becomes their only way of standing at all.

I think it all depends on how you use it, what the intentions are of the writer, and how the audience wants to consume it. Seth MacFarlane of “Family Guy” fame probably doesn’t care if people get his jokes 20 years from now, as long as he gets his product out there today. And I’m ok with that because I’ve been an avid fan since Day 1 of that show. But I’m also not looking for anything more out of it than a couple of laughs and I’ll be ok to see it fade into obscurity someday.

By: Dean (again)

Dean (again) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:08:48 +0000

2 of my favorite tv shows w good pop culture references are Scrubs and The Family Guy

By: Jessie

Jessie — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:32:26 +0000

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for clever and well-placed pop culture references, although they can often be overused (or abused). One thing I think is important in this trend is that it allows filmmakers to root their characters in a world familiar to their viewers. Tarantino can create a stylized gangster world where the characters become real, modern people because they watch the same TV and movies as the viewing audience.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:31:15 +0000

Let’s be “pro-active” (and I ain’t talking about the acne med) cause I got “alot on my plate” and “think outside of the box.” Please!

And I’m tired of people “axs-ing” me questions. (ASK me! ASK me!)

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:25:55 +0000

The show Will and Grace had NUMEROUS pop culture references to the point where it was annoying.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:25:39 +0000

Not so much as a pop culture reference but modern slang.

I hat the phrases “my bad” and “tak’n it to a whole new level”

By: SpaceMonkeyX

SpaceMonkeyX — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:05:55 +0000

I noticed this pop culture trend myself some years ago. I think it’s Quentin Tarantino’s fault. He definitely made it more acceptable at least, starting with his first film, “Reservoir Dogs”, which featured rambles on about everything from Madonna to “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”. Suddenly, referencing pop culture became the “in” thing to do. And the more obscure the better.