Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure: Difference between revisions
→Western Animation
| (21 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Soujirou:''' Oh, [[Street Fighter II|back then]], Bison was dressed up as Mike Tyson. Pretty cool.
'''Konata:''' Who's [[w:Mike Tyson|Mike Tyson]]?
''(later that day)''
'''Soujirou:''' Today, I felt the generation gap in a deep and very personal way.
|''[[Lucky Star]]'' Manga vol. 6}}
This is a subversion of [[
# "Who's X?"—The person from Group B doesn't get it at all because of a failure of [[
# "Oh, X! He was in Y, right!"—The person from Group B ''gets it wrong'' because of a failure of [[
# "Wait, Y was based on a real X?"—The person from Group B gets it wrong because of a ''clash'' of [[
# "Impressive, you know X... oh, you don't"—The person from Group B gets it wrong because of a clash of [[
This can happen because the person from Group B:
Line 20 ⟶ 21:
:E) is [[In the Original Klingon|amusingly]] [[Aluminum Christmas Trees|displaced]] from the time of origin;
:F) simply is not familiar with a genre or a work;
:G) the work itself is [[Fan Myopia|thought to be so popular]] that all who know it think it will be passed on through [[
Note that A-F can go both ways (for example, someone too old to know [[Britney Spears]] or The [[Backstreet Boys]] may have fond memories of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' or [[wikipedia:Herman's Hermits|Herman's Hermits]]), and G is the natural conclusion of [[
This, by the way, is the reason character-named tropes are often renamed. For example, if you're not familiar with original [[Sherlock Holmes]] tales, you won't know who [[Inspector Lestrade]] is; if not well-read in 19th-century French literature (or [[All Musicals Are Adaptations|Broadway musicals]]), [[Inspector Javert]] may be unknown to you.
Line 30 ⟶ 31:
One of the many, many reasons for [[Not Self-Explanatory]].
Compare [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]], [[Adaptation Displacement]], [[Forgotten Trope]], [[It's Been Done]], [[Fleeting Demographic Rule]], [[Recognition Failure]], [[Lampshaded the Obscure Reference]], and [[Reindeer Aren't Real]]. Applying this to sports gives you [[Gretzky Has the Ball]].
Contrast
{{examples}}
Line 39 ⟶ 40:
=== Comic Books ===
* In ''[[Birds of Prey (comics)|Birds of Prey]]'' #1 (2010 series), Lady Blackhawk (a time traveller from World War 2) doesn't get a reference to "[[Putting the Band Back Together]]". However, she has been in the present long enough to understand one to [[Twitter]].
* Agent 355 from ''[[Y: The
* ''[[Zombieland]]''
** Little Rock doesn't know who [[Willie Nelson]] is, much to Tallahassee's horror. Or who [[Bill Murray]] is, ALSO to Tallahassee's horror.
{{quote|'''Little Rock:''' Who’s Bill Murray?
'''Tallahassee:''' Alright, I’ve never hit a kid before. I mean that’s like asking who Gandhi is.
Line 73 ⟶ 72:
* Subverted in ''[[Taken (film)|Taken]]''.
{{quote|'''Bryan Mills:''' Who's [[Beyoncé]]? ''([[Beat]])'' Just kidding.}}
=== Literature ===
* This is both the title and the subject of Robert Cormier's ''Bunny Berigan -- Wasn't He a Musican or Something?'', much to the dismay of the Berigan fanboy who serves as the protagonist.
=== Live-Action TV ===
Line 83 ⟶ 80:
* ''[[Community]]'':
{{quote|'''Shirley:''' You remind me of [[Cheers|Sam and Diane]]... I hated Sam and Diane.
'''Anne:''' Who's Jack and Diane?
'''Shirley:''' ''(furious)'' Okay, I get it! You're young! }}
** Another example is when they are suggesting Abed change his personality:
Line 130 ⟶ 127:
** In the episode "Bad Guys", Cameron compares someone to John McClane. Daniel doesn't understand. Teal'c, who is not even from Earth, explains, ''[[Die Hard]]''.
** Vala also regularly complains about her teammates using Tau'ri pop culture references, which she never get.
* In one episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', Robin mentioned several
{{quote|'''Barney:''' What's the ''opposite'' of name dropping?}}
* In the ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode "The Stranded" Elaine quotes the line "Maybe the dingo ate your baby?" from ''A Cry in the Dark''. The woman she's saying it to doesn't get the reference.
=== Music ===
Line 139 ⟶ 135:
* Asking "[[The Who|Who]] sang [[Refrain From Assuming|Teenage Wasteland]]?" can lead to a [[Who's on First?]] scenario.
===
* [[Vince McMahon]] apparently doesn't watch TV very often. He didn't understand that [[Scott Hall]]'s Razor Ramon gimmick was a homage to ''[[Scarface]]'' and thought he made it up himself. He also didn't understand that Paul Birchill's pirate gimmick was a homage to ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''.
=== Puppet Shows ===
* ''[[Mongrels]]'': In episode 3, cat Marion's [[Jail Bait]] girlfriend Lollipop fails to understand references to ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', [[Friends|Ross and Rachel]], and ''[[Gavin and Stacey]]'' because she is just that young, making it a "Who's X?" D.
=== Video Games ===
* In ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', Vanille doesn't know who the Primarch of Cocoon is. Sazh has to explain, after wondering aloud if she fell asleep during History or something.
=== Web Original ===▼
* [[TV Tropes]] and [[All The Tropes]]: This is the reason that many tropes named after characters got [[Renamed Tropes|renamed]] (for example, [[Encyclopedia Brown|Bugs Meany Is Gonna Walk]] to [[Conviction by Contradiction]].)▼
=== Web Comics ===
Line 163 ⟶ 153:
{{quote|"Have you considered Mount Doom? I'm sure we could rustle up some sacrificial hobbits..."
"I... What?" }}
▲=== Web Original ===
▲* [[TV Tropes]] and [[All The Tropes]]: This is the reason that many tropes named after characters got [[Renamed Tropes|renamed]] (for example, [[Encyclopedia Brown|Bugs Meany Is Gonna Walk]] to [[Conviction by Contradiction]].)
** Also seen in any trope that doesn't explain the reference. (For example, [https://allthetropes.org/w/index.php?title=Remember_the_Alamo!&direction=prev&oldid=2005066 this version] of [[Remember the Alamo!]], which doesn't even try to explain what the Alamo is and why it should be remembered.)
=== Western Animation ===
Line 178 ⟶ 172:
'''Bart:''' Who are Beavis and Butthead? }}
* In [[Bob's Burgers]] episode "Nightmare on Ocean Adventure" Linda asked Louise what she was for halloween. Louise answered "dragon with a girl tattoo." Linda: "Ooh you [[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|flipped the script]]!" Louise: "What do you mean?"
** In another Halloween Episode, Linda thinks Louise's costume is [[Wolverine]]; actually, she is [[Edward Scissorhands]].
=== Real Life ===
* [[Truth in Television]]: A teacher didn't think a kids choir needed to have the lyrics or music to the song "One Tin Soldier" since those kids should have [[Seen It a Million Times|heard it a million times]] and learned it through [[
* As described on our very own page for ''[[Gargoyles]]'', in the entry for [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: "When describing Brooklyn and Katana's relationship in "Timedancer", [creator] [[Greg Weisman]] mentioned [[Cheers|Sam and Diane]]. No-one got it. Then he mentioned [[Much Ado About Nothing|Beatrice and Benedick]]. ''That one'' people got, which should tell you a lot about the kind of fans this show has."
* On [[This Very Wiki]], the page for [[Washington DC]] is illustrated with a montage of photos of... a bunch of statues and buildings. As of August 2019, no names for any of that stuff are given for those of us who don't live in the USA.
Line 186 ⟶ 181:
== "X was in Y, right?" ==
(previously called "Type 2")
===
* From ''[[Armageddon]]'':
{{quote|'''A.J.:''' Have you ever heard of Evel Knievel?
Line 192 ⟶ 187:
* ''[[Live Free or Die Hard]]'': When John McClane finally gets to "Warlord"'s place, his reluctant ally tries to pass him off as another of the culture, which fails fast. Notable is when McClane fails to recognize a cutout of Boba Fett and tries to cover it by saying he's only familiar with ''[[Star Wars]]''. (McClane's smirk seems to suggest he's just screwing with "The Warlord" with that one.)
* In ''[[Waxwork (film)|Waxwork]]'', one of the young people asks if the Phantom of the Opera figure's mask is the original from the movie, and the owner is surprised that someone made a movie about the Phantom. It's implied that the owner is not merely pop-culture clueless, but that he knows the Phantom ''actually existed'' in the movie's Verse and is amazed Hollywood would resort to filming his tale.
=== Music ===
Line 199 ⟶ 193:
''She says "I love Johnny Cash, the man in red"
''I turn my head and pretend not to hear what she said'' }}
=== Western Animation ===
Line 205 ⟶ 198:
{{quote|'''Chef:''' Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?
'''General:''' I don't listen to hip-hop. }}
▲=== Real Life ===
* Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure marches on: the question "[[Paul McCartney]] was in [[The Beatles|a band]] before [[Wings (band)|Wings]]?" has been replaced almost everywhere with "Paul McCartney was in a band?" ... except where it's been re-replaced with "Who's Paul McCartney?" Any of these are often heard as jokes, and occasionally heard as serious questions.▼
== "Wait, Y was based on a real X?" ==
(previously called "Type 3")
=== Advertising ===
* KFC's "Colonel" mascot character is based (loosely, in the 21st century) on [[w:Colonel Sanders|Colonel Harland Sanders]], the man who founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain. Back when KFC was called Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Sanders' portrait was printed on the buckets.
=== Music ===
* ''[[Also Sprach Zarathustra]]'' is
Line 223 ⟶ 216:
** [[What's Opera, Doc?|"Kill the Wabbit! Kill the Wabbit!"]];
** the piece played during the air cavalry attack in the movie ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''; and
** [[Bryan Danielson|Daniel Bryan's]] [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] theme music.
*** Of course, like many examples from "X was in Y, right?", [[The Miz]] thought it was from ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* Basically the reason [[Covered Up]] and [[Sampled Up]] exist (just see the opening quote for the former entry).
Line 233 ⟶ 226:
(previously called "Type 4")
=== Comic Books ===
* An example from [[Older Than They Think]] fits here, as a clash of [[
* In a ''[[Robin]]'' annual, Huntress tells Robin it was a clever idea of his to wear mirrors under their ponchos (to blind their enemies in a gunfight). He says he got the idea from an old movie. She says "''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', huh?" and he replies "No. ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]] III''.
* In ''[[Fanhunter]]'', it goes something like this:
Line 243 ⟶ 236:
=== Web Comics ===
* An ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space]]'' strip starts with Arthur's [[Show Within a Show|journal/Life Embellished webcomic]], with several of the characters playing cards. Gawaine says "He who steals these cards steals trash", Pellinore replied "[[Author Catchphrase|You can't beat the classics]]", and Gawaine asks if he's a ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|
== Various ==
=== Web Original ===
* The [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/musically-oblivious-8th-grader Musically Oblivious 8th Grader] [[Memetic Mutation|meme]] uses various types.
=== Real Life ===
▲* Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure marches on: the question "[[Paul McCartney]] was in [[The Beatles (band)|a band]] before [[Wings (band)|Wings]]?" has been replaced almost everywhere with "Paul McCartney was in a band?" ... except where it's been re-replaced with "Who's Paul McCartney?" Any of these are often heard as jokes, and occasionally heard as serious questions.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Meta Concepts]]
| |||