in talking with LG earlier today, she observed that a lot of the exchanges i've had with her have prominently featured quotations from either TV shows or movies. this was an accurate but somewhat distressing truth.
in casual conversation, i routinely quote from a whole sew of films (indiana jones, monty python, the princess bride, serenity, star wars), TV shows (babylon 5, blackadder, buffy, coupling, firefly, star trek) and even some comic books (chiefly frank miller's the dark knight). they're sorta like an extension to my vocabulary.
i'm reminded of something that i heard once, that in days and cultures past, legends of classic mythology played a huge role in the way people expressed themselves--if you look to shakespeare, many of his expressions invoke the classics. and what i'm left wondering is simple: is pop culture substituting in our present-day for the role of classic mythology?
i can't tell you how many times/day i will find myself describing something and saying, "do you know how in [movie/TV show], how [scene]? it's kind of like that".
does this happen to you, too?
ed
silverwhisper posted on Feb 09, 2007
| views: 433
Comments
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Zayda said on Feb 09, 2007....
tbh, no, it doesn't really happen to me with television shows or movies. my conversations tend to be peppered with phrases or quotes from books, allusions to literary works and mythology.
my husband, on the other hand will refer to movies and television shows--mostly movies--and some online games with the good majority of his friends
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waterstar said on Feb 09, 2007....
I think its makes small talk easier, find something common to relate the experience. I actually really suck at this concept. Have a really hard time remembering punchlines to jokes. My daughter on the other hand, quotes movies and commercials all the time. Her favorite ones to quote are The Princess Bride and Dogma and to my great dismay The Master of Disguise -
LadyGamer said on Feb 09, 2007....
He's only MOSTLY dead.I took a year off to write my OWN book. And guess what? Being a muse doesn't work that way!I likah dah jooce!I am a movie quote FREAK. I am even writing one of my characters in the current manuscript as speaking COMPLETELY in old obscure movie quotes.And while it IS a mutual frame of reference for some age groups, it also puts us in a place where we start to lose something, I think.Original thinking, maybe. The ability to communicate on our own. Th ability to create communication where before none could be found. Something like those. -
Cyphonik said on Feb 10, 2007....
Well to tell you the truth it just matters. I mean most movies that are good will always have good one liners that you will remember for a long time. just to name a fewWaterboy - You can do itTerminator - I'll be backClueless - WhateverTaladaga nights - Shake and BakeScarface - Say hello to my little friendThis was just to name a few. I believe that everyone will remember most of them if you saw the movie. and also TV shows are the same way.So in a way I believe that most people do it however, at the same time some people take it from books or so on. -
silverwhisper said on Feb 10, 2007....
super z: heh...i shall have to remember to pepper future exchanges w/ you w/ quotations. :p
waterstar: never saw the last movie, but the other 2 are certainly eminently quotable, IMHO.
LG: so you're suspended on the horns of the dilemma, alternately thrilling in it while at the same time anxious of it? i can understand that, i think. you make good points re: frame of reference. i think it does involve a certain conformity. hm...o, and thank you, btw. you know for what.
cyphonik: well, zayda mentioned using quotations from books and the like. but i think that's increasingly less common. i think we're increasingly becoming a non-book society.
ed -
LadyGamer said on Feb 10, 2007....
I agree re the loss of books as a reference. I was speaking with a co-worker in the break room yesterday and she mentioned having to read a "classic" for her college class. She's working on The Abyss.I choked on my lunch and said "I have been reading Dante. I find that having the original italian available really inspires me."She gave me a strange look and left. -
Muckraker said on Feb 10, 2007....
I was a fan of John Wayne movies, when I was teaching and my students were trying to get started, I would often say "let's get to work, we're burning daylight" The Sands of Iwo Jima. -
gingersoul said on Feb 10, 2007....
SW........odd......even though i am a movie junkie i rarely use quotes from movies...
i use sentences from books, extracts from poetry (a lot)....Latin ways to say ..its my classical education kicking in...and songs....
my daughter seems to be growing instead with a natural tendency to use quotes from movies....she can tell me "Give me your tater tots, dude"...when she is hungry (Napoleon Dynamite...).....its funny... i have to be on my toes with her though.....
LG...lol.....that was hilarious......
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truthsayer said on Feb 10, 2007....
Like Zayda, I too prefer the depth of books, essays, etc. But as a writer, I am partial to the written word. During my radio shows however, I cited all types of media. Not much from the purely "entertainment" media; but shows, documentaries and the like. -
truthsayer said on Feb 10, 2007....
I am fond of the moral simplicity of older movies though. My children have a hard time believing that they used to be that "clean" and straight forward.
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VICARIOUS said on Feb 10, 2007....
I can't talk to someone without launching into a movie line or character. I even go so far as to change my voice at times. Most think it is hysterical; others think I'm insane.I guess when you have no life you live ... wait for it ... vicariously, hahaha, through others, even if they aren't even real people. -
dailyachesandpains said on Feb 10, 2007....
Ahhhh, my little grasshopper, lol! My Husband talks from scripts all the time and it drives me nuts! Sadly, we share a favorite movie...Good Will Hunting. He's got a NY/RI accent and he can't fake a BAHHHston accent if I gave him a million. It's painful.
"Yeah,well, I got her numbah. How do yah like them apples?"
Daily
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sweetsoul said on Feb 10, 2007....
LG - lol that's cute. Reminds me of a bookstore in Oxford, England where the 'classics' are in Latin.ed no I don't find I do that. Mostly because I have a mind like a sieve though. :) -
Eilan said on Feb 10, 2007....
My ex-husband and I regularly confused the hell out of one of our friends by having conversations consisting entirely of movie, TV show, and book quotes. -
silverwhisper said on Feb 11, 2007....
LG: as of when is the abyss a classic?! egads! i wasn't aware you were reading dante. perhaps you could ask GS for some help with the italian? :>
muckraker: you know, i've never seen any john wayne movies. i should fix that. where do you recommend i start?
GS: o, i can quote poetry and plays, but let's face it, there are few who would appreciate the quotation--or at least, that's often so in my own life, anyway. hell, earlier today i quoted wordsworth's definition of poetry in a comment to someone else's blog entry.
truthsayer: well, you're speaking more of research than a conversation though, no? and i think you touch on a reason i often don't like older movies: the moral simplicity. it can be enjoyable for a while but i guess it seems too different from my own life to enjoy often.
vicarious: see, i knew you were cut from the same cloth! :>
daily: i love that line from that movie!
sweetsoul: hey, my own memory and its poor quality is the stuff of legend, i'll have you know! :D
eilan: "what kind of scary-assed clowns came to your birthday parties?"
ed -
purrrkitten said on Feb 11, 2007....
Ummmm... Yes. I do quote a lot of SW and Princess Bride and Spaceballs and other movies. It's rather frightening now that I think about it... ehehehhehe...
"She's gone from Suck to Blow!!" ehehhehe
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silverwhisper said on Feb 12, 2007....
"they've gone to plaid!"
ed -
purrrkitten said on Feb 12, 2007....
"Only one man would dare to give me the raspberry..."*snaps faceplate shut*"LONE STAR!" -
silverwhisper said on Feb 12, 2007....
"i see your schwartz is as big as mine!"
ed -
purrrkitten said on Feb 12, 2007....
"Let's see if you know how to use it..." -
kenpark said on Feb 13, 2007....
PEES-WEES BIG ADVENTURELABYRINTHSTAND BY ME - "COME HERE PORCUPINE"THE SHINING - "COZY" -
truthsayer said on Feb 14, 2007....
Yeah ed, good point. I guess I don't sit around during casual conversation with most people, quoting from my favorite books. But I am still glad that I am old enough and mature enough to appreciate the classics I had previously blown off as "dumb and boring" back in the day.
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silverwhisper said on Feb 14, 2007....
purr: "funny, she doesn't look druish..."
ken: ah yes...stand by me...i have a great fondness for coming of age stories and that's one of the best of 'em, IMHO.
truth: o, i don't discount 'em as dumb & boring. i just have difficulty relating to 'em.
ed -
purrrkitten said on Feb 14, 2007....
This is fun!Let's see..."It was the worst accident I ever seen... and when they pulled the driver's body from the twisted, burning wreck it looked like THIS!" "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH""Hoggle, if she ever kisses you, I'll make you a prince. Prince of the Land of Eternal Stench!""Who is he?""He's an Asshole, sir.""An Asshole?""Yes, sir, he's my cousin.""And who are you?""I'm an Asshole too, sir. Major Asshole.""How many Assholes are there in here?!"*HI!*"I KNEW IT! I'm surrounded by Assholes!!"
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