Fun is subjective. People find different things funny — we all know this. So yes, some people like fourth wall breaks and pop culture nods in movies. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares? I still don’t like any of those things, and this is my post, so I make the rules.
My reasons for not liking cultural references in movies are twofold. First, it’s about the integrity of art. Second, I find them lazy. Let’s explore both ideas.
Reason 1: Art is art, man
I’m not saying good movies can’t have references, but I don’t think the greats do. The best films are self-contained in their own universe. I’m talking about the “canon” of films here — Citizen Kane, The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey. These movies are widely considered to be among the best ever made. You might not like them personally, but I invite you to explore your own favorite films, or the ones you consider the “best,” and ask how many of them rely on references to other media.
Great movies like The Lord of the Rings and Spirited Away don’t stop to make a reference to something else. The greatest films exist as their own thing.
Reasons 2 It's lazy
We live in a hyper online world where nothing is original and everything is being regurgitated over and over again. When I saw ready player one I lost my mind with the sheer volume of references and sadly it did work I did find it fun with then the gundam appeared, I looked around the theater only to find people did not give a fuck. In fact, no one seemed to notice they all properly were excited about another reference earlier. When I looked back at the screen the Gundam was long gone and replaced with something else. This encapsulates the online mentality perfectly.
The film turns into a scrolling loot box of nostalgia where nothing matters because everything is trying to get a cheer. It’s like the movie makers say yell at the top of their voice “remember this! isn’t this awesome”
In the Dungeons and Dragons movie, there’s a moment where one character slams another in a way that mimics Hulk slamming Loki in The Avengers. The point is to get the audience to notice and smile.
In the World of Warcraft movie, all of us WoW fans were at least happy to hear the Murloc sound.
The problem is that filmmakers include things outside the work itself to trigger a positive reaction, instead of simply creating something good enough to earn that response on its own.
In other much more aggressive examples come in the form of current bad comedy films where the film will simply make a reference in the most lazy way possible.
In The Night Before, Seth Rogen’s character points at two twins and says, “Ever see The Shining?” This happens right at the start of the movie. There’s no setup, no context, just a tossed-in reference. The entire “joke” is basically, “Remember that thing you liked? This is like that.”
A similar example comes in the movie Horrible Bosses 2 Jason Sudacus makes a fight club reference saying “we have a fight clubber”. Making a reference is NOT the same as making a joke if i havent made my point yet here are some more examples.
In free guy the main character uses captain Americans shield as the avengers music play, you even have Chris Evens show up just to react to it. Also in free guy multiple famous streams show up, they are obviously not here for their acting, but for people to point and say hey i know that guy!
Pixels, with Adam Sandler, is one of the most blatant nostalgia-bait attempts ever put on screen.
Spoof films like Epic Movie, Date Movie, and Meet the Spartans are especially egregious. They throw out rapid-fire references one after another in a desperate attempt to get a laugh. It’s like comedy by Google search.
Pop culture references are like fast food. Quick hit of flavor, forgettable after five minutes, and if you consume too many, your brain starts to rot a little. I’m not saying everything has to be high art, but maybe once in a while, a movie could try being good on its own instead of yelling “Hey! Remember that thing you liked?”
Because the truth is, good stories don’t need crutches. You can build something timeless, something weird and beautiful and new, or you can toss in another slow-motion wink at the camera while someone hums the Star Wars theme.
One of those paths gets you remembered. The other just gets you retweeted.