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Off topic but I am now old enough that more than once Calvinball references were lost with my co-workers. I was surprised (and then sad) at the realization tha

Off topic but I am now old enough that more than once Calvinball references were lost with my co-workers. I was surprised (and then sad) at the realization that Bill Watterson is fading from the cultural ethos as I age.

sethammons 1y ago
I've noticed similar. I quote lots of movies, usually one liners as appropriate. Between age and less uniform media exposure, my references more often than not fall flat. And I feel less connected.
- TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
  If you talk to anyone under 30, there's a vague sense of 'the past' with a few landmark events - mostly Star Wars, Pokemon, Miyazaki. Beyond that it's all recent comics, superhero movies, video games, and anime, with a big subculture stanning book trends like romantasy. Most of what happened before 2000 doesn't seem to exist in cultural memory. It's not quite true that nothing that happened before 1950 exists at all. But you're not going to find many people who are interested in the art, music, literature, design, or architecture of earlier decades - never mind centuries. It's as a big a break as there was in the 60s. For that generation the 50s were still an influence, but anything earlier pretty much just disappeared.
  - card_zero 1y ago
    I guess the sense of a rubicon at the end of the 40s was due to WW2, but why at the year 2000? Because phones? Or big round number effect, perhaps? The year 2000 was built up in our minds as when the future was expected to begin. (Every new gadget produced around 1990 was the Something2000. CarVacuum2000, Ionizer2000, SuperShoehorn2000, etc.)
- bmacho 1y ago
  > And I feel less connected. Watch whatever today's kids watch.
  - card_zero 1y ago
    The "less uniform media exposure" phrase invokes the (paranoid?) fear that we might lose common cultural reference points. In short, today's kids watch whatever. Though I'm sure we'd just find a new social script to work around the inability to quote Python.
  - mionhe 1y ago
    I like to use the phrase "skibidi" wrong. My kids make the greatest faces.
bregma 1y ago
Gone are the days when everyone was spammed with Monty Python references. The Gen-Zs in my office haven't even heard of, let alone viewed, the Holy Grail so half the references our boss lays out are lost on them. At least it's not dead yet. On the other hand, I had to ask them what a Kirby was. I'm still not sure but I know it's pink.
- eadmund 1y ago
  > At least it's not dead yet. It’s pining for the fjords!
- alnwlsn 1y ago
  Interesting, at least 10 years ago, everyone in my school knew Monty Python. Maybe that's because it was on Youtube at the time. Not really the case anymore; some is still there but a lot has been removed - you're not going to find 'Holy Grail part 1/11' these days.
- aaronbaugher 1y ago
  That's sad. It's not like when I was watching Holy Grail in the late 80s it was in theaters, and the "effects" weren't good enough when it was made to become dated. We watched it and lots of other stuff on VHS because it was good, regardless of when it was made. I suppose some of the jokes depend on cultural things that might not be taught as well anymore, like the Trojan Horse. But most of it is about human nature, so it seems like that should hold up.
- dghf 1y ago
  There was a thread on Reddit about the current British king on which someone commented > Well I didn't vote for him to which I naturally replied > You don't vote for kings! and the next comment was an antimonarchist slamming me for being a royalist toady.

sethammons 1y ago

I've noticed similar. I quote lots of movies, usually one liners as appropriate. Between age and less uniform media exposure, my references more often than not fall flat. And I feel less connected.

TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
If you talk to anyone under 30, there's a vague sense of 'the past' with a few landmark events - mostly Star Wars, Pokemon, Miyazaki. Beyond that it's all recent comics, superhero movies, video games, and anime, with a big subculture stanning book trends like romantasy. Most of what happened before 2000 doesn't seem to exist in cultural memory. It's not quite true that nothing that happened before 1950 exists at all. But you're not going to find many people who are interested in the art, music, literature, design, or architecture of earlier decades - never mind centuries. It's as a big a break as there was in the 60s. For that generation the 50s were still an influence, but anything earlier pretty much just disappeared.
- card_zero 1y ago
  I guess the sense of a rubicon at the end of the 40s was due to WW2, but why at the year 2000? Because phones? Or big round number effect, perhaps? The year 2000 was built up in our minds as when the future was expected to begin. (Every new gadget produced around 1990 was the Something2000. CarVacuum2000, Ionizer2000, SuperShoehorn2000, etc.)
bmacho 1y ago
> And I feel less connected. Watch whatever today's kids watch.
- card_zero 1y ago
  The "less uniform media exposure" phrase invokes the (paranoid?) fear that we might lose common cultural reference points. In short, today's kids watch whatever. Though I'm sure we'd just find a new social script to work around the inability to quote Python.
- mionhe 1y ago
  I like to use the phrase "skibidi" wrong. My kids make the greatest faces.

bregma 1y ago

Gone are the days when everyone was spammed with Monty Python references. The Gen-Zs in my office haven't even heard of, let alone viewed, the Holy Grail so half the references our boss lays out are lost on them. At least it's not dead yet. On the other hand, I had to ask them what a Kirby was. I'm still not sure but I know it's pink.

eadmund 1y ago
> At least it's not dead yet. It’s pining for the fjords!
alnwlsn 1y ago
Interesting, at least 10 years ago, everyone in my school knew Monty Python. Maybe that's because it was on Youtube at the time. Not really the case anymore; some is still there but a lot has been removed - you're not going to find 'Holy Grail part 1/11' these days.
aaronbaugher 1y ago
That's sad. It's not like when I was watching Holy Grail in the late 80s it was in theaters, and the "effects" weren't good enough when it was made to become dated. We watched it and lots of other stuff on VHS because it was good, regardless of when it was made. I suppose some of the jokes depend on cultural things that might not be taught as well anymore, like the Trojan Horse. But most of it is about human nature, so it seems like that should hold up.
dghf 1y ago
There was a thread on Reddit about the current British king on which someone commented > Well I didn't vote for him to which I naturally replied > You don't vote for kings! and the next comment was an antimonarchist slamming me for being a royalist toady.