Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with popculture

Great texts on pop culture?

mediocritease — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:08:00 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good text on pop culture history/studies? I'd love to take a college course on the subject, but I'm not currently enrolled anywhere. I'm also impatient and I want to get right on it. I did a brief search for any similar questions on AskMeFi and didn't find anything. Nor do I check this site daily, so if it's been asked before then I've missed it and I apologize. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Pop Culture Call and Response?

flatluigi — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:38:52 -0800

Is there a word or a term for a pop-culture handshake? If I wave my hand and tell you 'these aren't the droids you're looking for,' you might repeat me and walk away. If I say "Do you know how many time zones are in the Soviet Union" you might respond with something along the lines of "it's ridiculous, it's not even funny." People can go on for minutes just quoting the Simpsons at each-other.

We've absorbed a lot of pop culture, enough so that responding in reference comes easily and freely. Surely there must be some sort of term for this.

What did Elvis Costello say about Boston?

ibmcginty — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:06:37 -0800

At 2:15 of this brief clip, the interviewer asks Elvis Costello if he wants to defend what he'd said in Newsweek about Boston (the band, I'm pretty sure, given her exchange with Nick Lowe starting at 1:58). I've been unable to figure out on the Google just what was said about Boston; can you tell me?

It's just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right.

miss lynnster — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:59 -0800

I need visual examples of vintage influences (1920s-1950s) in current popular culture to prove retro design is still hip with the cool kids. Putting together images for a style presentation. I want to hire a retro illustrator for a project but last week someone expressed belief that young people aren't interested in waxing nostalgic for a time they didn't live in. I just need to show solid proof of how off base that is. I need visual examples of pop culture and design (magazine ads, interior decor, popular products like the Dangerous Book for Boys, anything really...) to prove that modern people are still embracing very vintage inspiration and that retro style is still relevant in popular culture and embraced by younger people.

I have a lot already. Just want to see what I might not have thought of. Thanks oodles. You da bomb. Yes, you.

Hey, meme-spreader! Get laid! Get plucked!

Shepherd — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:12:10 -0800

Did you have a "Mony Mony" chant? If so, what was it? (kinda NSFW) This came up at a wedding reception on Saturday, and I've seen a couple of minor threads about it on other unrelated boards when searching.

What was your "Mony Mony" chant when a DJ played the song back in the late '80s?

In 1988 in Port Perry, Ontario, it was "Come on, motherfucker! Get laid! Get fucked!"

Any insight on how this started would also be welcome -- I was astounded to learn that my wife was also shouting this in South Carolina in 1988, as "Hey! Get laid! Get laid! Get fucked!". This, of course, in the pre-Internet age, when this would have just spread by word of mouth from high school to high school, which makes one wonder where "ground zero" was.

Who are our Pansexual Icons?

divabat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:23:57 -0800

There are gay icons and lesbian icons - are there people who are bisexual/pansexual icons? I don't necessarily mean icons who are bisexual/pansexual (though they can be), but people who particularly appeal to bi/pan people the same way gay icons are, well, icons. How would you define such a person anyway?

I asked this on a LJ community for pansexuals and the only answer I got was the lead character of Torchwood, who's bisexual. Are there any others that would qualify? I'm thinking Lady Gaga or Angelina Jolie, but that's more "appeals to both sexes" rather than "appeals to bisexuals".

Need non-people 80's pop culture icons

dogmom — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:44:22 -0800

Pop-culture enthusiasts: I am working on a project that will incorporate 80's(ish) themes/icons. But there is a caveat. No people.

This is an embroidery project and recognizable people are too hard to embroider (at least for my purposes). So is anything that involves shading. For example, an image of Michael Jackson would not work, but a single sequined glove would as it's pretty obvious what it represents. Basically, I'm looking for things that have simple outlines and are recognizable by those simple outlines. This picture of Kermit is perfect.

Ok, now that you know (I hope) what I'm looking for, what can you give me from the years of 1978-1993 or so?

Am I doing this write?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:33:26 -0800

In writing a research book, how far along should I be before approaching publishers, agents, etc? Help needed to get my nonfiction pop culture centric book into bookstores I am working on a research book that is beyond the scope of what most part-time writers would do. The book covers a popular pop culture topic. I have interviewed over 30 people one-on-one for the research and plan to interview over 20 more. My end result will be something similar to the book "Crystal Lake Memories" found here

I have written the first few chapters of this book now and I'm wondering what the next steps are. Due to the amount of painstaking research and the trouble of scheduling some of these interviews, I expect the research portion will take at least another year, perhaps more, and the writing can in many cases happen in parallel.

I would like to ideally approach the publishing branch of the media corporation who's pop culture work I am covering to see if there is interest on their side in publishing it "officially". From my interviews I have relationships with many of the principles at said corporation (yet they don't know the scope of my project, the real reason behind all these interviews, and they help me set them up anyway), and if they were interested it would also open more doors on research; however, I'm also worried about them seeing the idea and using in-house staff to do it without me.

All my research and writing is unique and certainly falls under "fair use" so I am certain other publishers could publish this book, but from what I've read in other questions that would involve an agent, etc.

So for non-fiction works like this, what is the protocol? Should I continue to work on the book until done and hope afterward someone is interested in the work?

If you have more questions I've set up the e-mail nonficfordummies@gmail.com

Thanks.

let it fall down

Potomac Avenue — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:25:44 -0800

What music came out soon (within a year) after September 11 2001 that was uniquely affected, either in perception or creation, by the terrorist attacks? This thread got me interested in whether or not there was a marked shift in cultural priorities or possibilities in the period after 2001, specifically expressed in pop or underground music.

I can think of some, but I'm sure I'm missing lots. This is too generic, and doesn't cover the more underground genres. Also I don't mean stuff explicitly written about War like Neil Young's Let's Roll, or about the attacks like Springsteen's the Rising.

Here's some examples of what I mean:

The Strokes album was a huge hit. Even though it was recorded before September 11, part of the hype leading up to its release was the controversy over the song New York City Cops, but also the fact that they came from Manhatten seemed to give the Fuck You attitude of their record a certain significance.

Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was also a breakout hit for them--the cover depicted two towers, and several of the songs seemed tailor-made to address war, faith and tradgedy (even though that record also was recorded before 9/11).

The rapper Fabolous released his first single in December 2001, helped by a video saturated in American flags and positive references to American mainstream culture.

I'm sure there are more within that first year (or so). Right?

Where can I get this shirt?!

kbanas — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:45:31 -0800

I was out to lunch the other day and saw this guy across the way wearing this great t-shirt. Being largely anti-social, I could not work up the nerve to inquire of him where he got it - thinking instead that I could just use my excellent Google-fu. Of course, that has turned up nothing. Maybe you can help. It was a kind of mud green color, and at the top it said "MY MANDIBLES" and then there was a picture of.. a pair of mandibles.. and then under that it said, "They click for you." Or maybe it said, "They clack for you." I couldn't really tell.

Apparently the Mandibles are a band of some popularity, but I don't think that's related.

Anybody see a shirt like this before?

No man is an island

ttyn — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:12:39 -0800

What are some famous islands in popular culture? So far I have:

Lost island
Robinson Crusoe island
Life of Pi island
Lord of the Flies island
Castaway island

What are some other ones? Can be from movies, books, music, etc.

Who was the Ur-Paris?

surenoproblem — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:21:34 -0800

Who was the Ur-Paris? Who were the Paris Hiltons of yesteryear? Whenever I find myself in conversation with people-who-think-they're-smarter-than-everyone, I know that I will soon be subjected to a rant about how we now live in the most facile of times, obsessed with celebrities like Paris Hilton. I'd like to hear arguments for the opposing view: that this is nothing new, that, throughout history, it has always been human nature to be interested in the lives of certain people... Specific examples would be great, particularly examples of people whose celebrity would seem, at first glance, to be disproportionate to their merit. I'm mainly just curious as to other points of view, so straightforward answers about celebrities in past decades would be great, but inflammatory devil's advocate stuff is fine, too: I posed the question to a guy I know, and he made an interesting argument that our culture is much more obsessed with the life of Jesus than that of Paris, and he argued that that was just as crazy.

I'd love to hear any thoughts that differ from the same old, tired song I keep hearing, that our society is so uniquely dumb right now...

China!

god particle — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:48:43 -0800

What are some good Chinese youth/pop culture blogs? I'm looking for blogs about Chinese youth and/or pop culture...music, nightlife, art, etc. Preferably written by a native, in (Mandarin) Chinese, focusing on the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, though I'm still interested in seeing a foreigner's perspective on things.

Also, are there any good translation/learning sites where I can just copy and paste a phrase or character and get back the English meaning and pronunciation? My Chinese reading ability is pretty poor, so I'd need something to help me get through the blogs.

pop culture ring tones, k?

Industrial PhD — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:59:16 -0800

Looking for iconic, pop culture ring tones for my blackberry Since I don't really find it appropriate to use actual songs with lyrics, etc as a ring tone in a business environment, I'm using some normal ringers, but I want to add to my collection of work-friendly, but familiar to the trained ear ring tones.

Example of course, is the ring tone from 24. I also have the ring tone from Chev Chelios's cell phone from the movie 'Crank'.

Are there other pop-culture ring tones that I can get that are somewhat normal rings, but will be recognizable to other aficionados?

YanniFilter (yes, THAT Yanni): Help me find this shirt...

jluce50 — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:58:45 -0800

I just saw the movie High Fidelity for the first time. There was one scene in the record store where Jack Black's character is wearing a t-shirt with Yanni's mug in it's full glory. As soon as I saw it I knew I HAD to have that shirt! I've managed to find some similar shirts on Ebay, but nothing quite as spectacular as the one in the movie. So I will be forever in debt to anyone who can find this shirt available for purchase. Help me MeFi, you're my only hope!

Searching for laser portrait background.

binocularfight — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:04:01 -0800

where can i find an image of the fuzzy laser background that was used in school pictures in the 80's and early 90's? do you remember the fuzzy lasers background? it was a greyish backdrop with different colored lasers over the top. not a lot of lasers, just a few. and they were diffused to make them look kind of fuzzy or blurry. a lot of kids had this in portraits back in the 80's and early 90's. i have searched high and low through google and have found nothing. i'd prefer it to be a large image size, but at this point, i'll take anything. even if there's a kid in the photo, i can photoshop them out. thanks so much for your help!

What from the '80s was actually good?

Metroid Baby — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:24:08 -0800

I'm a child of the '80s, and I loved the '80s. However, I didn't develop a sense of good taste until about 1994, and as a result my pop-culture radar is completely jammed with crappy cartoons designed to sell toys, cereal commercials, and Ewoks. Can you recommend totally awesome movies/TV shows/etc. that will satisfy my '80s nostalgia, but are good enough to watch today? I spent my formative years reading endless volumes of Sweet Valley Twins and Baby-Sitters Club books and running to the TV every time Rainbow Brite or Captain N came on. A lot of the stuff I loved as a kid hasn't aged well, though; most of it is painfully unwatchable now. (I mean, Rainbow was whiny and boring, Starlite was a pompous jerk, and Twink was a wuss. I'm beginning to sympathize with Murky Dismal.) I'd like to revisit my youth while keeping the cringing and brain atrophy to a minimum.

Additionally, I know my mental catalog of '80s pop culture is woefully incomplete; being young, I naturally missed out on a lot. There's a whole decade of PG-13 movies I missed! But much like I couldn't tell a Trix ad from a real cartoon at the age of four, I'm having trouble picking out the stuff that's actually worth my attention.

So I am looking for recommendations of movies, TV, books, anything from the decade that is quintessentially '80s—as so totally '80s as possible—but well-done and interesting enough to be worth watching in 2008 and beyond. The medium and genre are not particularly important, though I'd certainly welcome anything that would have appealed to a kid back then.

(I haven't mentioned music because I listen to plenty of '80s pop and don't really need recommendations in that area. Plus, I have a feeling I already know what you’re going to say.)

Why does Disney hate your mom?

dinty_moore — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:24:59 -0800

Why are there so few living and loving mothers in Disney films? I'm referring mostly to the animated films, but the trend carries over to a lesser extent to live action children's movies. Sure, there's the whole 'orphan on their own' trope in children's stories, but I can think of a number of single but caring fathers and very few moms that aren't dead or evil (I can come up with. . . three). Why is that? Does a strong maternal influence make you boring? Not having a mom makes it easier for you to have a wicked stepmother/fairy godmother? Lots of dead moms in Grimm's Fairy Tales, and the trend carried over? Walt had a weird complex?

Not in the broccoli?

Mitheral — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:28:56 -0800

From whence the phrase "oohh, not in the broccoli" spoken in a stereotype ESL japanese speaker accent? As a kid in the 80s we used this phrase when someone had a accident resulting in things flying all over. EG: bumping a full plate of the table or knocking a bag of groceries down the stairs.

I fairly sure it originated from a movie/tv, probably a kung fu type show where someone ends up landing on a stack of boxes of broccoli. Anyone know which show?

Hollywood's finest?

messylissa — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:55:27 -0800

Famous examples of personality disorders? I'm working on presentation of personality disorders for a graduate class, and I want it to be slightly more interesting than the book reports I've spent the last 4 weeks listening to. I remember my undergraduate professor having some awesome pop culture examples of the different personality disorders, but I'm coming up short on several of the disorders (and yes, I know I could email him, and yes, I've tried Google).

So far, I've got examples for Schizoid, Antisocial, and Histrionic Personality Disorders. So....what are your awesome/entertaining examples of:

-Paranoid Personality Disorder
-Schizotypal Personality D/o
-Borderline Personality D/o
-Narcissistic Personality D/o
-Avoidant Personality D/o
-Dependent Personality D/o
-Obsessive Compulsive Personality D/o

Actual famous people, movie/tv characters, whatever, are all great.

"Sausage Leg" Kung Fu movie title?

minjungkim — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:26:46 -0800

Dear Metafilter, Please help me identify and track down a copy of this movie. Somewhere in the early '80s while living in the outskirts of detroit, I, as a young impressionable lass, was obsessed with watching kung fu action flicks. One that comes to vivid flashes of memory is a fantasy mythic style kung fu flick involving a young hero (with piquant sideburns) and old wizardy master (with white hair and white mustache and beard going down to *there*) and the old wizardy master's assistant that was a midget who at some point gets his legs burned or scalded in such a way as to make his legs look like breakfast sausage links.

I only recall this flick as "Sausage Leg" kung fu.

Can you help me find the real title of this film?

Is there a word that means "knowing something solely by references to it?"

flatluigi — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:06:16 -0800

Is there a word that means "knowing something solely by references to it?" I've never seen an episode of Star Trek nor any of the movies. I haven't seen Spinal Tap nor 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, I know so much of what happens and the basic facts of each that I could fake it well -- I bet that there's at least one comparable thing in pop culture for every MeFite.

I've used the slightly-awkward portmanteau 'recumference' for this sort of thing for a while now, but I've always wanted to know if there's an actual word for this.

Looking for an online store to easily find and purchase popular/classic books translated/written in European French. Mag subscriptions too!

iamkimiam — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:34:10 -0800

I'm looking for popular books, novels, magazines, comic books...in European French (not Canadian French). I'd also like to be able to easily order/purchase them from home (preferably from places like Amazon.com). Searching for books on Amazon.com is time-consuming...it would seem I need to think of a book I want, and search for it individually. I'd love to be able to find a list of popular books, etc. available for purchase somewhere. I'm looking for classics, short stories, current and past best sellers, and magazine subscriptions.

Some examples of the ultimate finds would be:
1984, or other George Orwell stories (except for Animal Farm)
Catcher in the Rye, Ordinary People, The Great Gatsby
Snow Crash, Geek Love, The Corrections
Any book or magazine about surfing
Fashion magazines

I could probably figure this out myself with some extensive googling, but your suggestions and experiences would free up the rest of my day and save me a lot of headache. I know there's got to be a compiled list somewhere, but I can't seem to get to it on my own. Merci!

who painted this?

mordecai — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:29:37 -0800

who painted this? appreciate the help, thanks!

Looking for the Lord's Homies

Rykey — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:02:31 -0800

Help me find the "best" fundamentalist / evangelical Christian websites geared toward youth. I'm trying to develop a story line involving characters who are members of a Christian rock/hip-hop/whatever music group. So to research these characters, I'm looking for web resources dedicated to this subculture, more specifically its more extreme niches. The more fundamentalist, literalist, and exclusionary the better! And definitely Protestant (i.e., not Catholic) only!

I've done the Google and YouTube things, searched on MeFi, and read this post, but they're not hitting the nail quite on the head for me. I'm not so much looking for good bands or music labels as "portal" type websites that (either sincerely or critically) point me toward where Jesus meets Cool on the web (which would certainly include music, but not focus solely on it).

Bonus points for sites that try really, really hard to emulate mainstream (e.g., MTV) youth culture and push the envelope (relatively speaking), but that hold fast to "traditional family values" like homophobia, abstinence, patriotism, and teetotaling. Stuff that would strike non-Christians as glaringly ridiculous, but that would be offered to 16-year-olds who were raised in church as "just like what your friends enjoy, but compatible with your faith."

If it matters, as an ex-fundie myself (but years out of the fold), I am fairly fluent in the lingo and biblical points of reference found in this subculture, so sites "too obscure" to the non-believer would not be an issue for me. In fact, the more obscure, perhaps the better (makes for good details that ring true).