I was killing time in the library yesterday when I passed a copy of Wizard magazine and leafed through it. If you're not familiar with Wizard, it started as a glorified comics guide twenty years ago, then expanded to cover all of Western pop culture. Sadly, both Wizard and its sister publication, ToyFare, ended publication last month, though there is an online version at WizardWorld.com.
Anyway, as I read the magazine, I was struck by how many of its obscure references I got. I'm 42 years old and very much a product of pop culture. I learned how to read from Sesame Street and The Electric Company. I probably learned how to converse by watching David Letterman. My generation's bonding experience was Star Wars, and I'm still a fan after all these years of crappy Kevin Smith comedies and prequel remorse. Amanda can roll her eyes all she wants, but I still wake up to Clone Wars on the DVR every Saturday morning.
Here, then, with no real comment or justification needed, are a random list of pop culture moments and products that were pivotal to my development as the proud geek I am today. Feel free to add your favorites in a comment below. If there's not a Lone Ranger or Gone With the Wind in your responses somewhere, I'll be awfully surprised.
Frank Miller's The Dark Knight. The OUTATIME. The T. rex shoving through the electric fence. The Vogon Constructor Fleet that hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don't. The demise of Colonial Space Marine William Hudson. "One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." The need for a bigger boat. "There are many copies. And they have a plan." Tawny Kitaen, especially in The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak. Paulina Porizkova, especially on her poster with the leopard bikini. "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration..." Spawn. "The Killing Joke." "They're heeeere." "You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together. I've got nothing better to do." "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"
Mr. Bernstein remembers the girl in the white dress. The care and feeding of Mogwai. The Call of Cthulhu. "Maltz! Jol yIchu!'" "Call Mr. Plow, that's my name / That name again is Mr. Plow." Abbey Road. The Muppets. Easy Reader. "Lay Lady Lay." Cyberdyne Systems model T-101. Pennywise the Clown. Drew Barrymore wishes David Letterman a happy birthday. "Hey Now" Hank Kingsley. The Seaward. Trinity runs from the cops. Alan Arkin and/or Dianne Wiest as parents in pretty much anything. "These are the voyages of the starship...Enterprise." The bike scenes in E.T. The untimely death of Salvatore Bonpensiero. The Neighborhood of Make-Believe. "These effects aren't very special."
"Part of Your World." "Somewhere That's Green." (Same song, really.) The Wicked Witch of the West. Remo Williams. Cyrano de Bergerac. The Dwead Piwate Wobe'ts. "I hate it when that happens." The seven words you can't say on television. Rubik's Cube. Alex Trebek. Kunta Kinte. Jessica Rabbit. Akira. Venom. Snow Crash. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Of Mice and Men.
I could go on and on, of course. What are your ongoing childhood favorites?