MovieChat Forums > Reality Bites (1994) Discussion > Pop References seem off by ten years

Pop References seem off by ten years

posted 16 years ago by jonesjax
37 replies | jump to latest

Something that has ALWAYS bugged me about this movie. They're supposed to be 20somethings in 1994. I find it hard to believe that they would know all the words to Conjunction Junction or any school-house rock, OR that they would know all the episodes to GOODTIMES. I think more appropriate references would be 1980s or reruns of that era, which weren't any of those things. Then again, Garafolo's character is fascinated by 70s (Shawn Cassidy poster, etc) - but they wouldn't have been more than six when the 80s began. Just didn't buy it. What I did buy is that the writer was my age. Not the characters.

[–] jmd26_0 16 years ago

You are very wrong. I was 23 in 1994 and all that stuff was my life. I watched GOOD TIMES in syndication when I was a kid, and I grew up on School House Rock. TRUST ME, references to 1970s reruns and culture were VERY much part of being a Gen-Xer.

[–] raging_bull_87 15 years ago

ah, have you ever heard of Nick-at-Nite. And I do remember watching School-house rock on Saturday mornings in the 90's. They showed it to us at school too.

[–] strawberrymilkandgin 15 years ago

I guess there are two types of people in the world: those who watched Good Times growing up, and those who didn't. We watched One Day at a Time, Barney Miller, Hill Street Blues, and Sanford and Son in our household.

It seemed like an odd choice to me that they would somehow define where these people were coming from by showing them playing a drinking game based on Good Times episodes, (but then again look where we are, on an internet message board that is specifically designed for the purpose of referencing every movie or tv show that's ever been made.)

I have seen several episodes of Good Times, but it made me think the film was being a bit pretentious by making the assumption that everyone in the room would know every episode. Good Times was just a bit too obscure of a sitcom compared to, say, Diff'rent Strokes, Family Ties, Facts of Life or Brady Bunch, and that made me feel like the movie was trying too hard to be cool.

[–] BethH24 15 years ago

I was born in the 80's and i like a lot of music and films/tv shows from that decade.It's not unusual to like stuff from the decade you were born in.

[–] Fleur_de_lis 15 years ago

Re: Pop References seem off by ten years
by - strawberrymilkandgin on Thu Nov 5 2009 00:24:49 I guess there are two types of people in the world: those who watched Good Times growing up, and those who didn't. We watched One Day at a Time, Barney Miller, Hill Street Blues, and Sanford and Son in our household.

It seemed like an odd choice to me that they would somehow define where these people were coming from by showing them playing a drinking game based on Good Times episodes, (but then again look where we are, on an internet message board that is specifically designed for the purpose of referencing every movie or tv show that's ever been made.)

I have seen several episodes of Good Times, but it made me think the film was being a bit pretentious by making the assumption that everyone in the room would know every episode. Good Times was just a bit too obscure of a sitcom compared to, say, Diff'rent Strokes, Family Ties, Facts of Life or Brady Bunch, and that made me feel like the movie was trying too hard to be cool.

I don't think it was being pretentious. It was saying that everyone in that very particular room would know that show, and that Michael only sort of knew it. (Even the Zahn character gets his answer wrong.)

Good Times was not obscure. You're probably about five years or so younger than the people in the movie.

Norman Lear dominated television in that era, so he was never obscure, and his shows were for adults. The shows you mention were geared toward a younger audience and aired during a later period.

People who recall Lear's shows may be more likely to have remembered their parents watching them than those born a bit later. Good Times was an adult show that became an afternoon syndicated show, so Gen-X kids saw it. I can find at least two episodes per day of Good Times on my cable service.

Just notes for comparison.

[–] SocialMediaFluff 11 years ago

I'm really late and no one will ever read this, but I agree completely.

The town I grew up in was so small that we didn't get a cable provider until 1987, so by the time I was 10, I had seen every episode of Good Times (and every other 70s sitcom) at least 3 times in syndication.

Saturday nights were new episodes of The Facts of Life and Different Strokes, but when it really mattered (ie Monday through Friday, directly after school), I was was in my living room dreaming about a future as Mrs. Michael Evans.

Reality Bites was dead on with their references.

[–] ARH 15 years ago

Actually gen-xers where the first generation to be "children of divorce." Thus they were latchkey kids who watched sitcoms reruns on TV in the afternoon.

I am significantly younger than the characters in this movie (I was 11 when it came out) and 'Schoolhouse Rock' was shown on TV well into MY teens.

[–] gollygopher 15 years ago

Maybe they just thought those things were cool...I mean some people today are into the 60s and everything still

[–] PMvin 15 years ago

I was 22 and just finishing college when this movie was released, just like the characters. I was born in 1972 and I grew up on Shaun Cassidy, Schoolhouse Rock, Good Times, etc. Believe it or not I understood televsion, bought posters, and had favorite shows and music BEFORE the 80's began. It's not like children have no brains until they reach their tenth birthday. I didn't think the references in the movie were off at all.

[–] MrAleisterCrowley 15 years ago

The film actually nailed the pop culture interests of Gen X -- Gen Xers are (often) interested in the 70s, love 70s t.v. shows, music, etc. My friends and I saw this movie when it was released in 1994, and we were the same age as the characters. And we got every single reference in the film and laughed at how accurate it was.

[–] jtilak 15 years ago

i graduated high school in 94, and i grew up listening to schoolhouse rock and watching reruns of goodtimes. i don't know what you're talking about.

and the fact that a person is fascinated by the 70's doesn't mean they had to grow up in the 70's. she also was a socialist, even tho she didn't grow up in the soviet union.

[–] 15 years ago

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