As a 40+ year old white American, I agree with most of this list (I’d reduce “Hannibal Lecter series” down to just “Silence of the Lambs”), but if I were to ask my 6–12 year old kids about these, I feel like they wouldn’t know who 1/3rd of these are. I’d be curious to see if there was a common thread or set of threads between all of these that point to what traits our Western society value/avoid or what makes a successful franchise in the West.
I’m 17, and either dislike or don’t know most of them. Here’s my thoughts on most of them, if anybody’s curious:
Star wars - don’t like it
James Bond - never seen it
Lord of the rings - never seen ir
Sherlock Holmes - don’t like it
Batman - hate it
Superman - never seen it
Spiderman - don’t like it
Mission Impossible -never seen of it
Mario - played and enjoyed Mario kart, that’s about it
Zelda - never seen it
Pokemon - never seen it
Indiana Jones - don’t like it
Back to the Future - I saw it but don’t really remember anything from it, mostly forgettable
The Karate Kid - I watched it when I was too young to care, but I think I’d like it if I watched it now
A Nightmare on Elm Street - liked it
Friday the 13th - I know it, but can’t remember if I’ve seen it
Child’s Play - watched one of them, got bored halfway through
It - liked it
Rambo - liked it
Rocky - never seen it
Jurassic Park - seen it, no strong feelings
The Matrix - got bored by the 30 minute mark and turned it off
The Terminator - never seen it
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - don’t like it
Transformers - never seen (or played?) it
The Simpsons - seen most of it, love some of it
Barbie - heard the song, nothing more
GI Joe - not a clue who/what that is
He-Man/Masters of the universe - as above
Mickey Mouse - I sometimes watched Mickey mouse club house before school, but wasn’t a huge fan
Toy Story - I watched (and liked) the first two
Looney Tunes - liked it
King Kong - I’ve heard of it but don’t know if it’s a toy or a tv show or what
Godzilla - I saw one of the sequels and enjoyed it
Planet of the Apes - never seen it
Mad Max - never seen it, but I live in Australia and like the outback, so this gets quoted at me at least monthly
The Muppets - I think the Muppets had a cameo in toy story or something, but I don’t really know much about it
The Godfather - I really really tried to watch and enjoy this earlier this year. I turned my phone off so I wouldn’t get distracted, I sat down, I ordered a pizza, I did my very best to watch and enjoy it, but I was so mind numbingly bored by the hour and a half mark that I gave up
Ghostbusters - I think I’ve seen bits and pieces
Alien - no, but I have seen ET
Star Trek - I don’t know or care what the difference is between this and star war
Robocop - I watched one of them on late night tv a few years ago, when I was around half the age it was classified for. Barely remember it
Frankenstein - never seen (or read?) it
Dracula - never seen
Tarzan - never seen
Conan the Barbarian - never even heard of it
Jaws - I saw one
Harry Potter - hate it
The Incredible Hulk - hate ir
The Dollars Trilogy - not a clue who or what this is
Sesame Street - don’t like it
The Hannibal Lecter series - don’t know who or what this is
MASH - I’m pretty sure this was always on after the Simpsons finished at 7, and everybody loves Raymond was on before. I didn’t like either of them. But then again, I was 5 or 6 and only interested in the Simpsons and nothing else, so I probably wasn’t the target audience
Rumspringa is a rite of passage for the Amish, I think they’re saying you’re disconnected from society, though that kind of gets at what I was saying about my kids. Younger generations are more connected now than any previous generation, but they just don’t care as much about what the older generations were into. While you’re aware of most of the big franchises through cultural osmosis, like what the original commenter was saying, it’s not a priority. For me and my generation that feels odd I think, at least growing up for me I went through a period of trying to get exposed to those big cultural landmarks, music, movies, tv, and books. I assumed those things must’ve gotten popular with the older cool kids for a reason, so I wanted to experience it for myself, if just to be able to understand the odd reference when it came up.
They probably haven’t seen a lot of them and may not recognize the names off the top of their head, but I have a hunch that if/when they do see them, damn each and every one is going to give them a couple little aha moments where they recognize that something else they’ve seen has parodied or referenced these movies, or that it’s where a meme comes from.
And I’d agree that Silence of the Lambs is probably the most important of the series by a longshot, but one book and a movie adaptation does not a franchise make in my mind and I think that Hannibal Lecter is a big enough character in the public mind (because the Silence of the Lambs movie) that the series as a whole kind of gets a pass
As a 40+ year old white American, I agree with most of this list (I’d reduce “Hannibal Lecter series” down to just “Silence of the Lambs”), but if I were to ask my 6–12 year old kids about these, I feel like they wouldn’t know who 1/3rd of these are. I’d be curious to see if there was a common thread or set of threads between all of these that point to what traits our Western society value/avoid or what makes a successful franchise in the West.
I’m 17, and either dislike or don’t know most of them. Here’s my thoughts on most of them, if anybody’s curious:
Star wars - don’t like it
James Bond - never seen it
Lord of the rings - never seen ir
Sherlock Holmes - don’t like it
Batman - hate it
Superman - never seen it
Spiderman - don’t like it
Mission Impossible -never seen of it
Mario - played and enjoyed Mario kart, that’s about it
Zelda - never seen it
Pokemon - never seen it
Indiana Jones - don’t like it
Back to the Future - I saw it but don’t really remember anything from it, mostly forgettable
The Karate Kid - I watched it when I was too young to care, but I think I’d like it if I watched it now
A Nightmare on Elm Street - liked it
Friday the 13th - I know it, but can’t remember if I’ve seen it
Child’s Play - watched one of them, got bored halfway through
It - liked it
Rambo - liked it
Rocky - never seen it
Jurassic Park - seen it, no strong feelings
The Matrix - got bored by the 30 minute mark and turned it off
The Terminator - never seen it
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - don’t like it
Transformers - never seen (or played?) it
The Simpsons - seen most of it, love some of it
Barbie - heard the song, nothing more
GI Joe - not a clue who/what that is
He-Man/Masters of the universe - as above
Mickey Mouse - I sometimes watched Mickey mouse club house before school, but wasn’t a huge fan
Toy Story - I watched (and liked) the first two
Looney Tunes - liked it
King Kong - I’ve heard of it but don’t know if it’s a toy or a tv show or what
Godzilla - I saw one of the sequels and enjoyed it
Planet of the Apes - never seen it
Mad Max - never seen it, but I live in Australia and like the outback, so this gets quoted at me at least monthly
The Muppets - I think the Muppets had a cameo in toy story or something, but I don’t really know much about it
The Godfather - I really really tried to watch and enjoy this earlier this year. I turned my phone off so I wouldn’t get distracted, I sat down, I ordered a pizza, I did my very best to watch and enjoy it, but I was so mind numbingly bored by the hour and a half mark that I gave up
Ghostbusters - I think I’ve seen bits and pieces
Alien - no, but I have seen ET
Star Trek - I don’t know or care what the difference is between this and star war
Robocop - I watched one of them on late night tv a few years ago, when I was around half the age it was classified for. Barely remember it
Frankenstein - never seen (or read?) it
Dracula - never seen
Tarzan - never seen
Conan the Barbarian - never even heard of it
Jaws - I saw one
Harry Potter - hate it
The Incredible Hulk - hate ir
The Dollars Trilogy - not a clue who or what this is
Sesame Street - don’t like it
The Hannibal Lecter series - don’t know who or what this is
MASH - I’m pretty sure this was always on after the Simpsons finished at 7, and everybody loves Raymond was on before. I didn’t like either of them. But then again, I was 5 or 6 and only interested in the Simpsons and nothing else, so I probably wasn’t the target audience
Are you on rumspringa or do you guys have internet now?
I take it this is a reference to… Something, but I can’t figure it out. What?
Rumspringa is a rite of passage for the Amish, I think they’re saying you’re disconnected from society, though that kind of gets at what I was saying about my kids. Younger generations are more connected now than any previous generation, but they just don’t care as much about what the older generations were into. While you’re aware of most of the big franchises through cultural osmosis, like what the original commenter was saying, it’s not a priority. For me and my generation that feels odd I think, at least growing up for me I went through a period of trying to get exposed to those big cultural landmarks, music, movies, tv, and books. I assumed those things must’ve gotten popular with the older cool kids for a reason, so I wanted to experience it for myself, if just to be able to understand the odd reference when it came up.
They probably haven’t seen a lot of them and may not recognize the names off the top of their head, but I have a hunch that if/when they do see them, damn each and every one is going to give them a couple little aha moments where they recognize that something else they’ve seen has parodied or referenced these movies, or that it’s where a meme comes from.
And I’d agree that Silence of the Lambs is probably the most important of the series by a longshot, but one book and a movie adaptation does not a franchise make in my mind and I think that Hannibal Lecter is a big enough character in the public mind (because the Silence of the Lambs movie) that the series as a whole kind of gets a pass