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After a conversation about video games at dinner I realised that the media the kids consume is full of cultural references and inspirations that they know absolutely nothing about. And as avid internet users they see many memes that they have no idea where they're from. We tried to make movies a family thing a long time ago but my eldest can't watch films so we basically stopped doing it. But turns out my youngest, nearly 12, really wants to watch films with us. She's now mature enough to appreciate young person/teen movies, so what should go on the list?
Bagpuss
Ivor the engine
Life of Brian
The Holy Grail
Obviously the first two aren't films but to be fair I don't think I could take 100 minutes of grumbly gasworks
Bad Taste - ‘Ooh aren’t I lucky, I got a chunky bit’
Animal House - ‘What am I? A zit’
Cheech and Chong’s up in smoke - ‘This is called Labrador. Cause next door’s dog ate my stash and I had to follow the mother****er around with a baggie’
Ghostbusters
Groundhog Day
Spinal Tap
Animal House seconded
Breakfast Club
Lost Boys
Beetlejuice
Heathers
Lots of things. What does she like?
Lost boys
ferris bulers day off
goonies
all the back to the future films
princess bride.
local hero possibly
os trainspottimg a bit to sweary and druggy???
Breakfast club
Weekend at Bernie's
Easy a
Ferris buellers day off (obvs)
Space balls.
Holes
(and don't forget to tell her who 'the Fonz' was) 😉
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Wars
Back to the Future
Stand by Me
Dirty Dancing
Footloose
Mamma Mia
All wend down very well with my young teenage daughters.
Life of Brian did not........
Cultural references that are meme relevent?
Aliens
Predator
Terminator 2
That should get you going for starters.
quadrophenia - as long as you ignore the 125 outside the window.
For example, this meme would mean nothing to someone whos never watched T2:
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Gremlins
Wayne's World
Bill and Ted
The ones my daughters absolutely loved when we were doing cultural education stuff at about the same age
Blazing Saddles
Breakfast Club
Bill and Ted
Waynes World
Life of Brian
Ferris Buellers Day Off
The Holy Grail
They both quote Wayne’s World, Bill and Ted and Life of Brian all the time
He’s not the messiah!!!…
Bill and Ted
Waynes World
These are good shouts, but they have not aged well, IMO.
Wayne's world
Total recall
Preditor
Deliverence
Several others like full metal jack or load of Vietnam films but might be a bit mutch for a 12 year-old but you know her best
Ready Player One would be my suggestion. Full of cultural references from the original story. Failing that, Porkies? 😁
Maybe Good Will Hunting? And one I have made my slightly older kids watch is Meet Joe Black. Not necessarily cultural references, but big movies from our time. Maybe even Die Hard, such a great movie that is still referenced today.
My kids have even endured Matrix, but just the first one. Was good for them to see where a lot of modern day effects have emerged from.
Eat the rich
Loads of films mentioned here that I used to absolutely love but how often do you go back and watch them? Sometimes it's hard!
Films have changed. Old ones are sloooow. I've been rewatching a lot of old favourites recently and they don't half plod along. If you've blitzed your attention span with YouTube and scrolling you've got no chance.
There's not much here I'd share with an 11 or 12 year old.
Predator is still the best monster film ever made though. I'll watch that every time it's on.
I'm not sure she'll get Spinal Tap. It's a mockumentary poking fun at bands she's never heard of in a 30 year old genre.
I think you have to have had a certain level of religious and historical education to understand Life of Brian I think.
You’re overthinking it Molls. You don’t need to be overly familiar with too many parts of the Old Testament to find Bigus Dickus funny
As we’re all left-footers, so my offspring have had a catholic education forced on them, they found the Life of Brian absolutely brilliant
Forest Gump for cultural references
Gladiator?
Yep, great film.
The colour Purple
In the heat of the night
Schindler's List
And the epic Conan films.. Red Sonja basically anything with Arnie in it.
And commando.
And Twins!
Not Ghostbusters. Blowjobs and sex etc not good for kids.
All the Marvel films
Jurassic Park/World etc
And Rambo -first blood.
Ivor the Engine: I don’t think I could take 100 minutes of grumbly gasworks
I have the DVD set. There's a story line with one episode feeding into the next.
This completely escaped me as a kid catching random episodes on a weekday afternoon at 5pm.
And:
- Grease
Not Ghostbusters. Blowjobs and sex etc not good for kids.
I was 13 when it came out, I think the average 12 year old now knows a lot more than I did back then. It's my most watched film ever, I had a copied VHS that I must have watched 50+ times. I think it was the only film I had.
"the flowers are still standing!"
Silence of the lambs
Rambo
Jay and silent bob strike back
Blue juice
National Lampoon's Vacation and European Vacation
.. but a strong chance it was just my family / childhood that made them so amusing to us.
Thinking about Gladiator, Terminator and Austin Powers for my kids.
Plus the whole Rick Moranis key master stuff.
Hang on a minute. Why does the youth of today need to know the cultural references of their forefathers? Surely they can and should be creating there own cultural references?
I mean, everything we've been quoting is stuff that is from the time when we grew up, and not the time our parents/grandparents grew up. Otherwise we'd be cracking up over tommy trinder gags
Some of what I grew up with is now considered racist, sexist, homophobic, Ivor and bagpuss possibly not but I've never felt comfortable with Madeleine the rag doll. Why not professor Madeleine
It feels a bit our cultural references are better than yours, and are the only true way
Romanus Domus!
Airplane
Cool runnings
Uncle Buck
Blues brothers
Planes Trains and automobiles
Anything else with John candy
ET
Beetle Juice (?)
Hang on a minute. Why does the youth of today need to know the cultural references of their forefathers? Surely they can and should be creating there own cultural references?
So they can be included in the joke, share the fun!
How did Darth Vader know what Luke was getting for Christmas? He felt his presents.
That doesn't work if you don't know what it's referencing.
It's not about better or worse, it's just acknowledging that there's a wider culture and it can be nice to participate in it.
Oh I totally agree,. But By that metric I'll need to go back and get all the jokes and sketches from the 40s 50s and 60s so Ive got a idea what the hell my parents are s****ing at
You should, there are some absolute classics!
I would choose Bringing Up Baby or Philadelphia Story over the latest film about CGI superheroes flinging trucks at each other any day, any day, any day (Mr shankly)