# What properties would you say are referenced too often based on their ACTUAL popularity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817 "2020-11-17T18:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/61 "2020-11-30T20:01:56Z")
About 5 years ago I was speaking at Career Day to some middle schoolers and tried to illustrate a point by saying “It’s like the little kid in the Oracle’s place in the Matrix says… Do not try to bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, realize the truth… there is no spoon. Then you will see it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.” I was 100% met with dull stares. I quickly realized none of these kids had ever seen The Matrix. I assume it only gets more and more true as years go by. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/62 "2021-02-11T01:04:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@Hampshire](#): > > > > I’m walkin here! > > That was Dustin Hoffman I had never noticed it before, but that scene/line was kind of parodied in “Forrest Gump”. After Forrest meets up with Lt. Dan after shooting the Dick Cavett show, there’s a scene of Forrest pushing Lt. Dan’s wheelchair. They’re even playing the “Everybody’s Talkin’” music from “Midnight Cowboy”. At one point, they cross a crowded (NY) street. As they are going in front of a cab, the cab inches forward. Lt. Dan slams the hood and yells the line. The joke, of course, is Lt. Dan doesn’t have (complete) legs. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/63 "2021-02-19T18:47:05Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > “Show me the money” probably fits in here somewhere as well. > > And, from the same film, “You had me at ‘Hello’.” (Often with something else substituted for “Hello,” _e.g._ “You had me at ‘Bacon’.”) There’s also “you complete me,” which was used by Heath Ledger’s Joker in _The Dark Knight._ ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/64 "2021-02-20T13:41:44Z")
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” I’ve heard people say this famous movie quote many times. I work at a TV station and we were shooting a commercial in an office building. Some random person walked in, saw our set-up and said that. I said “Oh, you’re a fan of ‘Sunset Boulevard’?” “What?” she said. I told her it was from a movie. “I’ve never heard of it,” she replied. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/65 "2021-02-20T14:01:33Z")
“Nah Nah Nah Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Hey, Hey, Goodbye!” Bonus points for knowing who sang it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/66 "2021-02-20T16:05:58Z")
Steam? From memory! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/67 "2021-02-20T19:29:01Z")
I have a vivid memory of singing this song in unison on a school bus on the last day of school. I have no idea where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/68 "2021-02-20T19:35:01Z")
Had to look it up. It was [Steam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na_Na_Hey_Hey_Kiss_Him_Goodbye), a band name made up in order to release the song. It was so ubiquitous I never had any notion where it came from, seemed like it existed forever even though I was a teenager by the time it appeared. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/69 "2021-02-20T21:04:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@Hampshire](#): > > > > I’m walkin here! > > That was Dustin Hoffman Trivia note; the line was not in the script. In fact, the taxi wasn’t in the script. The shot was supposed to just be normal dialogue between Voight and Hoffman as they crossed the street. They were filming in actual traffic and the taxi driver was not an actor; he was an actual traffic driver who nudged forward as the two actors were walking in front of him. Hoffman adlibbed his response. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/70 "2021-02-23T05:15:52Z")
Whether it was fully improvised is unclear. The producer and director both say an extra was in the cab, and multiple takes were shot. I’m inclined to think Hoffman came up with the line as described, but the situation wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817/71 "2021-03-08T03:44:04Z")
I feel there were far more parodies of the movie **“The Witches of Eastwick”** than it deserved. Bring up that movie today and you’ll get a blank stare from pretty much everyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-properties-would-you-say-are-referenced-too-often-based-on-their-actual-popularity/925817.md?page=3)