Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Gaming Culture: Quoting Cult Favorites

I didn't really know about this when I started, but I grew into it when I began hanging out with larger intermingled gaming groups at the Recreation Center and at conventions: quoting cult movies.

In some cases, I actually started with the quotes and watched the movies. Other times I'd watched the movies already, and remember the quote only when it was brought up. Still other times, I'd have to ask before I could remember the flick.

Here are a few of the movies we used to quote a lot from, and one favorite quote:

Aliens: "Marines! We are leaving!"
Ghostbusters: "You will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters."

Blues Brothers: "We're on a mission from God."
Star Wars trilogy: "Stay on target. Stay on target!"
Star Trek movies: "Target that explosion and fire."
Big Trouble in Little China: "Master! You are flesh!"
Blade Runner: "If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes."
Conan: "Enough talk!"
Running Scared: "Habla Smith & Wesson?"
Predator: "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
The Warriors: "Warriors! Come out and play!"
Monty Python (Holy Grail): "Tis but a scratch."
The Princess Bride: "Inconceivable!"
Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: "Laugh while you can, monkey boy."

There are more of course -- but I may be boring you already. Were we the only ones who did this?

4 comments:

  1. I think this is a common phenomena, perhaps among sort of "geek crowds" in general. My gaming group didn't really do it that much, but we were sort of insular: We started playing on our own and didn't have any interaction with other groups really.

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  2. I wondered if it was because the movies were an effective shorthand in trying to build 'shared experiences' or touchstones of a shared subculture.

    Then again, perhaps the games just allowed players to relive moments that the game echoed.

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  3. I think it's a combination of the movies' being a cultural shorthand, as you said, plus the humor value of a well-timed quote. :-)

    You remember Gelo Bautista? In our last session he made a prayer in-character, but ended with Arnold's famous 'And if you do not listen, to hell with you!'

    Moments later, his prayer was sort of answered in a rather humiliating fashion, leaving Gelo (and his character) shaking his fist at the sky and shouting 'To hell with you!'

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  4. Ha! Good ol' Gelo. I can imagine it in my mind even now.

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That's my side of things. Let me know what you think, my friend.