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Friday, 12 October 2012

A 3 hour tour

Every once in a while I still come across a cultural reference that doesn't translate. It doesn't happen often, but now that I've made some friends it's happening more often. Ross' knowledge base isn't necessarily typical of a British person- especially of his age, so now that I'm regularly conversing with other people I find that it's a whole new world.

The other day I was at the park with a group of my mom friends having a little picnic. One of the boys had a very cute bucket hat on. Sort of like this:


As all babies and the blissfully mentally unburdened do, he had a look of carefree cheer on his sweet face. I took one look at him and proclaimed that he looked like Gilligan. 

Bob Denver as Gilligan

His mother looked at me and replied that she didn't know what I was talking about. "Gilligan? Gilligan's Island?" I queried. Nope. I turned to the rest of the group and asked, sure that Clare must just be lacking this info through some sort of bizarre blip. Blank looks all around.

My mouth fell open and I spluttered in disbelief. Even my rousing rendition of the iconic theme tune did nothing but tinge their blank looks with bemusement. 


It just blows my mind that such huge cultural references like this are completely lost on a large chunk of the population and that there are equally large gaps in my knowledge from the other view point.

What's the biggest clunker of a cultural reference you've ever dropped on a group?




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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous13 October 2012 at 10:55

    Because it wasn't SHOWN in the UK? Try asking the average American to hum the Eastenders theme... ignorance.

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    1. Unknown13 October 2012 at 22:13

      I'm not sure why you're so determined to read negative judgement into my posts. Saying that something is different/strange to me/surprising is not the same as saying it is wrong or dumb. In the post I explicitly state that, from a British perspective, I'm sure I have equally large gaps of knowledge on certain cultural references.
      Also, my husband would like me to point out that it was shown here. On ITV in late 60s and early 70s :)

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    2. Michelle Morahan14 October 2012 at 21:24

      Meg, you're wasting your breath. I've learned from extensive experience over the last few years that you can't reason with someone who a) is determined to hate you and b) is so insecure with themselves that the slightest comment about something related to them is seen as a threat to their very self-worth. I've had a number of moments like this with my husband (the not knowing something so pivotal to your childhood). Although I will say he was raised and lived in England until his late 30s and he's very aware of Gilligan's Island. We should celebrate and examine our differences, not attack people for pointing them out or pretending that we're all some homogeneous mixture.

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    3. Michelle Morahan14 October 2012 at 21:29

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