So I met this guy who is the brother of a friend of mine and we were sitting around, drinking, having a good time. And - in the context of the conversation - he stood up, flailed his arms about, and says, “It's not like I'm gonna just... flip out!”
And we all laughed and I said, “I love that movie.”
And the rest of the folks agreed, and I said, “I have that movie. It won an Oscar, you know.” And the rest of the folks just nodded along, but I could tell they didn’t really know what I was talking about, and I said, “Jerry Maguire.”
And the whole group fell silent and looked at me like I just shit in the punchbowl. And this guy looks at me all crazy, and goes, “No, Half Baked.”
Now, this is twice that this has happened with that particular scene and that particular movie. I’ve seen Half Baked - at least a half-dozen times - but it was so bad that I can never remember the title. I just remember that Dave Chappelle and Harland Williams were in it. But the point to this is that that scene was specifically spoofing the scene from Jerry Maguire - right down to the briefcase! And I am apparently the only person who knows that!
And why does this bother me? Well, for one, it’s embarrassing to be “called-out” for not knowing what movie someone is imitating when I’m supposed to be this walking pop-culture encyclopedia; but the real reason is because I am a walking pop-culture encyclopedia and I’m right!
So, each time, I’ve had to bear the wild stares from a coterie of pot-heads who think I’m just completely “out of the loop,” and the whole time I’m thinking to myself, “Did you dumbass stoners actually think Half Baked won an Oscar?!”
Now, I know - I know - it's better to just let people think you're wrong sometimes than to always have to be right, but I just wanted to point-out that this scene has become something of a pop-culture reference amongst dopefiends and (shockingly!) they haven't the faintest clue as to where it came from.
It would be like hearing a boardroom full of suits go, "Dave's not here!"
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
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