Justin Bieber references: Just don't do it

[holy bull]

I thought the Wright Thompson piece was brilliant, but the Justin Bieber line was a tiny subconscious speed bump, not because I'm adamantly opposed to pop culture references in general, but because the premise of this 62-year-old Viet Nam vet who trains horses at 5 a.m. every day going falsetto over Justin Bieber under any circumstances is just way too contrived to have any impact on the statement he was trying to make.

Maybe that's being nit-picky. Anyway, I'm 47, and the fact that I "get" a Justin Bieber reference is deeply, deeply depressing.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Ninety-nine point nine percent of gratuitous pop culture references, both in journalism and in contemporary fiction, should be dropped. This one included.

 

[da man]

Actually, the thing that tripped me up as unnecessary and jarring was the phrase "My point being, ..." Why do you feel the need to insert yourself into the story there? What follows works just as well -- and flows better -- on its own. We know that's your point. You don't have to hit us over the head with it. It just reads like he's pointing out his own brilliance, which gets on my nerves.

 

[reformedhack]

A quick side trip down the pop-culture pathway:

In the early 1990s, I once had a writer cover a prep football game where the quarterback (who wore jersey number 9) connected with a receiver (who wore jersey number 5) all night long, to the tune of something like four touchdowns and 250 yards passing. And though I'm not a fan of gimmick or throwaway ledes, I smiled when I saw this one:

"Working 9 to 5 ... what a way to make a living for Podunk High."

He did a tidy job of explaining things in the second graf, so I let it run that way. I think every writer's entitled to one of these pop-culture ledes, the ones that teeter on the edge of clever and groaner, every five years or so. :)

 

[CYowSMR]

But...I have Beiber-fever..

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think the writers here should have a contest to see what is the most obscure pop culture reference they can get past the desk.

 

[CYowSMR]

I'm on it. Right now.

 

[holy bull]

Ninety-nine point nine percent of gratuitous pop culture references, both in journalism and in contemporary fiction, should be dropped. This one included.

Gratuitous, yes. I read one of those Amistead Maupin books once, and it shook my stance against book-burning to its foundation.

 

[reformedhack]

I think the writers here should have a contest to see what is the most obscure pop culture reference they can get past the desk.

Google "Order of the Occult Hand" and enjoy.

 

[RedSmithClone]

How many people do you think used "you are the weakest link ... Goodbye!"

 

[HanSenSE]

How many people do you think used "you are the weakest link ... Goodbye!"

Which should be paired in the betting with "Deal, or no deal."

 

[holy bull]

How many people do you think used "you are the weakest link ... Goodbye!"

Which should be paired in the betting with "Deal, or no deal."

Short-priced exacta not even worth betting

 

[jlee]

I think the writers here should have a contest to see what is the most obscure pop culture reference they can get past the desk.

Yeah, always loved those contests.

 

[holy bull]

Actually have a standing wager with a colleague that was made about 20 years ago to see who could successfully get "Klaatu barada nikto" into a story. I'm not kidding. No one has cashed yet, and I'm not sure he even remembers it. So I'm patiently tensed, waiting to pounce ...

Oh, the glory ...

 

[AD]

way too much wright for me in this story. i don't care about his esquire pals, his "point" or his hipness. i care about zenyatta. wright ought to copy a little more of gay talese and a little less of norman mailer. because most of us? we just ain't that interesting.

 

[CYowSMR]

I'm attempting an Ace Ventura line today. About a "Pets on Parade" something-another...

 

[AD]

all-righty then.

 

[Football_Bat]

Problem No. 56 with pop culture references is they don't always age well. I see it all the time when I look back at microfilm. Fads change, styles change, haircuts change and pop culture changes.

You may have been the Bill Simmons of your day by dropping a Bobby Sherman ref in 1972, but look at the clipping today and you're like, WTF.