A Few Recurring Pop Culture References That Always Come Up In Conversations

Photo credit via Merlinuward

Sooner rather than later everybody eventually finds out the type of friend they are within their entire circle of friends. Some may be the friend that’s always late saying, you’re 5 minutes away which really means 15. Others may be the friend that always comes prepared with snacks, band-aids, jumper cables, or a book. Me? Well, I know who I am. I’m the friend that listens to your problem / complaint / commentary then asks, “have you ever seen *insert TV show / Movie/ Anime*?” then states a quote from that pop culture reference that correlates with what you just said or if you haven’t seen what I’m talking about, I then explain the scene I’m referencing, then state why that quote resonates with whatever you just said. I’ll give you an example:

Them: Yall heard what happened to Dalir?
Me:Nah.
Them: He was helping Andiswa move and a couch fell back and killed’em.”
You: Omgeeeeee!
*silence*
Me: You guys ever see that episode of Friends where Chandler and Rachel were struggling to help Ross move a couch up a flight of stairs?

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That was Dalir’s favorite episode, he would have appreciated that reference. But yeah, this is me. Luckily enough the friends in my radius appreciate this habit. Especially when it comes to quotes, you know a show is good when you find a way to fit a quote from it in everyday life. If you read a William Evans article on this site (or talk to him for more than five minutes) I guarantee you there will be a quote from The Wire seamlessly threaded in there. The majority of my conversations with people I don’t hate my friends are throwing quotes from our favorite shows around. I figured that was all the excuse I needed to compile a list of my go-to quotes from various corners of pop culture that I always find myself saying or referencing at some point in the day.

Eazy E. / Wallpaper by Azilmak
Eazy E. / Wallpaper by Azilmak

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“I have entered the void”-Zaheer (Legend of Korra)[/quote_simple]
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Man… when I tell you the day Zaheer entered his name into the antagonist game is the day that changed my life for the better. Zaheer himself has so many quoteables from jump, as soon as he is seen on screen it’s just bar after bar after bar, which made him all the more eerie and dope. The majority of Zaheer quotes came from the honorable Guru Laghima telling him how to untether from this earth. It wasn’t until Zaheer saw his love P’li catch the ill side shave on the baldie fade courtesy of Suyin Beifong that he was able to stare up at the rain like Vegeta and untether from the person/ thing that kept him tied to this mortal coil. Lemme show you the full quote so you know it’s real.

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Look at this face! Look at ya mans and dem’s face! There’s nothing left yo. When Zaheer dropped this shit, every time I found myself at my wits end after arguing or getting dragged (rightfully so) by a significant other, my eyes would just glaze over and I’d turn and stare out into the distance, and they’d say “oh you in The Void now? You just going go off into the void now?” That’s what you goin’ do?” Yes. That’s exactly where the fuck I’d go to man.

The void is where I go to escape, yo. My problems can’t catch me in the void, the fuck shit going on in the world *looks at current president-elect Trump* can try to claw its way in all it wants but it ain’t going get in. Not here man… not here. Look at me. Look at me. I am untethered, fam. Ain’t no worldly desires up in this piece, my dude. Just the comfort of the completeness of nothing… along with a poster of Pre weight watchers Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Roland, Dascha Polanco.

[quote_simple]”Good. Goooooooood”-Emperor Palptaine (Star Wars)[/quote_simple]
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A few years ago I was on a bus ride home when I got a text from Will Evans. It was a link to a back and forth twitter argument occurring. The caption Will put on this internet beef was “there’s nothing better then two people you hate dragging one another… this shit better than Scandal.” Now Will’s quote in and of itself deserves its own spot in the hall of fame but as we both kept texting each other and salivating at the pure messiness, the entire chat was filled with us saying the Palpatine, “Goood. Goooooooooooood!” to one another as we watched the beef grow between reads and drags.

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The Palpatine is the perfect affirmation of watching shit happen in the muck and everyday grime scenarios. I’m talking when that true grit dirt going down that you see from afar from the comfort of your porch as you then go inside, get a chair and a beverage as you post up and watch the shit storm gain momentum while you’re enjoying the view from your own lane. If the muck is really popping I’ll sometimes do the Birdman hand rub while saying as I take another sip of ginger ale. [Editor’s note: I’ve stopped drinking soda for a number of years but on occasion I will engage in a ginger ale but I pour it in small amounts like a scotch because too much of it burns and I legit sip it as if it is a hard whiskey…I’m talking the whole throat clearing and “ahhhhhhh” sound spectacle as well. I’m not ashamed of that in the least. This is me.]

[quote_simple]”What do we say about coincidences?”-Mycroft / Sherlock (Sherlock)[/quote_simple]
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This is a quote that’s a two-parter. It works best when you have a partner familiar with it so one can ask, “And what do we say about coincidence?” and the other can retort with the ending statement of “The universe is rarely so lazy.” This is one of those quotes you use when something needs to be called into question and trust, this quote is perfect for people of color because the universe stay making us question mad shit. You hand me a free milkshake and say, “it’s all yours.” and I’ma look at you like… what’s the catch here?. This is the equivalent of “My common sense is tingling.” The amount of time I’ll call this into play during a conversation helps me hit my cynical quota for the day.

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you’ll find yourself doing the two-parter quotes with those friends that know you best. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve started a quote unknowingly and had a friend finish it off like clock work with the transition.

[quote_simple]”I mean.. you could do some shit like what the fuck…”-Avon Barksdale (The Wire)[/quote_simple]
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Listen, there’s a time and a place for everything. Avon Barksdale told us that when he was trying to get Omar merked… except when his people shot at Omar while taking his Grandma to church on a Sunday morning. Nah, man. Come on, man you can’t be out here showing your ass and wylin out like that on a Sunday morning. The Sunday morning truce is a sacred time of peace when all beef in the hood stops and we just go on about our family duties. Avon had to break that shit down for Stringer who gave the go ahead on the attempted hit. I mean you can shoot a dude moving grams on your block but not a dude moving his grams on ya block man. On a Sunday morning too? Come ooooooooooon man, not on Sunday night football day homie. Never that.

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This quote serves the perfect caption for those moments where people are just showing they ass or on some other shit. The best part is Avon never explicitly describes or states exactly “what the fuck” is or represents but you know exactly what he is talking about. There are so many times when you’re witness to co-workers getting reckless as you G-chat your work partner/ husband / wife with a, “did you see what Yusef did with the Ashitani account?” or a “is Kavita serious cc’ing the whole office in this read?” I mean… you could do some shit like what the fuck but never on an Ashitani account / CC’d email.” Trust me when I say, you’ll stop being surprised at how many times you’ll be saying this quote to others or yourself as you see people wylin’ out in real time.
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I’m pretty sure there are countless more quotes from scenes I’m forgetting at the moment but y’all get the gist. Pop culture is a rolodex of correlating events that help make sense of the world in real time. Some friends help you out by being there and other friends help out by offering a scene from a tv show you may or may not have seen in order to show you that art imitates your life… as they then laugh with/at you.

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  • Omar Holmon is a content editor that is here to make .gifs, obscure references, and find the correlation between everything Black and Nerdy.

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