When you’re a kid and you watch movies, you aren’t sitting there thinking about how you will remember certain scenes, or characters, or whatever.  You just watch the movie you like (or kind of like) 30 times and move on to something else.  Or, at least that seemed to be the way things went in an age that was pre-streaming.

But when you become an adult, you re-contextualize things through some kind of bullshit nostalgia filter, and some of us affix significance to certain elements.  We love characters, or scenes, or find ourselves collectively terrified of certain elements.  Large Marge gave many kids nightmares.  The Garthim from The Dark Crystal were the stuff of night terrors.  Everyone wanted to be Han Solo.  There are these touchstone elements that become these collective reference points.

So, looking at recent films, what sorts of characters, scenes, or elements would you guess are worthy (or are likely to form) unexpected cultural touchstones?

When I watched The Last Jedi, I could feel the movie transforming immediately afterwards into Star Wars myth.  It felt weird, and like there were these throwaway moments that lend themselves to obsessive replay.  The weird cow monster that Luke milks, or the Porgs, or the mirror in the subterranean cave are these moments that will no doubt echo in a generational way.

Another one, for me, is John C. Reilly’s character in Kong: Skull Island.  He’s seemingly at odds with…whatever the hell that movie is about, but he’s also a key element to why that movie is so enjoyable. And he’s funny and endearing.  I could tell that if I saw that movie when I was eight, I’d absolutely love him, because I love him as an adult for the energy he brings to the proceedings.

 

Not sure if my objective is clear with this discussion, but that’s okay.  Interpret it however which way you’d like.