History Main / PopculturalOsmosisFailure

** An example might be the Prophet Enoch: there are two or three passing references to him in Literature/TheBible including his being listed as an ancestor of Jesus Christ, and St Paul speaks approvingly of him and extols The Book of Enoch as a God-inspired work every Christian should read. But you will search the Old Testament in vain for The Book of Enoch. It's as if a major prophet has dissappeared without trace save for a few cryptic references.

->'''Soujirou:''' Oh, back then, [[Franchise/StreetFighter Bison]][[note]](the one we call Balrog this side of the Pacific)[[/note]] was dressed up as Creator/MikeTyson. Pretty cool.\\

* PopculturalOsmosisFailure/ReferencingReferenceRatherThenOriginal

* PCOFailure/Type1
* PCOFailure/Type2
* PCOFailure/Type3
* PCOFailure/Type4

# "Wait, Y was based on a real X?" -- The person from Group B gets it wrong because of a ''clash'' of PopCulturalOsmosis, and he's [[TheWeirdAlEffect referencing something that referenced the original]], [[LostInImitation referenced a reference]] [[OlderThanTheyThink of the original, etc.]]

->'''Soujirou:''' Oh, back then, [[Franchise/StreetFighter Bison]] was dressed up as Creator/MikeTyson. Pretty cool.\\

->'''Soujirou:''' Oh, back then, Bison was dressed up as Mike Tyson. Pretty cool.\\

->'''Soujirou:''' Oh, back then, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Bison]][[note]](the one Westerners know as Balrog)[[/note]] was dressed up as Mike Tyson. Pretty cool.\\

** [[VlogBrothers "Those brothers that Charlie likes? with the... cancer book?"]]

(''later that day'')\\

Note that A--F can go both ways (for example, someone too old to know Music/BritneySpears or The Music/BackstreetBoys may have fond memories of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' or Music/HermansHermits), and G is the natural conclusion of PopCulturalOsmosis, when even AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame is forgotten (along with ''Film/TheCryingGame'' itself) except for the [[TropeNamers trope name]] itself, rendered a NonIndicativeName.

* During a flashback in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', Robert Langdon is explaining to his editor about the real nature of the Holy Grail. The editor asks why he's never heard of it and Langdon answers that the coverup "is backed up by [[Literature/TheBible the world's biggest best seller]]". The editor immediately expresses surprise that ''Literature/HarryPotter'' talks about the Holy Grail.
* Invoked in the ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo''-series: Two time-travelling spies identify each others by the code names [[Franchise/StarTrek "Romulus" and "Vulcan"]]. The idea is that, since American pop culture hasn't penetrated the public consciousness of the 17th century, anyone in a position to recognize the names will assume that Romulus' counterpart is Remus.

** Kimber is constantly missing the other survivors' pop culture references. 12 years later the Archivist doesn't get them either, probably because 1. she was maybe 8 back when TV or internet was a thing and 2. [[spoiler:she was at least partially brainwashed by a military dictatorship and spent most of her teen years as an assassin]].

Note that A--F can go both ways (for example, someone too old to know Music/BritneySpears or The Music/BackstreetBoys may have fond memories of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman%27s_Hermits Herman's Hermits]]), and G is the natural conclusion of PopCulturalOsmosis, when even AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame is forgotten (along with ''Film/TheCryingGame'' itself) except for the [[TropeNamers trope name]] itself, rendered a NonIndicativeName.

!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

!!!Type 1

[[folder:Advertising]]
* A whole generation of people grew up thinking of "the background music to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REV8vBubAIA Old Spice]] advert, you know, the one with the guy on the surfboard" and not Carl Orrf's orchestral-and-choir classical piece ''O Fortuna!'' from the ''Carmina Burana'' piece.
* Similarly, a generation of British people associate an evocative major theme with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mq59ykPnAE Hovis bread adverts]] - and not with Dvojak's ''New World'' symphony.
* A tie-in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us0HMWVPv_M Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercial]] for ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'' has Music/VanillaIce rapping the "Go Ninja Go" song from ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles II''. A mother and her son overhear him and the mother starts dancing and rapping with Vanilla Ice. The child is annoyed, likely due to not understanding the reference and being [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents embarrassed by his mom]].

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': The Battle City arc had a few civilians who had never heard of the Duel Monsters card game and don't recognize the names of prominent duelists like Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba.

[[folder:Audio Drama]]
* In the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio story ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoDOTD11TheTimeMachine Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine]]'', the companion character, Alice Watson, is established early on as never having read fiction, even as a child, because she doesn't see the point in made-up things. Since the Eleventh Doctor's scattergun approach to conversation frequently covers fiction, and in particular he can't resist comparing her to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' and [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Dr Watson]], this is the result.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' #1 (2010 series), Comicbook/LadyBlackhawk (a time traveller from World War 2) doesn't get a reference to "PuttingTheBandBackTogether". However, she has been in the present long enough to understand one to Website/{{Twitter}}.
* Agent 355 from ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' never gets pop culture references; at the end, when Yorick brings up ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' he explains what it is "before you ask". [[spoiler: In the DistantFinale, set 60 years after the rest of the story, when Yorick asks his young clone, if he knew that Music/{{Elvis|Presley}} [[BookEnds had a twin brother]], he asks: "Who's Elvis?"]]
* Using in-universe media, ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' sees this happen to Spider Jerusalem.
** When a band comes up on the TV, he mentions an earlier musician that did the same genre better, then asks Channon if she's heard them:
--->'''Channon:''' My dad liked him...\\
'''Spider:''' Christ. ''Never'' tell me I'm old.
** The unknown-but-assumed-to-be-vast amount of time that has passed between the present and when the series is set means that this happens to a lot of people.
--->'''Man 1:''' Who was Hitler?\\
'''Man 2:''' Rock star. He was in Music/LedZeppelin. [[BestialityIsDepraved Fucked goats]] and wrote the old national anthem. Blew up Auckland in the Blitz.
* Franchise/TheFlash's {{Rogues|Gallery}} sit around drinking beer playing the game of "which musician would you kill." The popular choice is apparently Music/{{Abba}}, to which Axel, the [[TeamPet young punk]] of the group replies, "Who's Abba?"
* ComicBook/TwoFace once saw that one of his mooks was obliviously standing in the way of somebody he was trying to shoot. Two-Face asked him to get out of the way, saying he couldn't afford to lose any more {{Red Shirt}}s. When the confused mook asked what that term meant, Two-Face incredulously asked him if he had ever watched ''Franchise/StarTrek''. When the mook said no, Two-Face called him too stupid to live and killed him on the spot.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': In Judge Death's OriginsIssue ''Boyhood of a Superfiend'', his interviewer thinks that Death is referencing Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' when the genocidal psychopath gives him a FalseReassurance that he's grown tired of killing and wouldn't hurt a fly. Since Death is from an AlternateUniverse, he thinks that "Psycho" is meant to address him personally, and that "Hitchcock" is some sort of disease.
* ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'': During a fight, Ms. Marvel fails to recognize a reference to ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}''. Spider-Man, the one who made the reference, is deeply upset by this and claims he's unable to talk to her.
* [[ComicBook/{{Silk}} Cindy Moon]] has this problem -- having been locked away since she was 18, a lot has changed in ten years: she's confused when she asks Peter Parker where Netscape Navigator is (when Google Chrome and Firefox are the big ones nowadays), annoys ComicBook/SpiderGwen when she starts singing one of Music/{{Eminem}}'s old songs, actually ''impressed'' J. Jonah Jameson when she asks "What's a Twitter?" and constantly refers to her first non-Inheritor foe as a Franchise/{{Pokemon}}.
* ''ComicBook/WynonnaEarp'': In #5 of the 2016 IDW series, Agents Dolls and Valdez come across a pair of of badly dismembered revenants on the road to Tombstone. Dolls attempts to make a joke that fails because Valdez is an ancient Mayan warrior with zero knowledge of pop culture:
-->'''Valdez:''' "It appears Earp, the Cowboy, or both have been here."\\
'''Dolls:''' "Yeah. That or a Michael Bay-improvised roadside bomb."\\
'''Valdez:''' "This 'Michael bay', is he a revenant?\\
'''Dolls:''' "Sigh... Probably.'''
* In ComicBook/{{Superboy}} #92, Conner is suffering PTSD following ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' and has a dream in which he follows Impulse (in rabbit ears) through a very [[AliceAllusion Wonderlandish]] environment, with Steel as the talking doorknob from the Disney version, various bird-themed characters making their way through a huge pool in Penguin's umbrella, Granny Goodness and General Good as the Queen and King of Hearts, and so on. Amusingly, even though it's his own mind pulling out these images, he doesn't get the reference.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': In one strip, Jason is musing about winter and makes references to ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''Film/TheAbyss'' and ''Film/{{Terminator 2|JudgmentDay}}''; none of which mean anything to his father. Roger then remarks on how one particular cloud looks like [[Creator/RoyRogers Trigger]]. Which is strange, because in another strip, Roger said that he was a Star Wars fan when he was Jason's age. (The two strips appeared at least a decade apart, with ComicBookTime seeing Roger and Andy's younger years having shifted forward with time.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'': On two different occasions, a member of Tsukune's posse remarks on how their lives are becoming like a manga or an anime, to which [[OriginalCharacter Dark]] asks what a manga/anime is. Both times, the others just give him confused stares before letting the matter drop.
* ''Fanfic/{{Frostbite}}'': Eleya, a Bajoran, apparently has no idea what a Christmas tree is.
* ''Fanfic/{{Emergence}}'': Team WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} finds themselves [[RefugeeFromTVLand on Earth]] and are given shelter by some fans. There are occasional people who have never heard of the show.
* ''Fanfic/TheReactsverse'':
** ''Fanfic/LucinaReacts'': Nobody in the cast except Sumia and Cordelia know what FanFiction is, and most references fly over the heads of everyone except Gregor, Todd and Reflet. {{Justified}}, considering Ylisse is a whole world away from where these references would make sense.
** [[Fanfic/HomuraReacts Homura]] has absolutely no idea what ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' is, or indeed what the concept of FanFiction is.
* ''FanFic/ShadowchasersSeries'':
** Jalal sometimes misses other character's pop culture references, like when someone made a WrongTurnAtAlbuquerque joke. Considering he's centuries old and a ''very'' busy man, he most likely doesn't have time to watch TV that much.
** Red Feather is disdainful of technology, so it makes sense that she doesn't watch TV or go on the Internet. Almost all pop culture references go over her head. At one point, after she makes it through a booby trapped hallway, she is compared to ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', but she doesn't know who that is and thinks she is being insulted. And when she faces an opponent who uses a deck that represents classic ''Franchise/UniversalHorror'' monsters like Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and Dracula, she doesn't see the theme and thinks the deck is a mismatch of monsters.
** Karl didn't know who [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries H.A.R.D.A.C.]] was when he was mentioned.
* In ''Fanfic/TheBridgeHumanitysStand'', a scientist brings in a blade that may be the legendary weapon Excalibur. Admiral Taizo Tachibana has never heard of it. Everyone pokes fun at him, with Ozaki pointing out that like Tachibana, he's Japanese, yet he's familiar with the story.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'':
** Little Rock doesn't know who Music/WillieNelson is, much to Tallahassee's horror.
** Or who Creator/BillMurray is, ALSO to Tallahassee's horror.
--->'''Little Rock:''' Who's Bill Murray?\\
'''Tallahassee:''' Alright, I've never hit a kid before. I mean that's like asking who Gandhi is.\\
'''Little Rock:''' Who's Gandhi?
** Also done in reverse with a hilarious scene where Little Rock is trying to explain the concept of ''Series/HannahMontana'' to Tallahassee, which crosses into RealLife, as that scene was, in fact, the two actors just talking as they left the camera running.
* ''Film/TheRunningMan'':
** "Who's Mr. Spock?"
** Likewise, when Killian has to explain what ''Series/GilligansIsland'' was.
* In ''Film/SisterAct 2'', Delores wants to hear her students sing, so she singles them out and has them sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb". One girl doesn't know it. Yet oddly enough, she ''does'' know the theme from ''Series/TheLoveBoat''. This is truth in television for a lot of first and second-generation immigrants.
* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'': Generational differences are a major theme in this belated sequel, and so variations of this come up frequently. For instance, Justin Long's character fails to understand what "Fortunate Son" by Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival is -- to him, it's noise. (The writers and [=McClane=] are hit with IsntItIronic here, but oh well...)
* ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'': Owen Wilson's character says he hates when someone says Music/JethroTull [[IAmNotShazam is the name of the lead singer]]. The psychiatrist asks back "Who is Jethro Tull?"
* This exchange from ''Film/NottingHill'':
-->'''William:''' Is this your first film?\\
'''Actress:''' Well... actually, it's my 22nd!\\
'''William:''' Any favorites among the 22?\\
'''Actress:''' Working with Leonardo.\\
'''William:''' [=DaVinci=]?\\
'''Actress:''' [=DiCaprio.=]\\
'''William:''' Of course. And is... is he your favorite Italian director?
* In ''How Do You Know'', George tells Lisa how his mother left his father after watching ''Film/KramerVsKramer'', but she's never seen the movie, and doesn't get why his story was supposed to make her see him in a different light.
* Occurs in ''Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove'' when a character brings up ''Film/DirtyHarry'' ("Dirty who?")
* Dirty Harry also causes puzzlement in ''Film/RedHeat''.
-->'''Ridzik:''' Captain Danko, congratulations. You are now the proud owner of the most powerful handgun in the world.\\
'''[[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Danko]]:''' Soviet Podbyrin, 9.2 millimeter, is world's most powerful handgun.\\
'''Ridzik:''' Oh, come on, everybody knows the .44 Magnum is the big boy on the block. Why do you think Dirty Harry uses it?\\
'''Danko:''' Who is Dirty Harry?
* In ''Film/IAmLegend'', Anna doesn't know Music/BobMarley (but apparently knows his son Ziggy).
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': FishOutOfTemporalWater ComicBook/CaptainAmerica has only a blank expression when Phil Coulson drops Creator/StephenHawking's name in a conversation. Used from the other perspective when Thor mentions an animal from Asgard that Coulson has clearly never encountered (Thor incorrectly assumed we have them on Earth, too). Later, Cap is happy when he gets a ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]'' reference that is lost on Thor.
** In his next movie, ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', it's shown Cap is trying to defy the trope, complete with a checklist on notable works made since WWII; to the point Black Widow says [[Film/WarGames "Shall we play a game?]]" and before she tries to explain the response is "I've seen it".
** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Peter Quill is the only human from Earth in a galaxy full of aliens, so he sometimes makes references no-one else gets. In one scene, he recites the plot of ''Film/{{Footloose}}'' to Gamora while claiming it is an old fable.
*** It's arguable that Quill, himself is a subversion, in that he sometimes makes references that given that he was abducted in 1988 at age 12, he'd be unlikely to know about (e.g Jackson Pollock). His mother's interest in classic Rock probably extended to other pop culture genres as well.
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Taken}}''.
-->'''Bryan Mills:''' Who's Music/{{Beyonce}}? (''{{beat}}'') Just kidding.
* In ''Film/FreakyFriday2003'', Tess (in Anna's body) complains that she "looks like Music/StevieNicks." Anna replies, "[[TomboyishName Who's he?]]"
* In ''Film/{{Ted}}'', John's ringtone for his girlfriend Lori is [[Franchise/StarWars "The Imperial March"]]. And even though that basically became a StandardSnippet for evil characters:
-->'''Lori:''' Is that my ringtone? What is that? Cause it sounds negative.\\
'''John:''' No. I-it's from ''Film/TheNotebook''.
* In ''Film/{{Ted 2}}'', Samantha doesn't seem to know any pop-culture. When John and Ted point out her initials, S.L.J., make her name similar to Creator/SamuelLJackson, she doesn't know who that is. When Ted decides to make his last name Clubberlang, she doesn't pick up the reference to ''Film/RockyIII''. And when she is told her eyes look similar to [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum's]], she doesn't know who that is either. On the flip-side, when she tells John and Ted that ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' was written by Creator/FScottFitzgerald, they think she said "Fuck Scott Fitzgerald" and ask what Scott Fitzgerald ever did to her.
* Denis Domaschke in ''Film/GoodbyeLenin'' is a West Berlin amateur filmmaker showing off his talent to Alex Kerner, his East Berliner co-worker just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He displays a wedding video he made referencing ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' -- which Alex has never seen or heard of due to cultural isolation.
* ''Film/TheWorldOfHenryOrient'' is about two young teenage girls, Valerie and Marian, who develop a crush on concert pianist Henry Orient. Valerie's mother finds out and gets Valerie into trouble, which Marian doesn't appreciate. Boothy brings up her own childhood crush on John Barrymore, and Marian asks, "Who's he?"
-->'''Boothy:''' Excuse me, it's later than I think.
* Many people over the age of 50 were reportedly upset when, in the year 2000, a survey was taken of younger moviegoers in which one of the questions asked them to name [[Film/{{Casablanca}} the film in which "Round up the usual suspects!" was uttered]], and hardly any of them guessed right. In defense of the youngsters, though, many would naturally assume the quote was from ''Film/TheUsualSuspects''.
* In ''Film/{{Annie 2014}}'', Miss Hannigan, as an example of life's chronic unfairness, cites the fact that she's not married to Creator/GeorgeClooney, which gets a "Who's George Clooney?" from the foster girls.
* ''Film/{{Elevated}}'': Hank tries to explain what the monsters outside the elevator look like by comparing them to the creature from ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}''. When Ben doesn't know what he's talking about, Hank quickly acknowledges that the reference is probably too obscure, so instead compares them to the Xenomorphs from ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
* In the Korean film ''Miracle in Cell No. 7'', a little girl manages to sneak into a prison to meet her father. When she talks about her favorite show ''Manga/SailorMoon'', the other inmates don't know what that is. She ends up teaching the inmates the show's theme song.
* In the movie ''Film/InTheLandOfWomen'', Carter, the main character, goes out with Creator/KristenStewart's character and her younger sister to the movies. At the mall food court, he asks Stewart's character to tell him about things that sum up the Creator/JohnHughes experience at high school that he missed out on, and naturally, she asks, "Who's he?", to which he says, "I am...very old."
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Galahad tries to explain Eggsy his makeover by asking if he's seen ''Film/TradingPlaces'', ''Film/{{Nikita}}'' and ''Film/PrettyWoman''. Negative response, but then:
-->'''Galahad:''' If you're prepared to adapt and learn, you can transform.\\
'''Eggsy:''' [[RealMenWearPink Yeah, like in]] ''Film/MyFairLady''.
* In ''Film/CampXRay'', Cole had no idea what ''Literature/HarryPotter'' was at first.
* This famous scene from ''Film/TheMartian'':
-->'''Annie:''' What the hell is "Project Elrond"?
-->'''Vincent:''' I had to make something up.
-->'''Annie:''' Yeah, but "Elrond"?
-->'''[[Creator/SeanBean Mitch]]:''' [[ActorAllusion Because it's a secret meeting]].
-->'''Annie:''' How do you know that; why does Elrond mean secret meeting?
-->'''Bruce:''' The Council of Elrond; it's from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''...
-->'''Annie:''' (''skeptically'') Lord of the Rings.
-->'''Bruce:''' ...it's the meeting where they decide to destroy the One Ring.
-->'''Teddy:''' [[NotSoAboveItAll If we're gonna call something "Project Elrond", I would like my code name to be Glorfindel]].
-->'''Annie:''' Okay, I hate every one of you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* This is both the title and the subject of Robert Cormier's ''Bunny Berigan -- Wasn't He a Musician or Something?'', much to the dismay of the Berigan fanboy who serves as the protagonist.
* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Legion'':
-->''Barclay grunts softly. "''[[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds War of the Worlds]]''."\\
Gould blinks. "Huh?"\\
"Nineteenth-century novel," Barclay says.''
* Since PC Peter Grant in the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novels is the only geek in his social circle, this happens frequently. In particular, GentlemanWizard Nightingale -- who Peter sometimes suspects of refusing to admit ''anything'''s happened since TheForties -- needs to have [[Literature/HarryPotter Hogwarts]] explained to him before he can say no, his WizardingSchool was nothing like that.
* In the ''Series/VeronicaMars'' spin-off novel ''The Thousand Dollar Tan Line'', Veronica interviews two girls about a party, and when she hears it was a black-and-white party -- meaning you dressed in either black or white -- mused that [[Film/{{Capote}} Truman Capote]] must be spinning in his grave. The two girls have no idea who she's talking about.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'',
** Whenever Harry makes a ShoutOut, other people's reaction is either this or a bit of exasperation.[[note]]If it is the former, it is probably a bad guy.[[/note]] Funnily enough, Harry actually suffered from this one time! [[note]]Bob was talking about [[Series/{{Firefly}} special hell]]. Dresden's up on pop culture through TheEighties but his status as a WalkingTechbane makes catching up with modern stuff more difficult.[[/note]]
** In ''Changes'' Harry witnesses the Senior Council of Wizards, the most powerful wizards on earth, entertaining a peace conference with [[spoiler:a Duchess from the Red Court of vampires]]. Later, Harry learns from the leader of the Council, who bears the title of Merlin, [[spoiler:the only council members present were the youngest one who thought he could get peace going, and unknown to him, one member to ask questions if the need arose]]. Harry is impressed and mentions they didn't "drink the Kool-Aid." The Merlin just stares at Harry before looking at the commander of the Wizard police who clarifies Harry meant the Jonestown mass suicide. After that clarification, the Merlin agrees with the comment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In a ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode, the Janitor tells Eliot that he changed the address in his personnel file to "[[Series/TheAddamsFamily 1 Cemetery Lane]]" because Dr. Kelso keeps calling him "Lurch". Eliot just looks at him in polite incomprehension. He follows that up by stating it used to be "[[Series/TheMunsters 1313 Mockingbird Lane]]." When she doesn't get that either, he mutters "I'm old."
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** This conversation:
--->'''Shirley:''' You remind me of [[Series/{{Cheers}} Sam and Diane]]... I hated Sam and Diane.\\
'''Anne:''' Who are Sam and Diane?\\
'''Shirley:''' (''furious'') Okay, I get it! You're young!
** Another example is when they are suggesting Abed change his personality:
--->'''Abed:''' You're gonna ''Film/CantBuyMeLove'' me. You know, transform me from [[TrainingMontage Zero to Hero]], GeekToChic?\\
'''Troy:''' ''Ohhhhh'', he wants us to ''Film/LoveDontCostAThing'' him.\\
'''Shirley:''' Ohhh!\\
'''Troy:''' ''Film/CantBuyMeLove'' was the remake for white audiences.\\
'''Shirley:''' That's so uncomfortable when they do that, I can't believe they didn't insult anyone.\\
'''Jeff:''' Nobody here is Can't Buy Me Love-ing or Love Don't Cost a Thing-ing anyone... because we've all seen enough After School Specials -- WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}} -- to know that Abed only needs to be himself.\\
'''Pierce:''' (''anxiously chuckling'') Sure glad there's no ''old'' people here -- this conversation would probably be total gibberish to them!
** Shirley gives bracelets that read "WWBJD" (What Would Baby Jesus Do?) to the others, who look puzzled -- Pierce snorts "If this stands for 'What Would Billy Joel Do?' I'll tell you right now, he'd write another crappy song." and fist-bumps Troy, who shares a bewildered look with Annie.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Temperance "Bones" Brennan's CatchPhrase for virtually any PopCulture reference: "I don't know what that means." (She notably ''did'' know who [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie]] was when it came up.) She is sliding from Type 1 to Type 2, albeit slowly. In one episode, she tries to console Sweets (who's just broken up with his girlfriend) by offering to take him to the [[GretzkyHasTheBall "bowling rink"]]....
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** Sawyer constantly uses pop-culture references in his sarcastic quips and derisive nicknames. This backfires when he calls another character "Bobby", and specifies that he's referring to ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', only to get the response "What the hell is ''The Brady Bunch''?" This exchange implies that the character grew up on the island and has little knowledge of the outside world.
** Sawyer himself fell victim to this in a Season 6 episode where Hurley mentioned to bring someone "back from TheDarkSide like Anakin", prompting a response of "Who the hell is Anakin?"... despite Sawyer having made ''Franchise/StarWars'' references before.
* ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'': when Petra gives birth to twins she calls them Elsa and Anna. And Petra thinks that Jane is the only person who would ever think that this was a ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' reference. At which Rafael (who wasn't present for the birth due to traffic where Jane is the only person to know both girls' names, Petra introduces him to Elsa - and he instinctively calls the other baby Anna.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'':
** Sam occasionally fails to get Al's pop-culture references, such as in "Glitter Rock", when he doesn't know who [[Music/TheWho Pete Townshend]] is, leading to a WhosOnFirst exchange. This is mostly due to time-travel-related memory loss, although (as in this example) it might occasionally occur just because Sam is a huge nerd.
** This gets {{Averted|Trope}} or even {{Inverted|Trope}} when the plot of the episode calls for it. One example is when Sam just happens to know ''Theater/ManOfLaMancha'' by heart because he listened to it obsessively while building his time machine.
** In other episodes, he even has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture when it fits the story, notably the episode set in 1966 when he recalls correctly that Jimi Hendrix won't be well-known in the US until about a year later (and for good measure, he can play guitar like Hendrix, or at least well enough for us to know he's trying for that sound). Probably best considered a RuleOfFunny.
** Occasionally Sam drops pop cultural references to things that haven't happened yet in the time he's leaped into, such as when he as a magician is scheduled for an audition for "Bill Bixby's TV series." Sam thinks that it's ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' but they're talking about ''Series/TheMagician'', three years before ''Hulk''.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** The scene (which, not by chance, is similar to the ''Captain America'' example, above) where the green-skinned demon Host of Caritas reveals that his actual name is Lorne:
--->'''Lorne:''' Though I generally don't go by that because -- Green. (''points to his face'')\\
'''Cordelia:''' Huh?\\
'''Angel:''' (''smiles'') Right. Creator/LorneGreene. (''Cordelia and Wesley stare at him'') ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''? Fifteen years on the air not mean anything to anyone here? Okay, ''now'' I feel old.
** Holtz is warned about this when he's brought forward in time to the present day. He takes any strange references in stride:
--->'''Recruit:''' So, what, you're going to go all [[Film/TheKarateKid Mr. Miyagi]] on me?\\
'''Holtz:''' You will find that your modern pop culture references are lost on me.
** A lot of the first season contains Cordelia mentioning an actress or show that no-one else has heard of, followed by one of Cordelia's rants about their lack of knowledge about current happenings in Hollywood, though CharacterDevelopment means she grows out of it (for the most part).
** Angelus taunts Connor about the fact Connor wants to [[OedipusComplex kill his father (Angel) and sleep with his mother figure (Cordelia)]] and compares the situation to ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing''. Since Connor was raised in a Hell dimension for most of his life, he has no idea what he's talking about and ignores it.
** In the fifth season episode "Shells," when the group is trying to figure out how Illyria escaped them so fast, Gunn mentions [[ComicBook/TheFlash Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West]], all of which get him a blank stare from Angel.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Giles is unaware of Franchise/SpiderMan or ComicBook/JimmyOlsen. Spider-Man came out in America in 1962, when Giles would have been about 8, if we go by Anthony Head's age. Giles has likely ''heard'' of ''Spider-Man'' and ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', but doesn't know any details about them. He never gave any indication that he read comic books/watched American cartoons as a kid, so there's no reason to suppose he's lying just to maintain his image as Stuffy British Man. (There's definitely reason to suppose he's lying about never having done magic prior to becoming Buffy's Watcher...) It also goes the other way as Giles has sometimes made references that have gone totally over Buffy's head.
** In the Season 8 comics, Twilight doesn't recognize a prop of Captain America's shield and thinks it's just some kind of fancy Frisbee.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** Apparently, Reid's never heard of the sitting in a tree song. He's also completely unaware of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.
** And then there's this:
--->'''Rossi:''' This from someone whose favorite album is Music/TheBeatles' ''White Album''.\\
'''Hotch:''' Just because Manson liked it doesn't mean that it has to be ruined for the rest of us.\\
'''Reid:''' That's why I stick to Beethoven. No chance of negative associations.\\
(''beat'')\\
'''JJ:''' ... really? You've never heard of a movie called ''Film/AClockworkOrange''?
** Subverted by Rossi, who knows Niko Bellic is a character from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''.
* ''Series/CornerGas'':
** When Emma delivers wise words to her son Brent, he tells her, "You're like Yoda." Emma replies, "I don't know what that means."
** In another episode, Emma calls Brent's father Oscar a Trekkie, meaning he's a fan of Music/NeilDiamond. "No, Mom. That's something else."
* Happens all the time in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' with Penny not getting the geeky references.
** In one episode, Penny sees failure while asking some regular pop-culture questions to Sheldon and Leonard ("Singer who sang 'Oops!... I Did It Again'?"). Best summed up by:
--->'''Penny:''' [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Tweety Bird]] tawt he taw a what?\\
'''Sheldon:''' [[Franchise/StarTrek Romulan]]?[[note]]This is a bit of BitingTheHandHumor against Creator/WarnerBros, which owns both ''Big Bang'' and ''Looney Tunes''.[[/note]]
** Sheldon will often not get references of popular subjects he deems to be beneath him.
--->'''Sheldon:''' I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains.\\
'''Penny:''' Who's Music/{{Radiohead}}?\\
'''Sheldon:''' (''pause'') I have a working knowledge of the ''[[TakeThat important]]'' things in the universe.
** Occasionally subverted, such as the episode in which Sheldon found himself in an unwinnable situation and inevitably compared it to the ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Kobayashi Maru]]''. After mentioning that James Kirk was the only person who ever beat the scenario, he was quite surprised when Penny responded with "Yeah, but [[TakeAThirdOption Kirk cheated]]."
* In the ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' episode "Archie and the Computer", Mike complains about the increasing role of computers in society:
-->'''Mike:''' Pretty soon, we're not gonna be names, just numbers! It's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''!\\
'''Archie:''' Eh, shut up, you don't even know what year it is!
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Happens a lot due to the various alien races interacting with a mostly human main cast. The largest examples are Data's various failures in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and Kira being frustrated several times by Sisko's references to baseball and never having heard of Captain Kirk in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
** And ''TNG'''s [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E2Darmok "Darmok"]], in which Picard has to deal with aliens who communicate by exchanging (their) pop-culture references -- none of which Picard has heard of.
** There are numerous examples across the franchise of modern day objects being completely lost on the characters in the future, suggesting that either the Third World War wiped most of the records or that the Federation's grasp of history is incredibly poor.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** Before he ends up GoingNative in the later seasons, most of the human pop-culture references are frequently lost on Teal'c. Amusingly inverted in "Seth", when [[TheStoic Teal'c]] begins [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness laughing hysterically]] after telling a popular Jaffa joke, which is completely wasted on his human teammates. Teal'c later becomes a ''huge'' fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'' to the point, where the first thing on his mind, when someone mentions conception without sex is "Darth Vader". Of course, no one says the obvious answer to avoid a viewer backlash.
** In the episode "Bad Guys", Cameron suggests that the inept museum guard believes himself to be "a John [=McClane=]", which Daniel doesn't understand. Surprisingly it's Teal'c, who is not even from Earth, who simply explains "''Film/DieHard''".
** Vala also regularly complains about her teammates using Tau'ri pop-culture references, which she never gets. This is especially directed towards Mitchell, an allusion to both Claudia Black and Ben Browder's prior roles in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', where the latter would frequently confuse his alien shipmates with human pop-culture references.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'':
** Comes up twice, both time involving UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson and Dr. Keller. First, in "Trio", Colonel Carter uses Brian Greene and Neil deGrasse Tyson in a game of "Who would you rather?", explaining to Keller that she chose physicists who were on TV so Keller should know them (she doesn't). A season later, in "Brain Storm", Tyson introduces himself to Keller and adds "from television" when she seems confused.
** Dr. Lee comparing the [=McKay=]-Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge to "The Twilight Bark", only to get blank stares and be forced to explain that ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' is his kids' favorite film. He then changes his comparison to the [[GondorCallsForAid lighting the beacons]] scene from ''Film/TheReturnOfTheKing'' which everyone ''does'' get.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'':
** Played with when no-one responds to Eli's suggestion to name the ice-planet "Hoth" after ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Young's continued glare makes it clear that rather than not understand the reference, he wasn't in a joking mood.
** In "Time", Rush's flippant declaration that "For a moment there, I thought were were in trouble" before jumping through the malfunctioning gate is completely lost on Eli ([[TimeyWimeyBall in two timelines]]). It's Young who explains it's a reference to ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' and the BolivianArmyEnding.
* In one episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Robin mentioned several Canadian celebrities in a row, none of which her friends knew about.
-->'''Barney:''' What's the ''opposite'' of name dropping?
** Another had this exchange when Barney and Marshall were on a conference call (read: drinking beers on their office roof):
-->'''Marshall:''' This is awesome!\\
'''Barney:''' We're basically [[Series/MadMen mad men]].\\
'''Marshall:''' We are. We're such Mad Men.\\
'''Barney:''' I'm gonna go smack a secretary on the ass.\\
'''Marshall:''' (laughs)That's totally what they would do on that show.\\
'''Barney:''' What show?
* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Stranded" Elaine quotes the line "Maybe the dingo ate your baby?" from ''A Cry in the Dark''. The woman she's saying it to doesn't get the reference.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** In "Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man", the African visitor compares a situation in a laundromat to ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Monk assumes that it is an African TV program.
** Also, in "Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever", Natalie tries to teach Monk that their friendship is comparable to Simon and Art Garfunkel, to no avail as Monk is unfamiliar with the duo, mistaking Garfunkfel for ''Garfield'' and for a ''carbuncle''.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': In "Last Call", the eponymous character is quite disappointed when nobody gets his ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' reference:
-->'''Beckett:''' Any chance he [the VictimOfTheWeek] went overboard?\\
'''Lanie:''' Classic indicators point to deliberate blunt force, so I'd say no. This was no boating accident.\\
'''Castle:''' Then we'd better close the beaches.\\
(''Beckett and Lanie stare at him blankly'')\\
'''Castle:''' No boating accident? Chief Brody? Hooper?\\
(''they still don't get it'')\\
'''Castle:''' Seriously?
* A bit character in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' thought one of his employees was childish for being into video games; said employee apparently ran a ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' message board in his spare time. After he insults [=McGee=] by assuming (correctly) that he's into ''dweeby'' role-playing games, [=McGee=] responds, "I used to, but then I took an arrow to the knee." The guy looks confused and glances at [=McGee's=] legs.
* In ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Olivia doesn't get Peter's reference to [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} crossing the streams]].
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Castiel, as he is a LiteralMinded angel, much to PopCulturedBadass Dean's annoyance. From an episode that deals with CartoonPhysics:
--->'''Dean:''' [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes It's wabbit season]].\\
'''Castiel:''' I don't think you pronounced that correctly.
** In "The Song Remains the Same" Castiel doesn't understand Dean's ''Film/FatalAttraction'' reference to how Anna has "[[PersonAsVerb gone Glenn Close]]". When Dean makes a [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Delorean reference]] to them traveling back in time, Castiel curtly informs him he doesn't know what that means either. When they're back in TheSeventies, where Anna plans to kill Sam and Dean's parents to prevent them from being born, Dean points out that they can't use ''Film/TheTerminator'' to explain things to mom and dad, because that movie hasn't come out yet.
** A later episode has Sam, Dean and Cas try to stop a series of deaths that are based on cartoon physics, which Castiel completely unable to grasp. When he watches a few episodes of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' he crosses into a type 2 as he comes to the conclusion that ''Road Runner'' is an allegory for [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory man's relationship with God]].
* In ''Series/TheNanny'' episode "Material Fran", when Maggie talks to Fran about going to a concert with her boyfriend:
-->'''Maggie:''' Fran, I need a favor. Billy Harper wants to take me to a concert.\\
'''Fran:''' Oh, great, what concert?\\
'''Maggie:''' You wouldn't know them...\\
'''Fran:''' Maggie, how old do you think I am?\\
'''Maggie:''' The Music/StoneTemplePilots?\\
'''Fran:''' I'm 100...
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' Crichton frequently makes pop culture references to aliens, who naturally have no idea what he's talking about and due to lack of entertainment, don't even grasp the concept of pop culture. Moya's crew learns to just accept that he spouts gibberish, but early on it was a major contributor to their view of him as a useless lunatic. In the episode, where he meets Sikozu, whose species learns languages quickly, since they're allergic to TranslatorMicrobes, he has gone a little loopy from isolation and starts spouting fictional languages. To be fair, though, the particular ConLang he chose was developed by a linguist, so someone with a skill for languages could eventually learn it.
--> '''John Crichton:''' (''to the Grudeks'') NOH! PAV'HOR! HERRUCH'T! (''to Sikozu'') You didn't get that one did ya? 'Cos it's Klingon!
* In many '90s sitcoms such as ''Series/GrowingPains'', whenever the name Creator/StanLee came up, someone always asked "Who's that?". In one episode, Kirk Cameron's character met Stan Lee to show him his comic book art. Lee responded: "This is very good, but why show this to me?" Kirk's character asked "Aren't you Stan Lee, the famous comic book guy?" Lee responded that he wasn't. But he was Stan Lee, the owner of a company called Lee's Carpets. This Stan Lee wasn't played by the famous one and it's also odd that Kirk's character would mistake a namesake for the more distinctive Stan Lee already known to geeks. But then, at the time, the general audience didn't know any better.
* Similar to the example from ''Castle'' above, there's an episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' where the team comes across the victim of a Chitauri virus:
-->'''Skye:''' Phys-Ed teacher at the local high school and varsity baseball coach and troop leader and volunteer firefighter. This guy makes ComicBook/CaptainAmerica look like "The Dude". (''blank stares from Coulson and Ward'') ''Film/TheBigLebowski''? (''more blank stares'') Seriously?
* On one of the black-and-white segments on ''Series/OnceAndAgain'', Grace gushes about Judy (her aunt) and how, when she was younger, she was involved with a Doobie Brother -- "whatever that is".
* Louis from ''Series/{{Suits}}'' often fails to pick up on the two main characters constant pop culture references to movies like ''Film/TopGun''. In this case he's not totally clueless, he just has different tastes. It goes both ways since when he makes a ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' reference in an attempt to establish a rapport with Mike, he has no idea what he is talking about.
* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'':
** Myka has no knowledge of music or movies within the last 50 years. Early episodes have her just admitting she doesn't know what her partner is talking about but later episodes have her trying and failing to have more up-to-date references.
--->'''Myka Bering:''' If we don't bag this artifact soon, Pete here is hopping the stairway to heaven.\\
'''Pete Lattimer:''' It's... buying... BUYING the stairway to heaven.\\
'''Myka Bering:''' [[DiggingYourselfDeeper Well, I'm not a Rolling Stones expert.]]
** Averted in one episode, where Pete says Artie sees them as {{Red Shirt}}s, and is quite surprised that she knows what he's talking about.
* In ''Series/YoureTheWorst'', Lindsay and Edgar have vastly different reference pools:
-->'''Edgar:''' In your relationship with Gretchen, are you [[Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow the Mary Tyler Moore or the Rhoda]]?\\
'''Lindsay:''' [[TheDitz Who are those people? They sound ugly]].\\
'''Edgar:''' Okay, uh, flipping out on-on Bravo... are you the Jeff Lewis or the-the Jenni We Don't Know Her Last Name?\\
'''Lindsay:''' Oh, my God! I am totally the Jenni "We Don't Know Her Last Name". Actually, I do... it's Pulos. I'm a big fan.
* In the third season premiere of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', when Veronica and Piz tell Moe (Piz's resident adviser) that Piz's stuff was stolen, Moe responds, "[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Frak]], that blows." They have no idea what he means.
* In one ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' episode dealing with an evil witch bringing fairy tale characters and objects to life, the sisters were revealed to have zero knowledge of classic fairy tales like ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite''. This led to them making mistakes like Paige naively eating an apple that randomly appeared next to her and falling into an enchanted sleep. Their grandma was appalled by their ignorance, especially since she read them these fairy tales when they were children, but they completely forgot when they grew up.
* ''Series/CSICyber'': In "Red Crone", Avery refers to to Brody and Raven by a portmanteau name. DB gets the concept and knows who 'Brangelina' are, but is completely baffled by a reference to 'Kimye'. DB's pop culture tastes are firmly rooted in the 60s and 70s.
* ''Series/{{Class}}'': Ram describes to April's decision to continue exploring a lava-haunted wasteland as "[[Film/LordOfTheRings Come on Frodo, let's go hop in a volcano]]", and explains it's from an old movie his dad likes. While ''Return of the King'' would have come out when they were very young, the series is incredibly famous and has never really left the public consciousness, especially since ''Film/TheHobbit'' only finished in 2014. The idea that a bookish teenager in England in 2016 wouldn't know anything about it and that this wouldn't be seen as odd is a little improbable.
* ''Series/MajorCrimes'': In "Reality Check", a SmallNameBigEgo uspect claims to be famous and asks "Would you treat Justin Bieber like this?". Provenza's response is "Who? Justin who?". Sharon diplomatically shushes Buzz before he can answer Provenza.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* In the Music/{{Weezer}} song "El Scorcho", the singer sees this as another attractive trait of the girl he's wooing: "I asked you to go to the Music/GreenDay concert. You said you'd never heard of them. ''How cool is that?''"
* Music/KennyChesney asked for a line in his 2005 hit "Summertime" to be changed because it mentioned snow cones, and he had no idea what they were.
* In "Movie Cowboys" by Music/TheIrishRovers, this shows up in the last verse, when he tells his son about his childhood heroes.
-->''And when he asks who were they, it makes me sad to see/That they're only living in my memory.''
* From "Punk Rock Girl" by Music/TheDeadMilkmen:
-->We asked for Music/MojoNixon, they said, "He don't work here."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon apparently doesn't watch TV very often. He didn't understand that Wrestling/ScottHall's Razor Ramon gimmick was a homage to ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'' and thought he made it up himself. He also didn't understand that Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick was a homage to ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. Though according to other reports, Burchill's gimmick happened because he ''did'' see ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' [[FollowTheLeader and liked it]], but at the same time the gimmick was apparently dropped because Vince ''didn't'' see ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', so who knows?
* Wrestling fans in general are often accused of living in what's called the Wrestling Bubble. Notable examples include an infamous call where wrestling writers Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez failed to notice the reference when someone asked them about [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bret Hart purchasing a mansion owned by Montgomery Burns]] and treated it as fact as well as Pitbull's appearance on Raw leading to much confusion about who he was despite being a massive musical star.
* A {{running gag}} on Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} regarding the {{cosplay}}ing Regeneration X and Canadian Ninja rival Portia Perez, who was also a commentator. As the Videogame/SuperMarioBros Perez was technically correct calling Allison Danger Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano but didn't get why Leva Bates (Luigi) wasn't something more recognizable like Music/CyndiLauper.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/{{Mongrels}}'': In episode 3, cat Marion's JailBait girlfriend Lollipop fails to understand references to ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', [[Series/{{Friends}} Ross and Rachel]], and ''Series/GavinAndStacey'' because she is just that young, making it a type 1D.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* This was always the biggest problem with the "Under New Management!" show that played in [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disney World's]] ''Enchanted Tiki Room'': all of its main plot points were contingent upon people hearing about or having seen the original "Tropical Serenade" show, either in California or before 1998 in Florida. By the time "Under New Management!" closed in 2011, it was making call-backs and references to something that most guests watching the show had never seen before.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Vanille doesn't know who the Primarch of Cocoon is. Sazh has to explain, after wondering aloud if she fell asleep during History or something.
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Liara doesn't get the reference when Kaidan jokes that it's always best to RTFM before pushing buttons. She also is completely bewildered by Joker's habit of, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin joking]] about life and death situations as a result of spending all her time alone in Prothean ruins and being incredibly socially awkward and naive.
* [[LittleMissBadass Ellie]] from ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' provides {{Justified|Trope}} and {{Downplayed|Trope}} examples. She was born six years after a ZombieApocalypse kicked humanity back to pre-industrial scavenger levels. As such, while Ellie has a smattering of knowledge of comic books and video game characters, she doesn't know about pizza or ice cream. She also looks very puzzled when another character drops Bobby Fisher in conversation. In ''Left Behind'', another scene with a cassette player implies that she cannot connect music genres to decades, and let's not forget:
-->'''Ellie:''' What's a... Face-book?\\
'''[[BlackBestFriend Riley]]:''' Maybe it... Prints our faces in a book?
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
** In addition to the various CulturalPosturing between the races that live there, many aspects of Nordic culture are completely lost on those from outside of Skyrim, such as the legend of the Dragonborn.
** There can lead to an amusing moment if the Empire wins the Civil War, when General Tullius' epic defeat of Ulfric ends up being [[FailedAttemptAtDrama mildly thwarted]] by his own ignorance about the people he's spent most of the past year fighting for and against.
--->'''Tullius:''' Well, Ulfric, you can't escape from me this time. Any last requests before I send you to... [[MoodWhiplash to wherever you people go when you die?]]\\
'''[[BeleagueredAssistant Legate Rikke]]:''' (''helpfully'')... Sovngarde, sir.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', the Emperor is constantly calling Ultramarines "Smurfs" and calls their Chapter Master "Papa Smurf", while Kitten has no idea what this is supposed to mean. On the other hand, it's the forty-first millennium, so the Emperor may be the only (semi)living human being who knows what Smurfs are.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
%%* ''Webcomic/PvP'': [[http://www.pvponline.com/comic/2001/10/04/thu-oct-18 This strip]]. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jenny Explanation]], in case you don't get it either.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'':
** [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=236 Annie barely knows anything about pop culture]] because (as we learn elsewhere) she grew up in a hospital.
--->'''Kat:''' Welllll, he's not ''perfect!'' I mean, he thinks Music/TheProdigy's "Fat of the Land" is better than "Music for the Jilted Generation".\\
(''Antimony thinks about this for [[BeatPanel a panel]]'')\\
'''Antimony:''' I have no idea what you just said.
** Antimony is similarly confused when Kat refers to "the ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' look you got going on!"
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
** The comic has this happen with Grace when confronted with a Santa look-alike. Of course, this is someone who was [[RaisedByWolves cut off enough from society]] to ask the question "World War Two?! How many have we had!?"
** Another example:
--->'''Raven:''' Have you considered [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Mount Doom]]? I'm sure we could rustle up some sacrificial hobbits...\\
'''Abraham:''' I... What?\\
'''Raven:''' Mount Doom? A fictional volcano? How ''dare'' you survive to this age and not get that reference.
** And again, same story:
--->'''Damien:''' Who are you?\\
'''Elliot:''' Tell me your name, horse master, and I will tell you mine.\\
'''Damien:''' Horse master?
* Discussed in ''Webcomic/FriendshipIsDragons'', when Rainbow Dash's player [[http://www.friendshipisdragons.com/comics/302 questions]] who Music/DavidBowie is. (Earlier, Fluttershy's player failed to catch a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' reference.)
-->'''Fluttershy:''' It's kind of... careless to assume everyone's had the same cultural exposure. Sometimes, people slip through the cracks. Like me and her.
* In ''Avialae'', this happens when Gannet is [[http://avialae.smackjeeves.com/comics/1964633/ch-1-page-20/ freaking out]] about wings suddenly growing from his back one morning.
-->'''Gannet:''' Wait - you can see them, right?! This isn't some kinda ''Film/BlackSwan'' shit?!
-->'''Bailey:''' I-I-I don't understand that reference -- but yeah, I can see them...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Wiki/TVTropes: This is the reason that many tropes named after characters got Administrivia/{{renamed|Tropes}} (for example, [[Literature/EncyclopediaBrown Bugs Meany Is Gonna Walk]] to ConvictionByContradiction.)
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Phase, being a FishOutOfWater, often fails to get the anime and cartoon jokes that his teammates make (he has had to sneak away and search for the reference on the Internet), while his teammates sometimes don't get his jokes (because classical literature jokes go over so well with high-schoolers).
* In ''Website/ScrewAttack'''s review of the 16-bit adaptation of ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', Stuttering Craig claimed he'd never heard of the original comic and was going by the movie.
* The ([[{{Uncancelled}} original]]) series finale of Creator/DougWalker's ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' review show was heavily inspired by the series finale of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' titled "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E24AllGoodThings All Good Things...]]", and was intended to [[ShowDontTell convey to the audience]] that the show had run its course and was ending. Now this is fine, except for the fact that a good majority of Walker's fan base had never seen the ''Star Trek'' episode in question before and thought it was just another review. The Critic character's death a couple of months later in the film ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' left enough viewers shocked and confused that Walker had to film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY5XbIFzpN4 a short v-log]] explaining that, yes, the series was over.
* By LetsPlay/RisGrestar's own admission, he doesn't watch television or read comics very often, and is unfamiliar with video games he doesn't own, so he's often in the dark about characters in ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' until their bios are given. Despite being a fan of Batman, he's not familiar with a lot of the characters. When Death Battle mentioned how Son Goku from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' was based on Son Wukong from ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', he didn't know what that was. While he knows what ''Manga/OnePiece'' and ''Manga/FairyTail'' are, he stopped watching them after the first few episodes, so he's unfamiliar with Roronoa Zoro and Erza Scarlet. He added that he's unlikely to watch the two shows because of how many episodes they have.
* ''WebVideo/{{Tabletop}}'': The ''Catan Junior'' episode where WilWheaton is playing with three 9-year-olds. Wil mentions that he used to be on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The kids' response? "What's ''Franchise/StarTrek''?"
* Taken to extremes in one WebVideo/JonTron episode, where a coked-up ''Sonic Team'' employee has to ask "What the ''fuck'' is a Sonic!?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' :
** Much of the humor is derived from the fact that Omi [[RaisedByWolves has lived his entire life in the Xiaolin temple with virtually no exposure to the outside world]], meaning that he usually has no clue what the other characters in the show are talking about.
** Later in the series, Omi will frequently attempt to make a pop culture reference or use a common figure of speech but badly misword it, prompting another character to correct him, only for Omi to misinterpret the actual reference.
--->'''Omi:''' (''taunting the villain'') Defeating you will be a piece of pie.\\
'''Clay:''' Cake, you mean a piece of cake.\\
'''Omi:''' Cake? This is no time for food.
** In one instance, Omi miswords one of his attempted references so badly that none of the other characters can figure out what he was actually trying to say.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** Brian once took Frank Sinatra, Jr. out club hopping, where his attempts to flirt with one vapid young woman fall completely flat because she doesn't recognize any of the names Sinatra keeps dropping. Brian has to intervene and stop the increasingly frustrated Sinatra from backhanding the girl.
** Brian himself has this happen when he attempts to hit on another vapid girl, mentioning that he's an author. It falls flat as the girl appears to have no idea what ''books'' are, leading Brian to resort to explaining that it's like the Internet made out of a tree.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan's repeated bafflement at things Steve mentions probably is the reason they haven't bonded well. In one episode the family learns that Stan's been secretly restoring a [=DeLorean=] for years; Steve keeps dropping references to ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' on the assumption that Stan's a fan, but he isn't (and specifically says he dislikes time travel-based comedies) and just gets annoyed at Steve's quotes.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "Treehouse of Horror VI", Homer tries to describe the 3D world by comparing it to ''Film/{{Tron}}''. Nobody present has seen it.
** In a 2011 episode, when Cheech and Chong are making a reunion tour -- ironic considering ''The Simpsons'' ran throughout the '90s, but ComicBookTime may apply:
-->'''Bart:''' Who the hell are Cheech and Chong?\\
'''Homer:''' Cheech and Chong were the WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead of their day!\\
'''Bart:''' Who are Beavis and Butt-Head?
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
** While Archer is generally so ReferenceOverdosed that most of the other people in his team don't always follow him (it's likely Archer has UsefulNotes/{{Autism}} or UsefulNotes/AspergersSyndrome, considering the obscurity of some of his pop-cultural references), this is a constant source of friction between Archer and Ron, the former being amazed at what Ron hasn't seen and the latter being annoyed at Archer's Reference Overdosed way of speaking.
** Oddly, Archer himself does this in one episode. In "Space Race Part II" Lana says the space station they're on is like ''Literature/AnimalFarm''. Archer thinks she's talking about a literal farm with animals. He's read the book, but doesn't make the connection with the situation they're in. The rest of the ISIS team is astounded that he of all people doesn't get the reference.
** Archer loves the song "Danger Zone" so much that it's basically his catch phrase, particularly when he wants to imply sexual tension with Lana. However, when he actually manages to get Kenny Loggins to perform at Lana's baby shower, the significance is entirely lost on Lana.
--->'''Archer:''' Danger Zone? You know, that thing I'm always saying?\\
'''Lana:''' Kind of, I guess. It's from a song?\\
'''Archer:''' Yes, it's from a song! By Grammy winner and possible Faustian bargain maker Kenny goddamn Loggins!\\
'''Lana:''' Okay, calm down. (''{{beat}}'') So who's beard guy?\\
'''Archer:''' Are you... That's Kenny Loggins!\\
'''Lana:''' From Kenny Loggins' Roasters?
** In yet another episode, Lana accuses Malory of wanting to play Vader to Cyril's Palpatine. Malory apparently doesn't know anything about ''Star Wars''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Artemis is unfamiliar with various nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Her father was neglectful and made her spend her childhood training to be a fighter instead of normal girl stuff.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel'' episode "Sphinxes", Max and Rachel explore an Egyptian tomb and get attacked by monsters. After fighting them off, Max notices they are robots, and deduces criminals are pulling a ScoobyDooHoax. Rachel doesn't understand what he means. He groans and briefly explains ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' to her.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "Luna Eclipsed", Twilight Sparkle dresses up as her idol, the legendary wizard Star Swirl the Bearded, for [[HalloweenEpisode Nightmare Night]]. She gets annoyed when the only person to recognize that name and look is Princess Luna, who had lived for thousands of years and actually knew the wizard. Twilight has several scenes complaining about how famous Star Swirl was and how he helped shape their society.
** Rarity at times gets annoyed when her friends don't know celebrities like Trenderhoof. Her friends aren't really interested in the world of high fashion and gossip.
** This trope is played for laughs in "The Mane Attraction"; when Applejack asks who Countess Coloratura is, literally everyone else on the scene turns and gasps in shock. In an interesting twist, it turns out that Applejack knew Coloratura when they were both children as Rara... which drives the rest of the episode.
** In "No Second Prances", Starlight Glimmer has never heard of the Wonderbolts, a celebrity aerobatics team. As a [[HeelFaceTurn former villain]], Starlight [[SelfDeprecation half-jokes]] she must have been too busy enslaving villages.
* In the episode "Hostile Makeover" of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', [[HollywoodActionHero old-school manly man]] Brock tries to convince young Hank to stop emulating Music/JustinBieber just because "chicks dig him". He loses enthusiasm when he learns that Hank has never heard of Creator/SteveMcQueen.
-->'''Brock:''' ''[sigh]'' Google him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* As described on our very own page for ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', in the entry for BelligerentSexualTension: "When describing Brooklyn and Katana's relationship in "Timedancer", [creator] Creator/GregWeisman mentioned [[Series/{{Cheers}} Sam and Diane]]. No-one got it. Then he mentioned [[Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing Beatrice and Benedick]]. ''That one'' people got, which should tell you a lot about the kind of fans this show has."
* On the 4/4/13 episode of ''[[Creator/DavidLetterman Late Show with David Letterman]]'' guest Martin Short told about a group shot taken of the "5 Time Hosting Club" for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. He noted Creator/SteveMartin tweeted with the picture. "If you recognize any of these people, you are over 50 years old.".
* In [[http://video.ldn.timeout.com/video/Dressing-Room-Confessions-Charl;Theatre this backstage interview with Douglas Hodge]], who originated the role of Willy Wonka in the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 stage musical adaptation]] of ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Hodge discusses how his falling into Group B caused problems when deciding on how to handle his big entrance at the end of Act One. Having read the original novel and the script of the show, he thought that he should fake a fall for his entrance as a {{Trickster}} EstablishingCharacterMoment. Director Creator/SamMendes said he ''just couldn't'' do that, and Hodge didn't understand why... until he watched the 1971 film adaptation ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' for the first time and realized Mendes thought he got the idea for an ObfuscatingDisability from what Gene Wilder did in the film! (The finished show goes with an InternalHomage compromise of sorts: Instead of a tumble/somersault, there's an InstantCostumeChange following on from the phony feebleness.)
* [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Any of the examples on this very page]] if you're not familiar with the work it's referencing.
* One recurring meme online is for someone to ask an older or younger relative their first opinion on the person's fandom, with a lot of the humor stemming from the relative's confusion over seeing the characters for the first time, or not having any context for who they are.
[[/folder]]

!!!Type 2

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Index is shown watching a MagicalGirl anime, and applying her rather warped world view to it. For one thing, she doesn't seem to understand that it's fiction; she assumes the protagonist goes through a TransformationSequence to hide from the witch hunters of the Roman Catholic Church, but gets hung up on the blatantly wrong symbology and magic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'':
-->'''Chef:''' Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?\\
'''General:''' I don't listen to hip-hop.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* From ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'':
-->'''A.J.:''' Have you ever heard of Evel Knievel?\\
'''Lev:''' No, I never saw ''Franchise/StarWars''.
* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'': When John [=McClane=] finally gets to "Warlord"'s place, his reluctant ally tries to pass him off as another of the culture, which fails fast. Notable is when [=McClane=] fails to recognize a cutout of Boba Fett and tries to cover it by saying he's only familiar with ''Franchise/StarWars''. ([=McClane=]'s smirk seems to suggest he's just screwing with "The Warlord" with that one.)
* In ''Film/{{Waxwork}}'', one of the young people asks if the Phantom of the Opera figure's mask is the original from the movie, and the owner is surprised that someone made a movie about the Phantom. It's implied that the owner is not merely pop-culture clueless, but that he knows the Phantom ''actually existed'' in the movie's Verse and is amazed Hollywood would resort to filming his tale.
* In ''Film/SharknadoThe4thAwakens'', at one point, Gil jokes, "To boldly go where no one has gone before." Claudia says quoting ''Franchise/StarWars'' is dorky. He corrects her and says that came from ''Franchise/StarTrek''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren'', Lazarus mentions how, when the people on the space ship will be going back to Earth while 75 years have passed there and only 25 have passed on the ship, there was a great place in Baja California that made great Mexican food. He asks a young girl who was born on the ship if she knows where Baja California is, "Don't you think I studied geography? It's in Los Angeles." Lazarus reflects that by the time they get back she may be right.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Tony on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' is a major movie buff and is constantly quoting movies. In one episode he loses his voice from overexertion. Ducky throws his quoting habit back in his face with, [[Film/TopGun "Your ego's writing checks your body can't cash."]]
--> '''[[BadassIsraeli Ziva]]:''' Oh, I know that one! Um, ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''!\\
'''Tony:''' (''cringes and groans'')
* Played with in an episode of ''Series/HolbyCity'', where an American patient says she understands the medical details because she's seen ''Series/{{ER}}''. Arthur Digby, who doesn't own a television, gets excited thinking she means she's been in an ''actual'' ER.
* A RunningGag in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' is that J.D. refuses to admit he knows nothing about sports, so when other characters make sports references he tries to join in and gets them completely wrong.
* This exchange from ''Series/TheWestWing'':
-->'''Mandy:''' That bill was our coming out party. We were gonna have the stage for a month! It was our Nessun Dorma!\\
'''Staffer #1:''' What the hell's Nessun Dorma?\\
'''Staffer #2:''' It's an Italian opera by [[Music/RichardWagner Wagner]].\\
'''Mandy:''' It's [[Music/GiacomoPuccini Puccini]]. Wagner's German, and you're a moron.
* On ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', when Will and Carlton are trying to pawn Aunt Viv's tennis bracelet, Carlton tries to get more money by telling the pawn shop owner, Agnes, it belonged to UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat. She thinks he's referring to somebody completely different:
-->'''Agnes:''' 200 dollars.\\
'''Carlton:''' For an ordinary bracelet, but not okay for one that formerly belonged to UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat.\\
'''Agnes:''' The one-armed chick that works the corner of Hollywood and Vine? She a class act. Okay, $300.
* ''Series/{{Spaced}}'':
** Tim is giving the group ''Star Wars'' codenames. [[TheFashionista Twist]] is stuck with "Jabba", which probably would have offended her if she'd ever seen ''Star Wars'':
-->'''Twist:''' Was Jabba the princess?\\
'''Everyone:''' [[SureLetsGoWithThat Yes.]]
* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': After it is discovered that the Gryzzl corporation was able to distract Ben from noticing that they added a revision to their contract allowing them to data mine Pawnee by doing it on December 18, 2015, the premiere date of ''[[Film/TheForceAwakens Star Wars Episode VII]]'':
-->'''Ron''': Is ''Franchise/StarWars'' the one with the [[Franchise/HarryPotter little wizard boy]]?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Fountains of Wayne's "I'll Do the Driving" includes an example, although the subject of the song makes the mangled reference without any prompting:
-->''We're out, the jukebox plays "Jumping Jack Flash"\\
She says "I love Johnny Cash, the man in red"\\
I turn my head and pretend not to hear what she said''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* [[http://www.venisproductions.com/angelmoxie/archives/1/5/154.html An exchange]] in ''Webcomic/AngelMoxie'':
-->'''Mr. Kyokasho:''' Well, you know Doogie Howser?\\
'''Tristan:''' What's that? A kind of meatloaf?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0oL112hzA the Brock's Dub parody of Silento's "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)"]], this trope is used to mock the likely OneHitWonder status of the artist in a segment where Brock first confuses Silento with "the gangnam style guy", followed by him confusing PSY with Sisqo.
* In ''WebVideo/AfterHours'', Daniel is the nerdiest of the four characters, and apparently knows ''nothing'' about sports, which is lampshaded.
-->'''Katie:''' Careful. Daniel doesn't follow sports terms.\\
'''Daniel:''' We're supposed to follow sports ''"terms"''? I've been saying "teams".
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm-6RR4sLXw YouTube Comment Reconstruction #5]] -- based on an actual comment thread -- suggests that a lot of people reacted to the death of Nelson Mandela by getting him mixed up with Creator/MorganFreeman. After the misapprehension is corrected, it transitions into a Type 1.
-->RIP Nelson Mandela. You were a great actor, and ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' is my favourite ever film, and I think you were what {{God}} is actually like.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the episode "What Color Is Your Cleansuit" of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', The Monarch decides to get kinky in the bedroom and tells Dr. Girlfriend he'll cosplay as Khal Drogo, expecting her to cosplay as Daenerys. Dr. Girlfriend, however, does not watch ''Series/GameOfThrones''. She appears in stars-and-stripes boxing trunks because she thought he said "Drago". As in [[Film/RockyIV Ivan Drago]].
-->'''The Monarch:''' What the hell is sexy about that?!
[[/folder]]

!!!Type 3

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Happens in-universe in ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony''.
** In "The David Bowie Drinking Game" (which, true to its name, is loaded with Music/DavidBowie shout outs), Spike says that Rarity was kidnapped by "scary monsters and super creeps!" Twilight corrects him: "It's [[Music/{{Skrillex}} scary monsters]] ''[[Music/{{Skrillex}} and nice sprites]]!''" Everyone else is aghast at Twilight's ignorance, and at the episode's end Twilight admits that she has no idea who Bowie is.
** In "The Longest Episode", Pinkie shares her ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' SelfInsertFic, and her audience tells her that she's ruining a classic book. Pinkie is shocked to realize that "There's a book of ''Lord of the Rings''?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* This frequently happens on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', between Robin (who is from [[CanadaEh Canada, eh]]) and the rest of the gang. For example:
-->'''Robin:''' I love [[Music/BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]]! He's like the American Music/BryanAdams!
:: For those who are unfamiliar with these artists (due to age, musical taste, or geography), they have similar artistic styles, but Springsteen had his break ten years earlier and is ''much'' more famous around the world, and particularly in the US. Except the gang's lack of understanding over who Bryan Adams is falls completely flat for UK audiences, where the Canadian Adams is more famous than he is in America.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* ''Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra'' is
** a book by Nietzsche;
** a 30-minute orchestral tone poem composed by Strauss, the first 2 minutes of which is used by:
*** the movie ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' and
*** [[ProfessionalWrestling Professional Wrestler]] Wrestling/RicFlair as his {{Leitmotif}},
** and a JRPG (''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} 3: [[GratuitousGerman Also Sprach Zarathustra]]''),\\\
pretty much in that order.
* Likewise, "Music/RideOfTheValkyries" is either 1) the beginning of Act III of Wagner's ''Die Walküre'', 2) [[WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc "Kill the Wabbit! Kill the Wabbit!"]], or 3) the piece played during the air cavalry attack in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Or more recently, 4) [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan's]] Wrestling/{{WWE}} theme music. Of course, like many examples from Type 2, Wrestling/TheMiz thought it was from ''Franchise/StarWars''.
* Basically the reason CoveredUp and SampledUp exist (just see the opening quote for the former entry).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Print Media]]
* In its episode guide to ''Series/LoisAndClark'', ''SFX'' magazine explains that Perry's anonymous source Sore Throat (who actually refers to the line "[[Film/AllThePresidentsMen Follow the money]]" at one point), is a parody of Deep Throat... from ''Series/TheXFiles''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' servers often added the ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' "Headshot!" "Multi kill!" "Killing spree!" etc. sound effects. This became such a wide-spread practice, however, that many modders, unaware of the now-less-popular game, refer to them as "CS" sounds when they add them to other games. This expanded to the point that Valve, the company that made ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'', used the ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' announcements in the beta of their newer game, ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'' storyline "Scylla and Charybdis", when Colonel Barker gives the TitleDrop, Patty recognises the reference to ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', but [[http://www.gpf-comics.com/archive/2014/12/01 Dexter says]] he thought it was from an episode of ''Anime/{{Ulysses 31}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] and [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] crossover review of ''ComicBook/{{Warrior}} #1'', Spoony mocks the Wrestling/UltimateWarrior's disjointed speech patterns by quoting [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68mbFvenlaQ Col. Campbell's infamous line]] from ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|SonsOfLiberty}}'' near verbatim (only adding a "Hoak Hogan" to keep with the theme). Months afterward, TGWTG fans who apparently never played [=MGS2=] would often spout "I need scissors! 61!" when talking about the Ultimate Warrior, as if believing the line only came from that review.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Every time someone mentions that something reminds them of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Vetter Bubble Boy]] from... ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''.
* When ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' was re-released (to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the real disaster), a lot of young people took to Twitter to express their surprise upon [[AluminumChristmasTrees learning that]] [[http://twistedsifter.com/2012/04/people-who-didnt-know-the-titanic-was-real/ it was based on a real ship]]. Cue {{Facepalm}}ing.
** At least one newscast referred to the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia Costa Concordia]]'' as "the real life ''Titanic''."
* We're now at the point where younger shoppers [[https://consumerist.com/2016/11/14/young-grocery-shoppers-have-no-idea-who-this-paul-newman-guy-is/ have no idea]] that "[[Creator/PaulNewman The Newman's Own guy]]" was once a movie star.
* In the mid-70’s and on into the ’80’s, a common story had a young person in a music store saying “Hey, look, Creator/PaulMcCartney was in a band before Wings!” Columnist Herb Caen, among others, claimed to have personally witnessed it.
[[/folder]]

!!!Type 4

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* An example from OlderThanTheyThink fits here, as a clash of PopCulturalOsmosis: An in-universe example has ComicBook/{{Superboy}} saying to Franchise/{{Superman}} "Second star to the right and straight on till morning." When Superman says "''Literature/PeterPan''. How appropriate." Superboy replies "What are you talking about? [[Franchise/StarTrek Captain Kirk]] said that," in reference to Kirk's closing line at the end of [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the 6th movie]] where he was clearly quoting ''Peter Pan''.
* In a ''ComicBook/{{Robin}}'' annual, ComicBook/{{Huntress}} tells Robin it was a clever idea of his to wear mirrors under their ponchos (to blind their enemies in a gunfight). He says he got the idea from an old movie. She says "''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', huh?" and he replies "No. ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII''." It might make you want to {{Headdesk}} when you realize Marty got the idea from seeing ''that very scene'' from ''A Fistful of Dollars'' in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', and that Marty had identified himself as ''Creator/ClintEastwood'' upon arriving in 1885.
* In one issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Matthew the Raven [[Literature/TheRaven perches on a bust and says "Nevermore!"]], then says he got it from the Creator/RogerCorman movie.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Jeremy Clarkson once dodged a forfeit on ''Series/{{QI}}'' through this trope: He answered the question "what has twenty legs, five heads, and can't reach its own nuts?" with a BoyBand that was too old for the QI elves to have listed it (namely, Westlife). Upon being informed that the trope was in play, co-panelist Jimmy Carr then forfeited on purpose with [[Music/OneDirection a more recent addition]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* This is very common when a {{cover|edUp}} or [[TheWeirdAlEffect parody]] of a song becomes popular.
* From the comments on Website/YouTube, it appears that many think that "The Devil Went Down to Jamaica" is the original and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is the parody.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* An ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' strip starts with Arthur's [[ShowWithinAShow journal/Life Embellished webcomic]], with several of the characters playing cards. Gawaine says "He who steals these cards steals trash", Pellinore replied "[[AuthorCatchphrase You can't beat the classics]]", and Gawaine asks if he's a ''Series/{{MASH}}'' fan too. Cut to the real-world Gawaine saying "I don't get it", because Arthur's portrayal of him as not knowing the line is a paraphrase of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' is completely accurate.
[[/folder]]

!!!Various

[[folder:Literature]]
* During a flashback in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', Robert Langdon is explaining to his editor about the real nature of the Holy Grail. The editor asks why he's never heard of it and Langdon answers that the coverup "is backed up by [[Literature/TheBible the world's biggest best seller]]". The editor immediately expresses surprise that ''Literature/HarryPotter'' talks about the Holy Grail.
* Invoked in the ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo''-series: Two time-travelling spies identify each others by the code names [[Franchise/StarTrek "Romulus" and "Vulcan"]]. The idea is that, since American pop culture hasn't penetrated the public consciousness of the 17th century, anyone in a position to recognize the names will assume that Romulus' counterpart is Remus.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/musically-oblivious-8th-grader Musically Oblivious 8th Grader]] {{meme|ticMutation}} uses various types.
* ''WebVideo/EndTimes'' plays with this a lot.
** Kimber is constantly missing the other survivors' pop culture references. 12 years later the Archivist doesn't get them either, probably because 1. she was maybe 8 back when TV or internet was a thing and 2. [[spoiler:she was at least partially brainwashed by a military dictatorship and spent most of her teen years as an assassin]].
** [[VlogBrothers "Those brothers that Charlie likes? with the... cancer book?"]]
[[/folder]]

** After it is discovered that the Gryzzl corporation was able to distract Ben from noticing that they added a revision to their contract allowing them to data mine Pawnee by doing it on December 18, 2015, the premiere date of ''[[Film/TheForceAwakens Star Wars Episode VII]]'':

-->'''Mitch:''' [[ActorAllusion Because it's a secret meeting]].
-->'''Annie:''' How do you know that; why does Elrond mean secret meeting.

-->'''Teddy:''' [[NotSoAboveItAll If we're gonna call something "Project Elrond", I would like my code name to be Glorfindel.

--->'''Sheldon:''' I know everything about the universe.\\
'''Penny:''' What is Music/{{Radiohead}}?\\
'''Sheldon:''' (''pause'') I know everything ''[[TakeThat important]]'' about the universe.

* In RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren'', Lazarus mentions how, when the people on the space ship will be going back to Earth while 75 years have passed there and only 25 have passed on the ship, there was a great place in Baja California that made great Mexican food. He asks a young girl who was born on the ship if she knows where Baja California is, "Don't you think I studied geography? It's in Los Angeles." Lazarus reflects that by the time they get back she may be right.

* Invoked in the ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo''-series: Two time-travelling spies identify each others by the code names [[Franchise/StarTrek "Romulus" and "Vulcan"]]. The idea is that, since American pop culture hasn't penetrated the public consciousness of the 17th century, anyone in a position to recognize the names will assume that Romulus counterpart is Remus.

* ''Series/{{Spaced}}'': Tim is giving the group ''Star Wars'' codenames. [[TheFashionista Twist]] is stuck with "Jabba", which probably would have offended her if she'd ever seen ''Star Wars'':

* After it is discovered that the Gryzzl corporation was able to distract Ben from noticing that they added a revision to their contract allowing them to data mine Pawnee by doing it on December 18, 2015, the premiere date of ''[[Film/TheForceAwakens Star Wars Episode VII]]'':

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' Crichton frequently makes pop culture references to aliens, who naturally have no idea what he's talking about and due to lack of entertainment, don't even grasp the concept of pop culture. Moya's crew learns to just accept that he spouts gibberish, but early on it was a major contributor to their view of him as a useless lunatic.

** Before he ends up GoingNative in the later seasons, most of the human pop-culture references are frequently lost on Teal'c. Amusingly inverted in "Seth", when [[TheStoic Teal'c]] begins [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness laughing hysterically]] after telling a popular Jaffa joke, which is completely wasted on his human teammates.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', whenever Harry makes a ShoutOut, other people's reaction is either this or a bit of exasperation.[[note]]If it is the former, it is probably a bad guy.[[/note]] Funnily enough, Harry actually suffered from this one time! [[note]]Bob was talking about [[Series/{{Firefly}} special hell]]. Dresden's up on pop culture through TheEighties but his status as a WalkingTechbane makes catching up with modern stuff more difficult.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': The Battle City arc had a few civilians who had never heard of the Duel Monsters card game and don't recognize the names of prominent duelists like Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba.

* Denis Domaschke in ''Film/GoodbyeLenin'' is a West Berlin amateur filmmaker showing off his talent to Alex Kerner, his East Berliner co-worker just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He displays a wedding video he made referencing ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001: A Space Oddity]]'' -- which Alex has never seen or heard of due to cultural isolation.

* In one ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' episode dealing with an evil witch bringing fairy tail characters and objects to life, the sisters were revealed to have zero knowledge of classic fairy tails like ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite''. This led to them making mistakes like Paige naively eating an apple that randomly appeared next to her and falling into an enchanted sleep. Their grandma was appalled by their ignorance, especially since she read them these fairy tales when they were children, but they completely forgot when they grew up.

* ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'': when Petra gives birth to twins she calls them Elsa and Anna. And Petra thinks that Jane is the only person who would ever think that this was a ''{{Frozen}}'' reference. At which Rafael (who wasn't present for the birth due to traffic where Jane is the only person to know both girls' names, Petra introduces him to Elsa - and he instinctively calls the other baby Anna.