Cultural Literacy

Years ago I got a book called Cultural Literacy by E.D.Hirsch. It contains all those little things you should have learned in school, but might not have, or that you learned and have now forgotten. The idea behind the book is that there are so many references in everyday life to events, people, places, artwork, and literature of world history that anyone not familiar with them ends up being culturally illiterate.

I remember at the time I read it thinking, "This is all well and good, but where's the entertainment category?" People reference popular entertainment of the past all the time without even thinking about it, but if you've never seen that movie or heard that song, it goes right over your head. I was reminded of this recently when my kids listened to a radio play which was a sort of parody of The Wizard of Oz. They had no idea. They had never seen it.

So yesterday, we sat down and watched The Wizard of Oz. They enjoyed it tremendously and we had fun seeing it together. Right after that, since we're heading to Disney in a couple of weeks, we watched Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. And guess what the kids say right after they get shrunk? "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto." Funny, huh?

What's your favorite expression that comes from a movie or television show of the past?