View Full Version : Moai Better Blues cultural references [some spoilers maybe]
I've seen some smaller discussions here and some reviews that stated episode 202 might not be suited for non-us customers, because of the amount of cultural references. Personally there was stuff I already knew about and some I had to look up. In general I would say that chances are good that even someone not living in the USA might get a few jokes, since...you know...we got television...and the internet and there's a lot of american information in there.
So how much references to us culture did foreign Sam&Max players find and unterstand?
All of the missing persons turned babies on the island were north-americans. I already knew a good deal about Mr. Hoffa when I ran across him and just a I was proud of myself and my knowledge Sam started explaining who he was. Thanks a lot. I also heard about DB Cooper and Lindbergh jr. aka the Lindbergh baby before and could at least remember a few bits after they where introduced in the game. For the other two characters I recognized their names, but still had to look them up.
Also, I guess the Sea Chimps could be seen as an american cultural reference, since these guys where sold in other countries as well, but probably under a different name and with different pictures to advertise them.
In Germany we had a magazine for children that contained some from time to time, but they where called something like prehistoric shrimp. The images I remember were quite realistic, but probably generations before got pictures more similar to the american ones. Also the lied about the size as well. I just don't hope Sam&Max are right with their theory.
I'm not sure, but I got the feeling that the banana stuff you have to get might be referring to a certain product..
So, did anybody else have thoughts about this?
I'm not sure, but I got the feeling that the banana stuff you have to get might be referring to a certain product..It's a referance to Tang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(drink)).
Molokov
01/22/2008, 04:00 am
The Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island, and those missing persons-cum-babies are all pretty much part of general knowledge. The only one I hadn't heard of was D.B. Cooper but a quick wikipedia search gave me the basic facts. Same with the others, considering I didn't know *much* about them.
Sea monkeys aren't specifically American either, although I don't think I've ever seen them for sale here... then again, I've never looked.
Ahh, Tang :) I got that reference straight away when I saw the Banang jars in Bosco's.
InvaderJim42
01/22/2008, 04:10 am
I had to look up Glenn Miller and D.B. Cooper because I didn't know much about them, and I'm an American (that's a sad social commentary right there). It didn't bother me, though. I took it as an opportunity to learn.
The same thing applies to most jokes that go over my head. For example in Mystery Science Theater 3000, they make a lot of varied jokes, some of which require previous knowledge of something. Then, in my quest to learn more useless trivia, I come across tidbits of knowledge and then I understand the joke they made. For example, in the episode "Santa Claus", Santa's rump catches on fire when he tries to slip down a chimney with a fire still burning at the bottom, and Mike comments "Red Adair is brought in to extinguish the fire." I didn't know who Red Adair was until much later when I was reading about the ill-fated oil rig Piper Alpha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha), and found out that Red Adair was a famed American oil field firefighter. Then the joke made perfect sense to me.
Ahh, Tang :) I got that reference straight away when I saw the Banang jars in Bosco's.
hmm, i've never seen those canisters before, they look like they could be used to store nuklear waste. i always thought tang was some kind of powder you have to mix with water first. another useless fact: in germany i have seen several cases of mistranslation of tang in us sitcoms. usually it is not translated at all, but pronounced in a german way. because of that people often believed it to be a shortform of the expression "seetang", which means seaweed.
InvaderJim42
01/22/2008, 04:57 am
hmm, i've never seen those canisters before, they look like they could be used to store nuklear waste. i always thought tang was some kind of powder you have to mix with water first. another useless fact: in germany i have seen several cases of mistranslation of tang in us sitcoms. usually it is not translated at all, but pronounced in a german way. because of that people often believed it to be a shortform of the expression "seetang", which means seaweed.
I learn something new every day!
RyanMon
01/22/2008, 01:12 pm
The same thing applies to most jokes that go over my head. For example in Mystery Science Theater 3000, they make a lot of varied jokes, some of which require previous knowledge of something. Then, in my quest to learn more useless trivia, I come across tidbits of knowledge and then I understand the joke they made. For example, in the episode "Santa Claus", Santa's rump catches on fire when he tries to slip down a chimney with a fire still burning at the bottom, and Mike comments "Red Adair is brought in to extinguish the fire." I didn't know who Red Adair was until much later when I was reading about the ill-fated oil rig Piper Alpha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha), and found out that Red Adair was a famed American oil field firefighter. Then the joke made perfect sense to me.
Joe Don Baker IS Santa Claus!
Molokov
01/22/2008, 01:36 pm
hmm, i've never seen those canisters before, they look like they could be used to store nuklear waste. i always thought tang was some kind of powder you have to mix with water first. another useless fact: in germany i have seen several cases of mistranslation of tang in us sitcoms. usually it is not translated at all, but pronounced in a german way. because of that people often believed it to be a shortform of the expression "seetang", which means seaweed.
You do have to mix Tang with water to make a delicious orange-tasting drink. (Sam says something similar about Banang). Of course, there are those who prefer to snort it as a cheap and non-narcotic form of cocaine....
Kids! Don't try this at home.
InvaderJim42
01/22/2008, 02:18 pm
Joe Don Baker IS Santa Claus!
You crack me up, little buddy!
You do have to mix Tang with water to make a delicious orange-tasting drink. (Sam says something similar about Banang). Of course, there are those who prefer to snort it as a cheap and non-narcotic form of cocaine....
Kids! Don't try this at home.Pixie Sticks are better, as the straw is already included.
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