Cultural References
During the game of "phone tag", Michael impersonates Michael Jackson, Tito Jackson, Mike Tyson, and Saddam Hussein. In addition, several songs are alluded to. Michael sings "I don't want to work/I just want to bang on this mug all day" to the tune of Bang the Drum All Day by Todd Rundgren. Jim alludes to the Jets, one of the rival street gangs in the musical West Side Story, by quoting the noted lyrics "When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way", as well as snapping his fingers in the same way as the gang members. Several popular quotes are misused in the episode: Michael consistently misuses the phrase "Catch-22", and Dwight mistakes the phrase "tit for tat" as "tit for tit".
Several noted films are referenced in the episode. After grabbing Dwight in a sleeper hold, Michael nonsensically shouts out Bedtime for Bonzo, a 1951 movie starring Ronald Reagan. Michael notes that Dwight cried at the end of Armageddon, a 1998 science fiction action movie starring Bruce Willis. Michael's line "You talkin' to me?" is a line performed by Robert De Niro in the movie Taxi Driver. Michael mis-attributes it to Al Pacino in Raging Bull. The Karate Kid franchise is referenced two separate times. Michael notes that Dwight is the "Hilary Swank version", a reference to The Next Karate Kid, the fourth movie in the Karate Kid series, starring Swank as the first female student of sensei Miyagi. Kevin later tells Dwight to "sweep the leg", a quote from the original movie. The episode also contains several television references. Jim mocks Pam by doubting her status as an Ultimate Fighter; The Ultimate Fighter is a reality television series in the form of a martial arts competition. Michael turns the insult "queer" into a reference to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, a make-over reality television program featuring five openly gay men dispensing fashion and style advise.
Read more about this topic: The Fight (The Office)
Famous quotes containing the word cultural:
“To begin to use cultural forces for the good of our daughters we must first shake ourselves awake from the cultural trance we all live in. This is no small matter, to untangle our true beliefs from what we have been taught to believe about who and what girls and women are.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)