2621: Mainly Known For

|< < Prev Comic #2621 (May 18, 2022) Next > >|

Mainly Known For

Title text: Oh sure, I know Keira Knightly, from the first movie in that series by The Land Before Time producer. You know, the franchise with the guy from Jurassic Park and Ghostwriter, and script work by Billie Lourd's mom?

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by that guy from NASA, what was his name? Something Munroe - Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Megan points out an uncanny resemblance between someone's dad and Steve Jobs. However, she has trouble remembering Jobs's name. Frequently, when people can't remember a celebrity's name, they will point out other works they are known for in hopes someone else will recognize them from that and remind them of the name^{[citation needed]}. While these associations are often prone to the Mandela effect, Megan's information about the celebrities is, in fact, correct, but apparently not what those people are best known for.

Megan refers to Jobs as "the Pixar guy". Jobs is mainly known for (hence the comic's title) being the co-founder and twice CEO of Apple Computer, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s (between his stints at Apple), he was the chairman of Pixar Animation Studios, which is what Megan knows him for.

Cueball points out that Megan's tendency to avoid the "main" association and instead go with a much more secondary one is weird, which confuses her. To demonstrate how weird her associations are, Cueball asks her, "Who is John Lennon?" Lennon is a famous songwriter who played and wrote for The Beatles before they broke up, and later continued on a solo music career. Megan recognizes Lennon as a musical artist, but is unable to remember the name of The Beatles. She instead asks about the band he was in with Ringo Starr. Ringo, however, is not mainly memorable to her for his role in The Beatles, but rather as Mr. Conductor from the first season of the 1989 children's television show Shining Time Station. The Beatles' fame seems to have escaped Megan, which vexes Cueball.

Hoping to show that she really does know Lennon and that her associations aren't weird, she points out that she remembers Fame, a 1975 song that he co-wrote with David Bowie and performed backing vocals and guitar on. She is, however, again unable to remember Bowie's name, recognizing him for his acting roles in Labyrinth and Zoolander, rather than his more famous musical career (such as his smash hits Space Oddity or Let's Dance).

Sensing Cueball's annoyance, she attempts to excuse herself by saying Zoolander came out a long time ago, during the Presidency of George W. Bush. Zoolander was indeed released in 2001. Apparently unable, again, to remember the president's name, she identifies him as "Jenna Bush's dad". Jenna Bush is a TV personality and much less widely known than her father^{[citation needed]}.

Title text

In the title text, Megan refers to "Keira Knightly" [sic -- her surname is spelled Knightley], who is probably best known for her role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, by referencing her small role in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

Megan continues her unusual references by identifying the film as the "first movie" (it was the first in the plotline, but the fourth one made) in "that series by The Land Before Time producer" (George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, was also one of the executive producers of the 1988 animated film The Land Before Time).

She also identifies another actor in the Star Wars series, Samuel L. Jackson, by his roles in Jurassic Park (an extremely successful film, but one in which Jackson had a relatively small role) and the PBS children's series Ghostwriter (in which Jackson appeared in only a few episodes). In addition, Megan mentions that the Star Wars series had "script work by Billie Lourd's mom", referring to Carrie Fisher, who contributed uncredited script-doctoring work to the Star Wars franchise. However, Fisher is more closely associated with Star Wars for having played the major role of Princess Leia Organa in six films in the series.

Ghostwriter was previously featured in 130: Julia Stiles, which described a scene from the show as "the best thing ever to appear on TV".

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

Megan: ...And her dad looks exactly like the Pixar guy. Steve what's-his-name? Jobs?

Cueball: "Pixar guy"?

Cueball: You always know famous people for such weird reasons.

Megan: What do you mean?

Cueball: Who is John Lennon?

Megan: Wasn't he in a band? With Ringo from Shining Time Station.

Cueball: How is that your main association?

Megan: I also know he once did a song with the guy from Labyrinth!

Cueball: You mean David Bowie? I think he's famous for some other stuff, too.

Megan: Oh yeah, he was also in Zoolander!

Megan: I forgot that movie, it came out back when Jenna Bush's dad was president.

[Cueball facepalms]

Cueball: *SIGH*

 add a comment! ⋅  add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅  refresh comments!

Discussion

Title text: the movies are Star Wars, 1) Keira Knightly starred as one of the handmaidens of Padme, 2) The Land Before Time had George Lucas as executive producer 3) The guy from Jurassic Park and Ghostwriter is Samuel L. Jackson 4) Billie Lourd's mom is Carrie Fisher.--172.70.254.121 04:19, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

The hard part must have been finding out that she did script work, because she is not credited for this even on IMDb... I would like a citation for that actually, rather than the silly ones that was in the explanation at this time. --Kynde (talk) 12:06, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Re. John Lennon/Ringo Starr: Could one make the argument that the whole Beatles section is further proof of Megan's tendencies because Ringo is widely cited as the least famous and recognisable of the Beatles, meaning that the fact that she mentions him before the probably much more famous Paul McCartney and George Harrison is also misjudging who the Beatles are mainly known for consisting of??

Agree that this could be mentioned --Kynde (talk) 12:06, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Being the "least famous Beatle" still makes him one of the most famous people in the world. You have to go to Pete Best, the original drummer he replaced, to have a Beatle that isn't known by most most people. I also think Ringo may have been more well known during the Beatles' heyday, as he seemed to be more vocal in interviews than George Harrison, who was the "quiet one". He didn't have as big a solo career as the others after the breakup, but that's also a high bar. Barmar (talk) 13:13, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

It's not just whether he's the least well known of the four, though. Apparently, to Megan, he's more well known than Lennon, who is certainly the most well-known of them to the rest of the world. 172.70.86.44 13:41, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Without having read the above (Barmar), I recently added in the George detail myself. I mean, personally, I found Ringo more memorable than George (individually, but also a hint of "the Fab four are John, Paul, ummm.... And Ringo!" as Mr Starkey's nick-/stage-name is so much more distinctive).

Ringo continued(/ues) to perform beyond the Beatles, and not just as drummer, far more than George who did perform but seemed to move into behind-the-scenes Producer-like and/or financially backing roles for classic/cult-classic projects like Life Of Brian/Time Bandits.

I think George's impact on the Beatles, and beyond, was not at all small but was generally less prominent (except maybe for his Bangladesh fundraising/etc) than Ringo who managed to be front-of-house, in various capacities, a lot more. Not quite to the level of Paul (his only current active 'competition', given that the others in the running succumbed to mortality) but his innate firstname-recognition certainly leaves him not far behind. 172.69.33.237 15:40, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Paul? George? Put me as another person who knows only Lennon and Ringo. Also note that someone who has interest in movies but much less interest in music, remembering singers by what movies they starred in makes sense. Even remembering Jobs for Pixar would be at least consistent. Of course, then she doesn't know Star Wars by name or by one of most important characters in it ... while knowing someone who played in the last trilogy. -- Hkmaly (talk) 20:59, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Hang on. Hang ON. Is anybody seriously taking a "Paul McCartney? George Harrison? Yeah...? I've kind of heard of them, I guess?" kind of attitude?

Like, really? REALLY?!

Like..."Burger...'King,' I think? MacKenzies for a third-pounder Big Mac? Kentucky Fried Something? I think...or was it Tennessee? No, no, pretty sure it's Kentucky."

"That dude on the Buck: Jeff Washingburn, right?"

John, Paul, George and Ringo. Even if you don't care, you can't not know.Yorkshire Pudding (talk) 01:26, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

No, I unironically would not be able to tell you the third one. Lennon is The Beatle, McCartney I recognise but didn't realise was a Beatle for years, Ringo at least has a distinctive name but I might mistake him for a Marx Brother. Noaqiyeum (talk) 10:06, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Naming all the Beatles for the current generation is like naming all the Marx Brothers for their grandparents' generation. Fephisto (talk) 20:09, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

...Zeppo (best known for inspiring the prefix for 10^-21 ), ...Gummo (went into confectionary marketting)... 162.158.34.205 20:57, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Sorry, Yorkshire, but I swear to God that I actually heard a couple of Gen-Zers talking to one another about Paul McCartney for some reason, and one of them, in all seriousness, said to the other, "Did you know that he was in a band before 'Wings'?" RAGBRAIvet (talk) 16:46, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

Sorry, I heard the "Wings" joke at least twenty years ago and have used it myself in jest. 108.162.221.163 23:32, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

If that really happened, the Gen-Zers were putting you on. For someone to be more familiar with Wings than the Beatles, they would probably have to have been born between the mid-1960s (and thus been too young to have experienced Beatle fandom while the band was active) and the early 1970s (and thus been old enough to have been aware of Wings while it was an active band). People somewhat younger than that might know McCartney as a solo artist in the 1980s, but as the Beatles had much more of a legacy than Wings, those born in the mid-1970s and after would be much more familiar with the Beatles than with Wings (unless they grew up with an older sibling or parent with unusually pro-Wings musical tastes). Generation Z-ers weren't born before the mid-1990s. Your Gen-Zers would have been at least 25 years too young to know Wings better than the Beatles. --172.70.131.128 06:25, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

Speaking as a Gen-Zer (although I may be biased because of my taste in music), I can confirm that I know and have known since childhood all 4 members of the Beatles. Trogdor147 (talk) 18:31, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

Question in general, but don't know where to ask: why are panels 1, 2 and 4 boxed off, and is 3 open? Going back in time, the first example I found where a panel is not boxed off, is Health Stats, in which it's also the 3rd one that is open...162.158.233.89 10:00, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

No it is relatively common, but something that I strive to mention when it happens, as it is a defining characteristic of those comics where it occurs. I'm not sure I have used the same wording every time, but searching for in a frameless panel I got 35 results from other comics transcripts. So Randall uses this on a regular basis. --Kynde (talk) 12:04, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

I think it's a nice stylistic choice. 'Borderless' frames that are defined by the borders of adjacent frames (usually to left and right, but occasionally above and below rather than the 'virtual' boundary that is the natural continuation of the margin betwixt image-edge and adjacent explicit frame-edges) give a sense of openness where strict 'each cell is bounded' could be seen as claustrophobic and wasteful of actual comic real-estate.

And it's done quite a bit, yes. Maybe the reason you (162.158.233.89) hadn't noticed it was just that it was so naturally done? Consider it yet another reason to browse back through old comics, just to pick up these little quirks. Like the peculiar "TH"-kerning which is another Randallesque bit of idiosynchratic penmanship, etc. ;) 172.69.33.237 15:40, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

You DO know who Michael Jordan is, right?

Sure I do! Space Jam. Fephisto (talk) 19:20, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Seconding that. -- Hkmaly (talk) 21:03, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

He was that guy who's name is like the actor that was in Space Jam 2 for a little bit, right?

He's that footwear designer for Nike. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 02:50, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

Are you folks talking about that guy who ran a summer basketball camp for Chicago suburban elementary school kids at Elmhurst College around 1990? He tripped over me once while I was working painting dorms.162.158.106.237 20:59, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

I don't follow sports other than baseball. I can recall two actual moments like this in my life. Once was when I was flipping channels and saw footage of Shaq actually playing basketball. The other was connecting the name "Peyton Manning" to that guy I've been seeing in all those commercials. Bonus: My mom picked out a car from a dealership owned by "some baseball player." (Mike Piazza). Being that I actually do enjoy baseball, that seemed silly, but then realized I was just as bad when it came to the other sports! 172.70.134.103 15:58, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

This may be too much of a stretch, but calling Samuel Jackson "the guy from Jurassic Park" may be an oblique reference to Epic Rap Battles of History, Steven Spielberg vs Alfred Hitchcock - where at one point, Tarantino's lyrics are "Ask anybody, 'What's your favorite Sam Jackson part?' No-one's gonna say 'What's his name from Jurassic Park?'" 172.70.219.26 05:40, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

"He in a band with Ringo from Shining Time Station." "Who is John Lennon?" GreatWyrmGold (talk) 17:24, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Uh, I never watched Shining Time Station (I'm too old), but I've seen snippets (this is the first I hear Ringo was only one season), as I recall Ringo wasn't merely a voice, he was fully on it, just depicted as tiny, right? NiceGuy1 (talk) 04:38, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

This Jobs guy, that’s the dude who helped design NeXTStep right?162.158.106.237 20:59, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Labyrinth guy. Wait. That’s the guy who sang a duet one time with the guy who played the Javert-inspired cop from Freejack. I think he might have been in a vampire movie once with the chick who was also in that one movie with Barry Bostwick and the guy who also played Poet Man in the second episode of Lexx. You know, the Earth 2 villain. Anyway the movie I mean (not the vampire one) is the one that has basically the same plot as The Black Hole. It had that one guy who did a bunch of songs written by the guy who was executive producer on the Sisters of Mercy Floodland album.108.162.246.178 21:12, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

True story: I just now asked my husband, “Who is David Bowie?” and he replied, “he’s the guy who sang ‘Little Drummer Boy’ with Bing Crosby.” But I shouldn’t make fun of him, I once wanted to refer to Richard Dawson and couldn’t remember his name, so said, “the guy who played the game show host in ‘The Running Man’” 172.70.230.111 14:59, 30 May 2022 (UTC)

How does the Streisand effect relate to this comic? --172.70.130.195 06:15, 4 June 2022 (UTC)

I found a perfect example of this online:

Hold up…you’re excited to meet Martin Short, and your default reference is the Santa Clause 3?!?

That’s like meeting @MarkHamill

and being excited because he was in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (good movie, but still)

—Jordan Kaplan, https://twitter.com/JBK517/status/1629994648528625664

Solomon (talk) 05:52, 27 February 2023 (UTC)