Name-dropping/Pop Culture References in Stories

I've seen the topic debated many times on the Things You Hate To See In Stories thread, and I thought it could have it's own topic, as I've seen varying opinions on it.

Name-dropping: The practice of casually mentioning important people in order to impress your listener.
(Definition from here.)
It's a bit different in writing, and not always done to impress, but that's the basic idea.

Katie turned on her iPod and scrolled through the songs before hitting play on "Letterbomb" by Green Day.
That would be a pop culture reference/name-drop.

So what is your opinion on it? And have you used this in your writing?

I searched and nothing came up, but lock if I missed anything.

I tend to avoid it. Mostly because, for the most part, pop culture references tend to hurt your work over time. While something may make sense at the time, down the road it'll either be totally forgotten and leave people clueless or it'll be a total cliche. Years ago I wrote a story that involved the toilets of Starbucks being directly connected to Hell. To my adolescent self, it was clever. Today...it makes me roll my eyes because Starbucks jokes are old news.

However, if the references are being made because you're trying to make it clear when something is taking place, then it's fine. People may not get the references later, but it keeps the work authentic.

Confusing? Yeah, but that's probably why I usually keep things fuzzy as to time and place :-)

I suppose it depends on the context? And if you really force it on your readers. Because really, there is a difference between those references being there in passing - noticeable to the readers, yet not shoved down their throats in a very obvious way - and then trying too hard to impress. Sometimes, in my NML story, some of my characters will wear band-centric t-shirts; they're musicians themselves, in the rock genre, so they do tend to have a lot of them. (The Bryants really seem to like Hole and Nirvana, especially.) I dunno. I guess it's different to say "She walked away, tugging at a loose thread in the hemline of her tattered Circle Jerks shirt," and "She got up, and put her Green Day shirt on, and then her cherry-red Chuck Taylors with the stars in the heels." I guess a lot of it is just how you work it in.

I think that used in moderation, pop culture dropping actually helps a story and the character development in it. I don't usually describe outfits, but using bits like what music people listen to kind of shapes the character into someone more human-like.

But only in moderation. Used too much, it's a bit annoying. Listing off all the bands on a character's iPod or the exact outfit and brand he or she is wearing isn't going to do anything but make them seem more bland.

I think it works when the references are actually interesting. Haruki Murakami uses music a lot in his books and the effect is wonderful because he mentions pieces of music that most readers didn't/won't understand the way the characters do. For example, one of the characters says that Norwegian Wood always gave her the sense of being lost in a huge dark forest. But if you've ever listened to the song, you know that it isn't really about that. Or at least you think you do. And it all makes you ponder over the song and the character.

I feel like name-dropping can be useful only if it's used in moderation and adds something to the story. I don't feel like there should be a pop culture reference in every paragraph because that just gets kind of bland and repetitive.

For example, in one of my stories, one of the girl's is wearing a Jack's Mannequin shirt when she meets the character, and that works to give them a sort of instant click, therefore advancing the plot.

Something that comes to mind when I think of name-dropping is the novel Fight Club. Brands like Ikea and Starbucks are mentioned, but it's not a distraction to the story, it actually adds to it.

I actually love pop culture references in stories. But not the straight-forward obvious ones of "She put on "Letterbomb" by Green Day and started to dance" kind, but the kind that will probably be overlooked by someone who is not familiar with the movie/song/band/whatever, but the fan will notice it and get excited. I can't think of an example from a book, but what I have in mind is the references they use in Supernatural - fake IDs with names of band singers and that kind, you know? That kind makes me .

I think it depends on the author's motives. If it was just to a way to squash all the things you like into your story and force it on you're reader, then definitely not - no one cares what th author likes, that's not what a story is for. If it's for the sake of forming a picture of that character or making some sort of statement, then yeah, I think it can work - but it has to be really well done, a lot depends on how the author utilizes those references.

Either way, I don't want to read a story that sounds like a television ad.

I think that if you don't have a reason for the name-dropping, then you shouldn't put it in there. I think, in the way I've seen it done on Mibba and other amatuer writing sites, is usually ineffective, and it really slims down your pool of readers. For example, if someone's writing a fic and they go on about how the character has all her clothes from Hot Topic and she loves MCR and A7X and lists all these songs that are in her iPod, then I'll stop reading - because I've that story...a million times.

I do it sometimes. It depends. Sometimes I'll mention Starbucks if I need a quick coffee place that everyone's heard of. Same with McDonald's or something like that.

As for bands, I don't tend to work them in. I like my readers to be able to shape my characters slightly. On some things, I'll describe them very strongly, but when it comes to their music, I don't mention it unless it's relevant to the story. If my readers wonder about it, they can just make it up.

I think the only time I really do it is for comedy. For example, if a character gets drunk, perhaps I'll put in the lyrics to a cheesy pop song that they're singing or something. But I don't ever force it on people. That annoys me.

girlchild.:

I actually love pop culture references in stories. But not the straight-forward obvious ones of "She put on "Letterbomb" by Green Day and started to dance" kind, but the kind that will probably be overlooked by someone who is not familiar with the movie/song/band/whatever, but the fan will notice it and get excited. I can't think of an example from a book, but what I have in mind is the references they use in Supernatural - fake IDs with names of band singers and that kind, you know? That kind makes me .

I prefer the subtle ones as well. But the name-drops that are like the examples you and I posted tend to annoy me. It makes it seem like the author is just throwing that in there as a "Isn't this band awesome?" statement.
I love it when they're tastefully done though, and I admit that I do get excited if I come across a well-written name-drop that I'm familiar with.

One novel I've read where I felt that pop culture references really worked was The Perks of Being A Wallflower. It was set in the 90's, and there were quite a few references to Nirvana and other bands from that time, as well as a lot of Rocky Horror Picture Show references. But, I felt that it was actually helping with character development. The way they were written in also felt very natural, maybe because it was written as letters from a teenage boy, and the way he talked about music seemed normal.

I name-drop like a hipster. It's like a disease. Admittedly I only do it to add to the atmosphere or characterisation. Still, though.

I used to do it a lot. I'm trying not to do it so much, but I think it can be helpful for the story. Like putting in a character's favourite football team because they never talk about anything else, or saying they always go to Subway for their lunchtime sandwich. It can assist character development, and help place it in the desired setting.

I shy away from name-dropping. It just seems like a lot of people do it nowadays, and I don't like have that sort of recognition taking away the impact of the story. /twocents

I try not to name-drop because I like to be very vague about when my stories take place.

I name drop when I think it can help build a character, but not like people have mentioned above, as in "I put on my My Chemical Romance t shirt and danced to Smells Like Teen Spirit as I looked for ...." etc. But if it's just casually dropped in, then I don't see why not. Narration is like a thought process, so I think some referencing is inevitable.

I've only really named dropped in one story, but I had reasons. The music was because it was character development and the two characters were having a music discussion, and I named dropped a play/musical because I felt that my story and the play had a lot of similarities and I thought it was funny and ironic. But other than that.....it should be used in moderation. Not only does it get annyoing, but it can also build those stupid little things we call steriotypes.

I do it a lot. A lot. Mostly with movies or television shows. I almost always mention what a character is watching if I mention that they're watching something. I really have no idea if it works for me or not, but I do it a lot.

One time that I do it that I think works because of the character, is my character that is a film major and so sometimes casually references various movies. Sometimes other characters have had no idea what he's talking about, though, so it's not like everyone always picks up on it.

Other times I do it, I think I just throw stuff in there and I have no idea if it adds to the atmosphere or not.... Although, once, I did make a reference to an opera and one of my readers told me that they loved the reference because they were familiar with the opera.

I tend to avoid it usually, save for mentioning bands characters like and such, or sometimes I mention the name of where they work.

But, I've recently started writing a story with a show choir as the main characters, and I constantly have to drop in bands/artists and lyrics, and I have a constant fear that I'm overdoing it.

I personally think how much you name-drop depends on the story or the character. I normally don't name-drop unless it adds some element to the plot.

My stance on name-dropping is if you can still read and comprehend the message and plot of the story without the reference, then it isn't needed.

I did recently write a oneshot with a main character that was really naïve and saw life "like a movie," and she did a lot of name-dropping, but that's just because it was her character.

If I think it adds something to the story, I will. If not, no. It really depends on the moment, the story, the character, the narration. There's no one size fits all answer for this. I do tend to know what music my character is listening when they have their iPod on, but it doesn't always make it's way into the story.

Also, I don't consider "she plugged in her iPod" as much of a pop culture name drop. "She plugged in her pink 64gb iTouch into her lime green Macbook" is another story.