Marauder has been lamenting that his children won’t have the same appreciation he does for our generation’s cultural icons. And he’s right. Because it’s so well established in the overall pop culture, the line “Luke, I am your father” doesn’t have nearly the same impact as 28 years ago. One day Evangeline and Rachel will get to see Spaceballs and Darth Helmet’s revelation that “I am your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate” will seem completely unoriginal (as opposed to the amusingly cliché status it enjoyed in 1987).
This got me thinking, what “iconic moments” were already part of the background when I grew up?
One that immediately came to my mind was the knowledge that “Rosebud” was a sled. I saw the movie a year or two back, but I’d known about the sled for a couple decades. Citizen Kane came out in 1941, so that wasn’t just part of the background for me, it was part of the cultural background for my parents too.
Another movie ending which was already part of the pop-culture background while I was growing up centered around the lines

Oh my God. I’m back. I’m home. All the time, it was… We finally really did it. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! God damn you all to hell!

I suppose it’s fair to say that the words themselves aren’t nearly as memorable as their context. They were shouted by astronaut George Taylor, while sitting astride a horse on the beach, immediately after he discovered the remains of the Statue of Liberty.
And just as Mel Brooks parodied the iconic “I am you father” revelation, he also parodied the final scene from Planet of the Apes.

What’s that coming out of her nose?
Spaceballs?!
Oh shit! There goes the planet.

What surprising revelations have you seen in the movies and TV that you wish the next generation could enjoy the way you did?