Points of reference

Phil: I was chatting with Candice via the e-mail the other day. Obviously neither of us were exactly engrossed in our work and for reasons that are unimportant at this juncture, the subject revolved around Rolls Royce cars. In a moment of madness, I rashly cast aspersions* on her “lively” driving style:

Camera in back of car. Short trip around town. Voiceover, “If your chauffeur drives like this, adopt the crash position until the car stops.”   😛

and received the reply:

I’m a very good driver” – said in a slightly stilted voice.

Thinking I had just about got away with it but worried in case the tone was that of a hitman about to go to work, I tried for a bit of humour with the reply:

Of course, it IS the 21st Century and we are talking a Rolls Royce so if Thunderbirds are to be believed (it was a documentary right ?) then it should be me in the front.

I’ll get me cap….and say “Very good M’lady”

Parker

The response:

Um no – it was from Rain Man 

But I like the idea of M’Lady – please continue using those terms

Is this how team nolanparker will look in a few years ?

You’ve got to be so careful when quoting from films and TV programmes that the person you aim them at gets the reference or it all falls a bit flat. I’ve seen Rain Man and even read the book (both good but book better) but missed the quote by a mile.

Obviously my friend was never a fan of Thunderbirds – hardly surprising I suppose as neither of us was born when the series came out or likely to want to build a Tracey Island when it became fashionable  again in the 1990s. Only nerdy people were into it in the intervening years, which is why only one of us uses the characters as references or drives a long distance to get a look at some of the props…

Anyway kids, todays lesson is match your media references to your audience. If you want me to read your story, skip the TOWIE references. If you want gurls to buy the book, Tom Baker Dr Who quotes are out.

*For comparison, my style behind the wheel is more “Driving Miss Daisy” with Miss Daisy shouting at me to get a move on or the bingo will be over by the time we get there.