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[edit] She Blinded Me With a Questionable Reference

From: stupid stuff
Posted on: 18:11, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

Arguments for:

1. It's said exactly the same way.
2. the tone inflection and everything are exactly the same. As in Jim Carrey's "alrighty then" the "Science" part is one of the signatures of the song (and the song has many). The song was and still is distinctive enough to be recognizable.
3. It's more than just "one word", when tone, inflection and timing all come into play, a completely different picture emerges. Human language is more than just words and letters. Examples of famous one liners include Homer's "D'oh!", Joey's "Whoa!" and the Road Runner's "Meep Meep" (the last case being the same word repeated twice).

Arguments against:

1. A single word is not enough of a connection.
2. The context is too dissimilar to promote any connection. Dolby's interjection is far different that Homestar's attempts at being a-smart.

Additional comments:

• A free, live version of this song is available here for comparison.
• Re for 1: I don't think it's that similar
• Re for 3: Yes, but if someone used, for example, "Woah" in a completely different context, there wouldn't be enough of a connection, as is the case here.
  • Please explain what you mean by "different context". If said in the exact same way as it was in the show, anyone familiar with the meme will immediately recognize it as such, even if it's uttered in a serious documentary about ancient roman bridge building. The way it is said is what makes it unique. I think what's really at issue is if Homestar way of quoting it sounds similar enough to be recognizable (which in my opinion, does).
    • Exactly, saying "Whoa!" in a documentary about covered bridges and nunchucks, even if said in the same tone, would most likely not be a reference, and neither is something from a song when someone is trying to be smart... you just proved my point, as it's NOT said the same way.
      • No, it would most likely would be a reference. For example, if I go to a hospital and see a sick friend, and say "How you doin'?" in my normal, suave, and debonair voice, it's not a Friends reference. But if I say "How YOU doin'?" to my sick friend, let's call him Wonder Mike, with the same tone, inflection, and voice that Joey from Friends says it in, it is most definitely a reference.
        • That's very different than a single, common word used in a normal tone in both instances.
          • No, this wasn't a normal tone. Both tones had a sort of grandeur in them. Look, if I say "PEAnut", with emphasis on the "pea", then it is completely different than if I had said "peaNUT", with emphasis on the "NUT". PEAnut ≠ peaNUT.
            • Straw man. No one says pea-NUT.
              • My point is that the emphasis can say a lot. When you say "science", do you say it in the commanding tone of the song? "So, the other day, I was in social SCIENCES! class, and..."
                • But that doesn't occur here, and that argument is still straw man.
                • Homestar says stuff weird all the time, it's not necessarily a reference when he says things bizarrely.
• Re arg for 3: Yet this is a situation where we are trying to determine the relevance to this toon. Whether the iconic exclamation fron Dolby's song is resonant enough is the point in question. I think it's rather iconic, yet I doubt it's a reference. So be it.
• I went ahead installed Audacity and created a few sound clips from the song provided above and from the email itself. I ask that you listen carefully and be the judge. I took several different samples from the song, as there are different ways "Science!" is interjected. Of these I found 4 unique samples. I found that clip 1 from the original song, and homestar's clip 1 sound almost exactly alike (even considering it was homestar who said it). The combined mix (help·info) is the easiest way to compare.

About the other mixes:

• Sample 5 from the original song is part of the phrase "She blinded me with SCIENCE!" as said by the "scientist" (not the main singer of course).
• Sample 2 from Homestar says "Science Again!" but the intonation is practically the same. A third clip of the second "I said science again" has a slightly different emphasis but it was basically Sample 2 all over again so I decided not to included. If you want me to upload it, let me know!

• I dunno if this is how things work, but it may be of note that the fact as it is written does seem to be true. One may or may not be a reference to the other, but that doesn't seem to be what the fact is claiming. The intonation is indeed the same.

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