Intertextuality is a very fun subject to me. It is everywhere nowadays. I guess originality is a thing of the past.
We are bombarded with media every second of our life. Even original ideas are mostly inspired by something we have seen, read or heard.
It is always fun to recognize bits of intertextuality in films, animations, books...
The more subtle the reference the prouder I am for finding it.
I think intertextuality can be an enhancement to any creation, as long as it is clear what you are trying to say. The line between hommage and plagiarism can be very thin indeed.
With the rise of hip hop music and sampling, there have been many lawsuits and debates about how much you can sample from a song and claim it as your own. My favourite example is Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby, where he sampled the most recognisable riff from Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. In his album leaflet Vanilla thanked many artists for inspiration but never mentioned Queen or David Bowie.
The song was an international success.
VANILLA ICE - ICE ICE BABY
QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE - UNDER PRESSURE
Sometimes large animation studios recycle their old animations in order to save time and money.
I guess it is okay legally, as they own all the rights. But is it fair to us the viewers? I never noticed, but when I saw this video I felt a bit let down by one of my favourite animation studios. But I did also feel amused by the fact that they got away with it. At least with me.
DISNEY RECYCLED ANIMATION
Another thing I like that falls in the intertextuality category are parodies. If made well they can be rally funny.
But lately I have seen a lot of films with only bad spoofs, that count on making money just on the account of heavily referencing a hundred movies in an hour and a half.
Here is a clip from one of my favourite parodies, Mel Brook's Men in tights.
You can also hear the Can Can melody, another example of intertextuality. Mel Brooks even intertexts (is that a word?) his older films in this film.
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