Pop culture fiction



Pop culture fiction is a genre of fiction where stories are written intentionally to be filled with references from other works and media. Stories in this genre are focused solely on using popular culture references.

Criteria
Some works in the genre use pop culture references to elicit nostalgia among its consumers, while other examples have the whole setting and universe themselves built upon and revolves around pop cultural references (sometimes even relying on well-known and/or obscure pop culture references as humor as in the case of the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000). Pop culture fiction doesn't just reference one or two titles, but works under this genre reference several titles across different genres and media.

Many types of postmodern works and modern-day homage, metafiction, satires and parodies fall under this category. But unlike more typically comedic satires and parodies, pop culture fiction contains depth and serious themes, with many even garnering critical acclaim. Many stories inspired by games and geek culture have also been examples. According to author Gary Westfahl, works under this genre demand an "aura of immaturity, of incompleteness, while projecting no pretenses."

This genre should not be confused with Pop culture non-fiction, which are researches, encyclopedias, and other academic works focused on the study and analysis of pop culture, rather than stories centered around pop culture references.

Notable pop culture fiction books

 * One of the oldest and longest-running example is Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, which takes place in an alternate history where Count Dracula became the King of Great Britain. Over the years, the series began to incorporate or reference famous fictional characters from Spider-Man to Scooby Doo.
 * Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho (both the book and film) became one of the earliest examples of this genre with its endless use of brands and criticism on business and mindless consumerism.
 * Ernest Cline's Ready Player One and Ready Player Two which extensively use 1980s pop culture as its themes.
 * Louis Bulaong's Escapist Dream and its sequel Otaku Girl are novels that genre-busts popular geek culture and topics into one virtual reality story.
 * Chris Fox's The Dark Lord Bert is a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired gamelit filled with pop culture references.
 * Gideon the Ninth by Tansyn Muir is a science fantasy book that had references taken from popular internet memes and quotes.
 * Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a coming-of-age novel featuring the relationships of the Avery siblings, two individuals who are writers and fans of fantasy books. The book known for its use of references from the fantasy genre, such as bookending chapters with the titles of many famous fantasy series.

List of pop culture fiction authors

 * Bret Easton Ellis
 * Ernest Cline
 * Louis Bulaong
 * Chris Fox

Notable pop culture fiction films

 * Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders (1964) was influenced by Golden Age B-movie film noirs and Westerns
 * Blazing Saddles (1974)
 * Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
 * Young Frankenstein (1974)
 * Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) satirizing epic cinema
 * Life of Brian (1979) satirized Biblical epic cinema
 * Airplane! (1980)
 * Spaceballs (1987)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
 * Army of Darkness (1992)
 * True Romance (1993)
 * Clerks (1994)
 * Pulp Fiction (1994), the critically beloved Cannes-winning multi-genre film that drew numerous aspects of popular culture.
 * Scream (1996)
 * Swingers (1996)
 * Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), the hip-hop gangster film infusing Japanese warrior culture with influences of filmmakers Jean-Pierre Melville and Seijun Suzuki.
 * Galaxy Quest (1999)
 * Scary Movie series (2000-2013)
 * The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (2004-2013)
 * Ted (2012)
 * The Editor (2014)
 * Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
 * The aforementioned American Psycho (2000) and Ready Player One (2018)
 * Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
 * Free Guy (2021)
 * Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)
 * Once Upon a Studio (2023)
 * Wish (2023)
 * Animated franchises, such as Spider-Verse (2018-present), Wreck-It Ralph (2012-2018), Hotel Transylvania (2012-2022), Shrek (2001-present), The Lego Movie (2014-present) and Toy Story (1995-present)

List of pop culture fiction filmmakers

 * Mel Brooks
 * Quentin Tarantino
 * Richard Linklater
 * Edgar Wright
 * Kevin Smith

List of pop culture fiction in comic format

 * Scott Pilgrim which used various 1980s gaming references.
 * Warren Ellis's Planetary.
 * Outside of Western media, works such as Hayate The Combat Butler and Gin Tama have also become famous examples.

List of pop culture fiction in television

 * Saturday Morning All Star Hits!
 * The aforementioned Mystery Science Theater 3000
 * Animaniacs
 * Seinfeld
 * WandaVision
 * Community
 * Stranger Things
 * Arrested Development
 * Futurama
 * The Simpsons
 * Rick and Morty
 * South Park
 * Family Guy
 * The Boys