As mentioned elsewhere in this website, oftentimes allusions come to primarily mean whichever referent for that allusion is most popular. While lots of shows and films use the “freeze-enhance” maneuver to be dramatic in revelatory moments, it’s arguably most popularized by the original Blade Runner purely because of how popular Blade Runner was. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, asking someone who has about this seen would probably lead to them saying this is the original, and everyone else is copying (feel free to fact check them).

1. Analysis: Time for some historical digging (or if you’re more science oriented, looking for the center of the universe)! A hefty part of any culture stems from its ability to pick up something new, internalize it, tweak it to be more personalized, and replicate it. Pick a trope, moment, cliche, scene, action, character archetype, etc. that you see occuring often and do some research to see where it comes from. Some questions you can work to answer include: When, where, why, and how did it become popular? How has it evolved, devolved, and mutated? How has it been used through the ages? Who has been using it all this time, and why?

2. Composition: Ever heard the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses?” Some of you may know it by the Kardashian title, but they didn’t come up with that on their own. This is an American phrase securely traced back to a comic strip from the mid-1900s, but has a few roots going back into the mid-to-late 1800s with several prominent American authors and wealthy social elites. History aside, this popular adage uses a rich American family as an allusion to embody the wealthy success of American capitalism. If you could be turned into an allusion - either as an idiom like this, an adjective like “tantalizing,”  or a verb (“he magnetoed away”), what would you want to be known for? What would your allusion mean?