BoM/TWS Message Forum

This isn't the real world. And although pop culture references are fine (and frankly the world would feel fake if they didn't exist), my personal feeling is that celebrities etc. should not be the genuine article.

It's impossible to make a world feel genuine without some references. For example, Will's film class showing Casablanca, or freshman English teaching To Kill A Mockingbird, or for the X-Men, Harry Potter and the Sega Dreamcast to exist. Likewise, it's fine to hang out a a DQ, McDonalds or Starbucks. But this is just fluff - this is color. The moment it becomes a key plot point - like x2z or impersonating a celebrity - then we revert to fiction.

Also those 'omg possess celebrity' storylines invariably end up with the same five or six celebrities. Oh, look. Someone's got a crush on Emma Watson. Again. It's boring.