Everybody uses pop culture as a shorthand. You might make an obscure reference to Monty Python or Iron Eagle that only some people will get, but if they do it conveys a world of meaning.
Ernest ClineMy characters are all kind of geek archetypes of people I've encountered at gaming and comic book conventions.
Ernest ClineVirtual sex, no matter how realistic, was really nothing but glorified, computer-assisted masturbation.
Ernest Cline