It’s no secret that the Internet has its own private jokes. What might surprise some people is that most of them are based on movies or television from the past decade.

Memes like the “AWWWW YEAH” face or “clever girl” originated that from odd facial expressions or line deliveries from “Spiderman” or “Jurassic Park” and these jokes have begun to seep into conversations with friends or family. A big trend in film that people have noticed lately hasn’t been in subtle nuances paying homage to films from the 50s or thematic tributes to the work of classic directors but instead more films are being drenched in movie references.

And here’s why.

It’s no secret that filmmakers incorporate nods and homages to the films or shows they grew up with into the films they work on.

“Star Wars” pays tribute to the “Flash Gordon” serials that George Lucas enjoyed as a child. Most every person in filmmaking does this; some of the best films ever are taken in part from something the creator watched as a younger person.

Cut to the present when the kids who were born in the 70’s have become Hollywood’s “A” list and now the movies and music they enjoyed growing up with have become the ones being references constantly in film.

Think about “I Love You Man,” “Role Models,” or shows like “How I Met Your Mother. Remember how odd you thought all the shout outs to bands like Rush, Kiss or movies like “Star Wars” were? It was probably because the creators of the previously mentioned properties were huge fans of the same things growing up.

Writers like Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Quentin Tarantino not only do this but they’ve practically weaponized movie references. “Shaun of the Dead,” “Paul,” and “Kill Bill” blatantly reference the zombie craze of the 70’s, the science fiction craze of the 80s and the samurai/kung fu films of the 70’s.

Put into perspective, that means that in 10 years the next generation of filmmakers will pay homage to and heavily reference the films and shows that we grew up on. We’ll see movie characters discuss the oddities of the “Harry Potter” universe, reference Lady Gaga or even cult films of the 90s like “Wild Wild West”.

All in all, I am in love with the idea. Even though this also means that in a decade filmakers will be making spiritual sucessors and thematic remakes to “Twilight” and the entire sleezy vampire trend.

But the movie reference trend has spilled into all the other forms of media as well.

Characters in all types of media spout out movie quotes or do impressions to humor their friends or make a joke at a situation. Video games like “Borderlands” or “Battlefield Bad Company” are some great examples of well executed pop culture references in the middle of a video game.

This also works in reverse. On very rare occasion a joke from the Internet will be referenced by a movie character in an attempt to acknowledge some of the Internet’s more accessable jokes.

The most notable, but also horribily done, example of this comes from the viral video “I’m the jugganaut B****!”, which was a hilarious dub of the 90s animated X-men show. The video became so popular that in the film “X-men: the Last Stand” Vinnie Jones’ character, the Juggernaut, says to another character “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the juggernaut B****!” Fans of the video cracked up but the joke was lost on most casual audiences.

Our generation’s was the first to really grow up with the VCR and access to movies we could watch at any time so it’s no surprise that we as a newly formed subculture would have our own private jokes and references that will be lost on those older and younger than us.

It’s a good time to have grown up with movies. My brother and I have our own private language based solely on various video game sound effects and voices. My roommates and I frequently use movie quotes from corny movies we loved as kids to make each other laugh. I cannot say how many times I’ve started a sentence with the words “did you ever see _____? That movie is great!” usually followed by a popular line from that movie.

Will movie lines slowly creep into our daily vocabulary? I can only hope so.

I know people who have used cheesy lines from romantic films to win over their girlfriend.

It would be pretty great to not be the only person speaking mostly in references…