Because it's the typical response in media to point out a joke instead of letting it stick. "Oh, that's a [blank] reference!" and similar lines are said because "I saw it on that show I like and the character I like points out jokes!"
Honestly it's been a thing since I could remember (18 years). I don't watch much media either, but when I do, 9/10 times it'll have that stupid "I understand that reference!" joke.
Idk it just started happening. I'm not that connected to modern media, but I do know that it is a very common thing for characters to do, and I've had friends in high school try to model their entire person off of movies or characters.
Because it's the typical response in media to point out a joke instead of letting it stick. "Oh, that's a [blank] reference!" and similar lines are said because "I saw it on that show I like and the character I like points out jokes!"
Can you give an estimate to when this started being the case? I am not in touch with modern media content.
Honestly it's been a thing since I could remember (18 years). I don't watch much media either, but when I do, 9/10 times it'll have that stupid "I understand that reference!" joke.
Idk it just started happening. I'm not that connected to modern media, but I do know that it is a very common thing for characters to do, and I've had friends in high school try to model their entire person off of movies or characters.