Movie Intertextuality

When I was first introduced to the idea of intertextuality, I began thinking of all the movies I had seen that made references to other movies. These types of allusions are the easiest forms of intertextuality to spot, in my opinion. The clip above is from the movie "Master of Disguise" starring Dana Carvey. The whole movie is peppered with his own impersonations and allusions to other characters which are good examples of horizontal intertextuality. If you hadn't been first introduced to the movie "Jaws," you might just think Dana was pretending to be a fisherman in this scene rather than portraying a specific fisherman. Dana was so good at becoming different people in this movie, they even brought Jessica Simpson on set to play herself (but act like Dana Carvey was playing her). TV, movies, theater. Intertextuality is everywhere, not just in advertising.