The other day I was confronted by a situation that has become depressingly familiar: an allusion to someone who is clearly well-known to many, but whose existence had hitherto been completely unknown to me.
In this case, it was the redoubtable Tom Knighton, whose substack efforts are definitely worthy of subscription in general, but sadly out of my reach because #Poverty. Writing a very Kim-like essay (minus Kim’s swears), he was talking about the evils of technology being used to spy on people and control their lives — in this case, electricity supply — which is an issue near and dear to me, as Loyal Readers will be aware.
However, towards the end, Knighton writes this:
When I thought I wanted a cyberpunk future, I meant with Dina Meyer running through the streets of some city while we tried to find a cybernetic dolphin, not this crap.
Who?
It turns out that this Dina Meyer is an actress who has had a fairly long and interesting career, with appearances in many, many movies and TV shows: none of which I’ve ever watched, other than (in the TV case) a few episodes of a show in which she may have appeared but clearly didn’t register with me. Here are a few examples, just to illustrate the situation.
Apparently, Miss Meyer started off her career in Beverly Hills 90210, of which I’ve never watched a single episode. She’s also appeared in some movies (Johnny Mnemonic, Starship Troopers, Saw I-III, Dragonheart and one of the Star Trek movies), none of which I’ve seen because their genres (sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc.) have absolutely no appeal to me.
While Tom Knighton clearly knows who she is and uses her as some kind of cultural reference, it’s perfectly possible that as good an actress as she may be, Dina Meyer has heretofore floated completely under my finely-adjusted and alert Totty Radar, however much of a cultural lodestar she may be. Lest others find themselves sailing with me on board the same Ship Of Ignorance, therefore, I submit the following:
It seems somewhat strange that she’s survived and prospered thus far (into her late 50s, good grief) without my ever having spotted her before, but it’s a factor of her role- and genre choices rather than my inattentiveness.
Anyway, there’s no need to thank me: it’s all part of the service.
I saw her (all of her…) in Starship Troopers and then I saw her again in Dragonheart, but I don’t think i’ve seen anything else she’s been in. Despite that, I at least know her name and hearing it brings a memory of her (younger) face to mind. Seeing current pictures makes me think “wow… fine wine there.”
Amanda Righetti next? I know her from “The Mentalist” and I think there was some forgettable sci-fi show about alien invaders she had a minor role in too. She still comes to mind for me whenever someone asks for the name of a stunning ginger.
Dina Meyer would be memorable if only for rightly famous coed shower scene in Starship Troopers where she figures prominently. She may not be a great actress, but she specializes in the beautiful, but tough, girl roles and is always pleasant to watch in whatever state of undress that is required.
I have no idea who she is, but that is true of most famous people and always has been because I don’t care and never really did.
One of the many traits we share, Vonzie.
I too was introduced to Fraulein Meyer in Starship Troopers. A pulp show I generally enjoyed. I enjoyed the Dina Meyer parts better than the others.
One of the funnier points though of the movie in general was the director commentary (it was the early days of DVD so that was new). Listening to Verhoven try to twist a Heinlein novel he never read and didn’t understand into an anti-facist diatribe, that the Heinlein sci-fi geeks I worked with just LOVED was priceless.
To be fair I could never get through Heinlein’s stuff either, and the geeks who adored him would be the first chewed up in his world, made it even funnier.
Find pics of Ms. Myers and her “Starship Troopers” co-starlet, the pretty-but-rancid Denise Richards (circa 1997) , and you’ll understand the meme:
“Part of growing up is understanding why Rico should have chosen Dizzy (Myers) over Carmen (Richards).”
The cultural reference is all from Johnny Mnemonic, where she and Keanu Reeves need to find a cybernetic dolphin to help get some information out of Keanu’s head.
She’s also in an awful Lifetime movie called “Lethal Seduction” where she plays a MILF that seduces a teenaged guy. Movie is terrible but she’s luscious in it.