Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Netflix's They Cloned Tyrone.
Summary
- "They Cloned Tyrone" is a film filled with references and easter eggs, including nods to Blaxploitation movies, science fiction, music, and real-world conspiracies.
- The movie features references to pop culture figures like Shalamar, Kevin Bacon in "Hollow Man," Denzel Washington in "Training Day" and "Book of Eli," and Anaconda Malt Liquor from "Black Dynamite."
- Other references include "Clockwork Orange," "The X-Files," "Nancy Drew & Scooby-Doo," Michael Jackson, "The Berenstain Bears," Erykah Badu's song "Tyrone," "A Christmas Carol," and Juvenile's song "Back That Thang Up." The film also alludes to "The Wizard of Oz" with its characters on a journey to uncover the truth about their neighborhood.
From callbacks to Blaxploitation movies to references to science fiction, music, and real-world conspiracies, They Cloned Tyrone features it all in its 2-hour runtime. Directed by Juel Taylor, They Cloned Tyrone unfolds in a seemingly ordinary neighborhood called The Glen. In The Glen, Tyrone lives out the day-to-day snags of a drug dealer until, one day, something strange happens. When he shows up at Slick Charles' motel room one day, asking him for money, Charles claims he saw him die the previous night. Slick even backs up his claim by getting the testimony of a sex worker, Yo-Yo.
With this, Yo-Yo, Slick, and Fontaine set out on an adventure in their neighborhood that exposes them to the nefarious government conspiracies that have been gradually spreading their roots under their feet all this while. While walking viewers through the trio's investigation of The Glen and its underlying conspiracies, They Cloned Tyrone features several intriguing references. Hence, here's a breakdown of the many easter eggs the movie features throughout its runtime.
13 Shalamar
In They Cloned Tyrone, Yo-Yo is a sex worker who first talks about "giving a Shalamar" to a client who cannot afford her other costlier services named after Hollywood actors. She later mentions "Shalamar" while convincing Got Damn Chicken Fries' manager to give her the secret recipe for their chicken. "Shalamar" here refers to an American R&B and soul music band active primarily in the 1970s and 1980s. Since Yo-Yo creatively names her services after pop-culture figures, she seemingly names one after the R&B group as well.
12 Hollow Man
When Tyrone asks Yo-Yo if he had seen her on the night of his death, Yo-Yo lampoons him in They Cloned Tyrone by asking if he is Kevin Bacon. Her joke is a reference to the movie Hollow Man in which Kevin Bacon plays the role of a scientist who goes invisible. This subtle callback to the Kevin Bacon movie also seems to have a deeper meaning since, like They Cloned Tyrone, Hollow Man deals with the dire consequences of over-ambitious technological developments that break ethical and moral boundaries.
11 Training Day or Book of Eli
To execute Slick's final plan of infiltrating The Glen's underground facility, Isaac practices his acting skills in They Cloned Tyrone's final arc. During these practices, one of his friends says that his acting is reminiscent of Denzel Washington. When Isaac asks, "Training Day or Book of Eli," his friend says, "Book of Eli," which encourages him to practice a little more. This hilarious reference is a nod to two Denzel Washington movies. While one (Training Day) ranks among his best works, the other (Book of Eli) was critically panned after its release, which explains why Isaac does not want to be Book of Eli's Denzel Washington.
10 Black Dynamite
They Cloned Tyrone's main character, Fontaine, drinks "Anaconda Malt Liquor" in many scenes. In the closing arc, his clone Tyrone also walks past a wall with posters of the same liquor brand. This is a direct nod to the fictional malt liquor brand from Black Dynamite, another satirical blaxploitation film revolving around a nefarious conspiracy against black people. While this reference does not necessarily confirm the two movies unfold in the same universe, it affirms that Anaconda Malt Liquor was another product the government used in They Cloned Tyrone to control The Glen's residents.
9 Clockwork Orange
When Yo-Yo, Fontaine, and Slick first learn about the nefarious activities of The Glen's underground labs, Slick says that they are "clockwork orange-ing" their people. They Cloned Tyrone also emulates the iconic theater scene from Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange by showing how a black woman is forced to watch manipulative imagery with her eyes forcefully kept open using metal clips. These scenes highlight how They Cloned Tyrone borrows several ideas and themes from Clockwork Orange, with the primary difference being that Clockwork Orange's protagonist willingly surrenders to a government experiment while They Cloned Tyrone's characters are forced into them.
8 X-Files
Yo-Yo drops a reference to X-Files in They Cloned Tyrone as she, Fontaine, and Slick set out to investigate Fontaine's death from the previous night. This reference hints that although Yo-Yo, Fontaine, and Slick are unaware of what they are about to uncover, they are on their way to finding secrets falling outside the realm of conventional investigation. Like Mulder and Scully unearth many government cover-ups in X-Files, They Cloned Tyrone's central trio discover a conspiracy that lurks under their neighborhood.
7 Nancy Drew & Scooby-Doo
There is a whole collection of Nancy Drew books in Yo-Yo's room, hinting at where her knack for solving mysteries comes from. Drawing inspiration from the fictional sleuth, Yo-Yo uses her resourcefulness and network of friends to get to the bottom of The Glen's mysteries in They Cloned Tyrone. Like Nancy Drew, she also often sports timeless outfits with neutral colors. In one scene, even Slick subtly nods to Nancy Drew by referring to her as the "Scooby-Doo" girl.
6 Michael Jackson
In They Cloned Tyrone's opening scene, a man claims he saw Michael Jackson. While his friends refuse to believe him, he seems sure he saw the late pop star in the flesh. This Michael Jackson reference sets the stage for the movie's action as it foreshadows how the government is cloning black people, and although the man from the opening scene might have seen someone else who merely looks like the "King of Pop," there are people in The Glen like Slick and Fontaine who have returned from the dead many a time.
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5 The Berenstain Bears
When Yo-Yo claims that a grand conspiracy is brewing in The Glen, Slick cites The Berenstain Bears as an example to confirm if he is on the same page as her. He seems to be referring to the conspiracy surrounding the title of the TV show The Berenstain Bears, which has been a subject of debate for several years. While some recall the show's spelling as "The Berenstein Bears," others remember the original "Berenstain." This confusion surrounding its spelling has given birth to theories suggesting the existence of alternate universes where both spellings exist.
This reference is interesting given how They Cloned Tyrone seems to unfold in an alternate timeline where crypto and blockchain exist, but the people of The Glen still walk around with flip phones. Even their pop-culture references are from a myriad of eras and their dressing styles and hairstyles, too, do not conform to any particular time period. While The Berenstain Bears reference could just be a throwaway gag, it could be subtle hint for They Cloned Tyrone's setting and timeline.
4 Erykah Badu's Tyrone
Erykah Badu explained in an interview (via Tamron Hall Show) that her original song "Tyrone" had nothing to do with the Netflix movie and revolved around her lampooning a conversation between her aunts. For the movie, however, she changed her original "Tyrone" to "Who Cloned Tyrone" and even altered its lyrics to make it more suitable for the movie's overarching themes. Her song plays towards the film's closing moments and seems perfectly in sync with They Cloned Tyrone's ending twist.
3 A Christmas Carol
Slick Charles has a Scrooge moment in They Cloned Tyrone when he sees Fontaine return from the dead. When he finds Fontaine knocking at his door a day after he watches him die, Slick panics and instantly assumes that he is "the ghost of the Christmas past." Since this Christmas Carol reference is a throwaway gag, it does not necessarily add any heft to They Cloned Tyrone's overarching storyline. It does, however, add some comical depth to Slick's characterization and highlights how Jamie Foxx has perfect comedic delivery and timing.
2 Juvenile's Back That Thang Up
In their pursuit to solve The Glen's mysteries in They Cloned Tyrone, Yo-Yo, Fontaine, and Slick visit a local church where the mass begins with a regular gospel but gradually picks up the pace and turns into a beat from Juvenile's "Back That Thang Up." This scene is hilarious because the hinted song is inappropriate for a church setting. At the same time, it is also dark in the sense that it foreshadows how music is being used as a medium to control the masses, and even the Preacher at the church is a pre-programmed clone.
1 Wizard Of Oz
The homeless man, who seems to be the only one aware of The Glen's inner workings in They Cloned Tyrone, says, "Off to the see the wizard again" to Tyrone in an initial scene where Tyrone starts getting slightly suspicious about his neighborhood. This Wizard Of Oz nod is interesting because They Cloned Tyrone seems to share many parallels with the classic story. In many ways, Yo-Yo, Slick, and Fontaine seem to represent Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man as they set out to find the metaphorical Emerald City of their neighborhood.
However, when they finally find the "wizard" who pulls the strings, they realize he is not as powerful and benevolent as they had imagined. In the end, like Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man, They Cloned Tyrone's central trio realizes that their journey towards finding The Glen's truth was more about discovering their own strength and virtues. As a result, they stop letting their external environment hold them back and set out to leave their neighborhood in They Cloned Tyrone's ending moments.
