In Hot Tub Time Machine an unwitting group of time-travelers to the 1980s are able to deduce their dislocation in time through a combination of real world signifiers (fashion, hair styles, technology) in addition to the usual televisual montage featuring an esoteric array of 1980s signifiers: Ronald Reagan, Alf, David Bowie, MTV, etc. The lightning history montage relies on a combination of period-specific iconography and preexisting knowledge in viewers, effectively rewarding and reinforcing stereotypes and reductive, shorthand historical signification.