Steven Carrington recites in its entirety the Emily Dickinson poem "Much Madness is divinest Sense."
Matthew's story about having his own underdog oil rig, with his name on it, that tycoon Blake wants for himself, is very similar to the movie Giant with Bo Hopkins as the James Dean character, which is ironic since Dean was obviously an influence on Hopkins, who played a hoodlum very similar to how James Dean acts in his movies in American Graffiti, set during that time.