Never underestimate the power of a bored nerd. However, you are comparing something rather obscure, to something that is more scifi mainstream.

There's a difference of scope and scale. I didn't say that nobody knew of these references, just that, comparatively, there's a difference. A scope difference.

For example Terminator's getting kind of old. And while a different genre, would you believe I met somebody that didn't even know who Clint Eastwood was?

These things just aren't as deep in our psyche, as religions that have lasted thousands of years, or legends that are hundreds of years old. Our entire culture is wrapped around these religions, and legends.

Anyhow, truthfully, my point is that this sort of concept is abstract to people, even if they saw it in a movie that doesn't make it concrete to them.