i wouldn't be too hard on your professor, at least not without getting
a clearer sense of what HE means by cultural knowledge . . . as the
responses on list have demonstrated, it can mean a wide range of
things, some much more generally relevant than others . . . consider
ANNIE HALL, for example: it contains, just for starters
        a] a wide range of what we're calling insider jokes;
        b] social satire about the california life style ["the only
advantage
of living in california is being able to make a right turn on red"];
        c] allusions to what might be called "jewish life styles" and how
they differ from "american/christian life styles" [esp. the dining table
scene];
        d] references to the commercialization of romantic love;
        e] a complex discourse about the relationship of performing
arts [theater and music] to life;
        f] and, of course, it is anchored firmly in highly conventional --

even if widespread -- notions about romantic love . . .

i'm inclined to say that to "fully" get the film one has to be aware
of all of these things -- but it's safer to be less normative and claim
merely that those are [among] the things that a certain new york
audience would get and appreciate

now each of these different elements requires a certain degree of
cultural knowledge, ranging from something as specific as new york
city trafic regulations at the one extreme to something as common
as the conventions of romantic love on the other . . . the fact that the
knowledge is so widespread that we're hardly aware of it as knowledge
doesn't change the point at all:  to understand a love story you need
to know something about the way in which people become attracted
to each other, and this too -- however basic-- has to count as part
of cultural knowledge . . .

so, on the one hand your teacher may be asking for something so
widespread that it's inevitably there in almost every movie ever
made . . . or, on the other hand, may be asking for something so
narrow as to be satisfied only by topical satire . . . my own sense
is that neither of these [in this crude form] would make a really
successful assignment . . . more than likely he has something
else in mind, something that has a specific focus without being
too limiting . . . so asking him to define what exactly HE means
by cultural knowledge seems absolutely the way to go right now,
cause -- as this thread has clearly shown -- it can mean a boat load
of different things

mike

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Through all the responses my eyes are slowly being opened to how limited
my assignment is.  In the terminology of my professor-"cultural knowledge"
is a lot more than insider jokes and satire.  And I will be addressing him
as to why he wants us (students) to focus primarily on the subject. Thanks
for the info and keep teaching me, Carolyn