Questions about cultural specificities in the film

Pajarobelga, this is an excellent thread and I'm sure that you're going to get a lot of help with this. I must tell you that I'm British so I won't be able to help on everything but let's see what we can do.
- Lisa Sorenson was just a generic, made-up name that implies the kind of student who, when they get to college, join any number of issue groups in a quest for their own identity. The idea of the joke is of so many students become very left-wing politically but as more of a "badge" than of something that they truly believe in or understand. Also, I think that Greenwich village ("the village") in New York has a liberal, left-wing tradition
- Bela Lugosi as Mayor of New York. I think that New York had a reputation of being a badly run, crime-ridden, dirty city (the cover of the first "Ramones" album, from 1976, is of the four guys standing by a dumpster in New York). In Miles' situation, the temptation might be to tell the Doctors any old nonsense. The joke is that being Mayor of New York would be such an impossible job that the stress of it would make any person look as horrific as Lugosi. See if you can find the excellent film "The Taking Of Pelham 1,2,3". I think that it was made a year after "Sleeper" and it contains a very fine satirical portrayal of a New York Mayor.
- I don't think that Kugat is a Jewish term. I think that it was just a word invented by Woody and Marshall Brickman for 200 years in the future. I've never heard of McKuen either; I think that that might be a writer's name invented by them too.
- You are correct about The Quakers.
- New Jersey is seen as a rough area of the New York area. The series "The Sopranos" is set there. The cliched reputation is of an area that has very little going on there which would make a person want to stay in New Jersey.
- The Ph.D oral sex/Spanish joke is just a reference to how people often study two or more subjects. I think Miles justs finds the idea of a student saying "I'm studying Spanish and oral sex" funny in that context.
- I think that 'Tiger's Milk' was an actual health drink of the time. I don't think that it has any literal connection to tigers.

I hope this has been of some help. As I say, I'm British and I've not even visited the USA so hopefully, they will be some New Yorkers or other Americans (scorp gal 03?) who can read this thread and correct, amplify, or otherwise improve upon what I've said.

Sorry for jumping around a bit, but there are some that were answered and others I don't know, either

- New Jersey is often seen as having all the bad aspects of New York, but without any of the good. I don't know how universal that is, but most people I've met outside of New York/New Jersey/Western Connecticut don't seem to know it.

- Many people don't like having to study a foreign language, but are required to for most liberal arts colleges (the type that would most likely offer a PhD in oral sex). Woody is trying to bring the conversation to a more "normal" level. I don't believe it's a sexual term on its own (like French or Greek are). Speaking of which, I love hearing Americans talk about "French kisses" around Europeans - I just wanted to add that.

- Correct on Quakers. They're also known as the "Society Of Friends"

I'm only, what, five, six years late here? I think 'Cugat' would be a reference to bandleader Xavier Cugat, used here as an artistic ultimate by Luna, praising her friend's painting as 'Keane...no, greater than Keane' (referring to Walter and Margaret Keane, who introduced those horrifying wide-eyed kid portraits to the world.)

"McKuen" is a reference to poet and songwriter Rod McKuen (1933 - ).

Haven't read all the replies, so perhaps these have been answered already.

First, it must be pointed out that Bela Lugosi was the most famous actor to play Count Dracula, the vampire, literally a bloodsucker. A bloodsucker is also slang for someone who drains money, power, etcl from something or someone for their own benefit, as would a dishonest politician such as the Mayor of New York. Additionally, his Dracula make-up was white, making him look like a dead person, so he is referring to how the job has drained the mayor, making him look unhealthy.

New Jersey: many television shows were written by or took place in Manhattan, and they often made fun of New Jersey for various reasons. Manhattanites make fun of everybody, considering them less sophisticated, even other New Yorkers, whom they call "the bridge and tunnel" crowd, referring to the two main ways to get onto the island of Manhattan. Further, the areas of New Jersey visible from Manhattan until recently were dried yellow marshland and oil refineries.

McKuen, very popular for a brief period, was indeed considered "Pop culture" by the literate set. Not a serious talent.

Finally, Spanish might be a reference to Spanish Fly, a supposed female aphrodisiac, which would help if she were studying sexual technique. Or, it might have just been referring to a required foreign language course.

Adios.

It's a little late for your class project, but many of the American cultural references from 1973 also go right past younger Americans.