So this is a thing I’m stealing from somewhere else.
Of course, the problem is that four isn’t nearly enough. Also, what you like now isn’t necessarily what was formative, and trying to pin down what was formative instead of just what you still think is good is hard. And so on and so on. So, uh, just try and stick to the premise while winging it, and accept that you won’t be content with your answer?
Mine:
Nethack
Aliens
Trainspotting (the book, specifically)
Rage Against the Machine
I’m an old-school clanky 90’s boxy Apple-mac Moria player, and Nethack was way too complicated for me so I have immediate respect for anyone who can play it without losing in mere seconds.
Four things, bearing in mind formative vs now etc:
Cheekbones of Sherwood! I had to look up other pictures to find out whether Michael Praed actually looked like that in the show. (I’ve concluded that whoever did his hair and makeup for this promo photo was a bit crazed.)
(I also now want to see Noel Fielding as Robin.)
Um. There are lots more but these are what come to mind.
Aliens, again.
The BBC Micro. (Also the VIC-20 before it, and the Atari ST after it.)
My Friend Mr Leakey (this is the edition I had)
GDW’s “Starter Edition” of Traveller (the second RPG I got seriously into, after D&D)
I don’t think I can link specific artwork to fundamental changes or development of my self. The biggest thing would be Lord of the Rings. I read the first two as a child of ten, but the third was still being translated (best translation of anything I have read, as the poetry came through even better in Icelandic).
Anyway, I learned English so I could read the third book before the translation came out. Still know it as a third language and I read many books in English, probably more than in Icelandic, given how few memoirs or specialized works of military history are translated into Icelandic. Plus, I have an aversion to reading translations if I know the language well enough to read the work in the original language.
I don’t think I can pinpoint any other specific book, movie or TV show as formative. Life experiences, yes. Consuming art in any specific media, not really.
Maybe collectively, the old Norse myths, sagas and poetry, on one hand, and then Romantic poetry, Icelandic, German and English, especially if I can include Yeats as the last of them. Alternatively, perhaps Yeats could be classed with the modernists, who would then constitute the fourth and last category.
Umberto Eco is a huge inspiration. Maybe, if I had to name just four artworks, his Foucault’s Pendulum would be on the list.
So, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H., W.B. Yeats’s An Irish Airman Foresees His Death and Umberto Eco’s Foucalt’s Pendulum. That leaves out Sólarljóð, perhaps the most beautiful poem written in Old Norse, and it also leaves out poets like Neo-Romantic Tómas Guðmundsson, the poet of my city, my neighbourhood and my gymnasium, not to mention Einar Benediktson, Davíð Stefánsson, Hannes Hafstein, etc.
Also, I’m not sure that just leaving Shakespeare off such a list is even legal, but how would I pick just one of his plays?
Favorite childhood author. I read so many of her books but always came back to Ramona. Entire scenes can still play through my head even though it’s been 30+ years since I read the books.
Runner up: The Wrinkle in Time series. Similar sense of identifying with a character and also possible origin of love of scifi.
Ignited my passions for history and fighting injustice when I was 11. Would I have a PhD in history, teach at an HBCU, or give tours of an 1800s Free Black settlement without this book? I honestly don’t know.
Not my first Shakespeare but the first time I heard the language sing and knew words could be more than plot and characters.
The first time I read a book and consciously realized it was changing my worldview.
These are some of the early works that have fueled my interest in the magic of the natural world (and in art for that matter), in ‘making do’, and in being a weirdo: The Tree that Sat Down (Beverley Nichols, 1945); Loom (LucasArts, 1990); Gonzo’s brief performance art pieces at the start of every Muppet Show, 1976-81; ‘Cooch’ from Footrot Flats (Murray Ball’s comic strip on New Zealand farming life, 1976-95).
I will see if I can do this on my phone…
Star Control
I am still pretty deadly with an Ur-Quan Dreadnaught. Just sayin’.
Lord of the Rings
Terry Pratchett
Robotech
UHF in particular: I recently had to tell people about CONAN THE LIBRARIAN because dewey decimal system came up.
Wait, so, how evil are we talking about?
Because I’d definitely be willing to wear a fur coat made from a 101 Dalmatian puppies if it meant I wouldn’t have to use any rules designed by Palladium…
My brother (who I love dearly, but is very difficult to like) was a con artist who “earned” millions and millions in dodgey schemes and questionable business practices.
Before that he spent a few months in prison for drug trafficking.
But my parents thought he went bad a year or two before that when he started butting heads with my dad. They are both very strong personalities, and they argued and fought A LOT before my brother moved out.
The Palladium rules system was better than 1st ed D&D, which isn’t saying a lot… and, technically, I bought the sequel book (“The Sentinels”) which didn’t include rules. So far about 6 months I GM’d with rules I made up based on what I thought the rules would be.
The combat was particularly bad. But the world building was often great.
Trying to pick out stuff where I know they changed what I was interested in / how I understood my tastes in media. In chronological order:
Since it says four-ish, I can pick one from my 6 relevant categories each.
Some difficult choices here. But I think these explain a lot about my current tastes. It is not just favorites but some huge influences. If i was closer to a keyboard I’d explain in more detail but writing on mobile i think the pictures must suffice. the next keyboard is 10 days away
Very nearly put Neuromancer and VtM 2nd ed myself 
