Why is Harold and Maude mentioned in There's Something About Mary?

Question

I was rewatching There's Something about Mary recently and in the movie they specifically mention Harold and Maude. I've never seen it but I've heard that movie is kind of weird. It is about a boy that ends up dating a much older woman from what I understand. In There's Something About Mary, Mary says it is the greatest love story of our time.

I was wondering is there some sort of underlying joke or any thematic elements that Something About Mary and Harold and Maude share? Have the Farrelly brothers ever mentioned anything about it? My cursory google searches haven't provided me with much on the subject.

Here is a clip from There's Something about Mary: https://vimeo.com/127384854

And this happens after Healy listens in on a conversation between Mary and Magda.

Mary: It's like that movie Harold and Maude.

Magda: I don't watch the new ones.

Mary: Well, you should, because it's probably the greatest love story of our time.

Answer 1

Although you may never see it online, there is no doubt that the Farrelly Brothers and other directors like Wes Anderson are huge fans of the great Hal Ashby.

When Matt Dillon brings up the movie the second time, he has to throw in a second movie and there is nothing that is so opposite Harold and Maude as The Karate Kid. You assume he has no taste, so the implication is that The Karate Kid is not on par with Harold and Maude. So, this was a tribute to a great cult classic. It was a film that surely influenced the brothers.