Brave New World in popular culture

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Brave New World in popular culture covers the influences of the novel Brave New World on popular culture and mass media such as television and film, as well as the influences upon the book from such sources.

Contents 1 Influences on the novel 2 Influences of Brave New World 2.1 Film & television 2.2 Music 2.3 Video games 3 Education reform 4 Notes

[edit] Influences on the novel

Prior to the publication of Brave New World in 1932, dystopian fiction was primarily established in popular culture by the influence of pulp fiction and the 1927 Metropolis – a silent, German expressivist film which featured a futuristic dystopia with a very rigidly defined class structure.

[edit] Influences of Brave New World

[edit] Film & television

• In the notorious ending of 1933 movie Dinner at Eight, Kitty Packard (Jean Harlow) tells Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) about reading Brave New World, though she never mentions it by name, saying, "It's all about civilization or something, a nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?", to which Carlotta famously replied, eyeing Kitty's figure, "Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about."

• The 1993 movie Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Nigel Hawthorne, repeatedly makes allusions to Brave New World. Both involve a mechanised future where everybody is kept happy, where undesirable things (those that reduce society's happiness) are banned. A couple of references to the book include the fact that Sandra Bullock's character is named Lenina Huxley, a mix of Lenina Crowne and Aldous Huxley, and a scene where Lenina Huxley tells John Spartan (Stallone's character), "John, you're a savage!" calling John the Savage to mind. At one point in the movie Snipes' character says, "It's a brave new world," to Spartan. The movie is otherwise not related to the book.

• The 1998 (made-for-TV) movie Brave New World, starring Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy, is an abridged version of the original story. The numerous alterations to the novel include the absence of the Epsilon caste as well as the Plus/Minus inter-caste distinctions, the characterisation of Linda as a"savage" who was seduced by the Alpha DHC, the addition of a Delta who was conditioned by the DHC to kill Bernard Marx, John the Savage falling off a cliff while being pursued by the paparazzi and Mond giving Marx the job of DHC (after the previous one was fired), which he leaves when Lenina becomes pregnant with his child. The film ends with Marx and Lenina raising their child in a Savage Reservation.

• The series premier for the third season for the television show SeaQuest DSV/2032 was titled "Brave New World", portraying a futuristic, dystopic future, in which the world is under the threat of a megacorporation called Deon International and a fascist Pacific empire called the Macronesian Alliance.

• The 2002 movie Equilibrium, which describes a dystopian futuristic world, borrows several themes from Brave New World. The film depicts a world society created in the aftermath of a catastrophic war, in which an all-powerful world government has eliminated war, crime, and poverty through compulsory use of the sedative drug "Prozium". All races have equality and citizens of the society wear colour-coded clothing according to their class. Outside the clean, efficient cities are "The Nethers", a reference to the Savage Reservations of Brave New World. The Nethers, which encompass the ruins of cities destroyed during the war, are home to those who do not wish to live in the new society. Equilibrium borrows imagery from Brave New World such as the "T" symbol and colour-coded clothing.

• In The Simpsons episode "They Saved Lisa's Brain" the town is ruled by the most intelligent members of society. They refer to themselves as the Alphas.

• Brave New World is mentioned in the 2004 movie, Garden State, relating it to the drug use in their town. The character who mentions the novel however, can't seem to recall the author's name, referring to him as "Aldous...something". He eventually "remembers" the name as "Aldous Huxtable".

[edit] Music

• The Steve Miller Band album Brave New World, featuring the title track "Brave New World", September, 1969.

• Singer-songwriter Donovan recorded a song titled "Brave New World" on his eponymous 1977 album, borrowing from the book's themes, and declaring "Test-tube brother, test-tube sister, it'll never be," with the preservation of the family.

• The 1979 album (and the 1982 movie based on the album) The Wall by Pink Floyd has a song named "Goodbye Blue Sky", which features the line "Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a Brave New World unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?". This references the similitudes of post-war Europe and the conditions of the world described in the novel.

• The Swedish band Tiamat made a song named "Love Is As Good As Soma," a reference to the book.

• Released in 1978, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, the novel by H. G. Wells, has a song named "Brave New World" describing The Artilleryman's dream of a human resistance society living underground, safe from the Martians that have taken over the Earth.

• English singer Toyah had a UK Singles Chart no. 21 hit in 1982 with the song "Brave New World" from her album The Changeling, which is partially inspired by the novel.

• The band The Smashing Pumpkins created a song entitled "Soma" which is evidently inspired by the novel.

• In 1991, a Detroit based electro-pop / synthpop named Brave New World was formed. They signed to the A Different Drum label in 1996. They have released several CD. Most notable songs include "Regret", "Winter Song", "Falling", and "Drug".

• The 2000 album and song Brave New World by Iron Maiden. Both the song and the album are inspired by the novel.

• Reagan Youth released a song named "Brave New World," which describes the conditions of the novel.

• The dance track "Opera Song," by Jurgen Vries, features a chorus with the lines "and it's a brave new world that we live in... we have no control of our feelings."

• New York City rockers The Strokes have a song on their 2001 Is This It? debut with a song entitled "Soma" that is possibly inspired by the drug of the same name in Huxley's novel (although ambiguous lyrics might also suggest it be directly named after the real-life plant).

• On their album, The Woods, the band Sleater-Kinney released a song called "Modern Girl" which features the line "I'm sick of this brave new world."

• The Australian band Pendulum's song "Coma" features the lyrics taken from a song quoted by Lenina in the book itself, "Hug me til you drug me honey/Kiss me til I'm in a coma."

• The 1995 album "Sensations of Tone" by G.O.L includes a track titled "Soma Holiday", featuring lyrics taken from the novel.

• The 2003 album The Golden Age Of Grotesque by Marilyn Manson has a song entitled "Ka-Boom Ka-Boom," which features the line "Inhale, exhale, let's all hail / It's a depraved new world."

• The 2003 album Admirável Chip Novo (is Portuguese for Brave New Chip) and the track "Admirável Chip Novo" by the Brazilian rock band Pitty.

• In 2006, synth pop band Covenant released Skyshaper, an album which contains a track titled "Brave New World." The song and its lyrics may be partially inspired by the novel of the same name.

• The internet radio station soma.fm is named after the drug Soma in Brave New World and claims to play music "safe with most medications".

• The song "905" by The Who is about the book.

[edit] Video games

• In a recent interview, Kang Kijong, producer of MMOFPS Huxley, revealed that the title of the game and some of the game contents have been inspired by the novel.
• In the popular simulation computer game The Sims, the largest television set that the Sims can purchase is called the "Soma" model. It's the perfect way for Sims to forget their troubles, and lull themselves into a tranquil state of passiveness.

[edit] Education reform

• Berit Kjos in her book Brave New Schools warns that "if these programs are implmented, all children will be monitored through a national computerized data transmission system designed to build a permanent, personal file on every child. No one will be safe from the watchful eyes of those who control the new "school-to-work" system."^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Brave New Schools Book by Berit Kjos