Absinthe in popular culture

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The legacy of absinthe as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink continues to this day. Absinthe has been seen or featured in fine art, movies, video, music and literature. The modern absinthe revival has had an effect on its portrayal. It is often shown as an unnaturally glowing green liquid which is set on fire before drinking, even though traditionally neither is true.

1 Arts & literature
2 Movies & TV
3 Music
4 Radio
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Arts & literature

L’Absinthe, by Edgar Degas.

Numerous artists and writers living in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries were noted absinthe drinkers and featured absinthe in their works. These include Vincent Van Gogh, Manet, Guy de Maupassant and Toulouse-Lautrec. Van Gogh spent a good deal of time painting in cafés but feared the bohemian lifestyle was damaging. During a fit in 1888, Van Gogh cut off his ear lobe and gave it to a brothel wench. This fit has often been said to have been absinthe-induced; nevertheless, there is no evidence to suggest this. According to Gauguin, Van Gogh had been acting in an unstable manner almost a week before the incident and had flung the only absinthe Gauguin had seen him order, instead of drinking it. Art historians still debate the exact cause or causes of Van Gogh's behavior.

Degas' painting "L'Absinthe" (1876) portrayed grim absinthe drinkers in a cafe. However it should be noted that Degas never called the painting "L'Absinthe"; it was either his art dealer or a later owner who gave it that name. Years later, it set off a flurry in the London art world, and the grim realism of "L'Absinthe" (a theme popular with bohemian artists) was perceived as a disease by London art critics and a lesson against alcohol and the French in general.

Picasso depicted absinthe in different media, including the paintings "Woman Drinking Absinthe" (1901) and "Bottle of Pernod and Glass" (1912), and the sculpture "Absinthe Glass" (1914). Oscar Wilde has been quoted as saying, "What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?"^[1] ^[2] In Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, disappointed with the quality of other liquor available, Robert Jordan turns to absinthe while fighting with the loyalist guerrillas. Absinthe also features in Hemingway's short story Hills Like White Elephants. Hemingway himself was an avid absinthe drinker and most likely procured his absinthe from Spain and Cuba after the ban.^[3] Later, absinthe figures heavily into the plot of The Basic Eight, a 1999 novel by Daniel Handler, the Bohemian characters of which are drawn to absinthe by its dangerous history.^[4]. Robert W. Service's poem, The Absinthe Drinkers, is set in a sidewalk cafe in Paris. In Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire Lestat believes that Claudia gave absinthe to twin brothers on whom he feeds, but she really gave them laudanum to kill them and as a result Lestat becomes quite weak. The same event is portrayed in the film version.

[edit] Movies & TV

Absinthe is found in the 1943 movie version of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (see above). In Lust for Life (1956) Vincent Van Gogh (played by Kirk Douglas) drinks absinthe several times. In Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, Prince Vlad (Oldman) drinks absinthe with Mina/Elizabeta (Ryder) in a London restaurant. In the film version Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire Lestat believes that Claudia gave absinthe to twin brothers on whom he feeds, but she really gave them laudanum to kill them and as a result Lestat becomes quite weak. The event is taken from the original novel. In Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Sally sends Jack a basket of food and drink. When Jack uncorks the bottle, a green butterfly/fairy flies out hinting that the bottle contains absinthe. Paul Verlaine is shown drinking absinthe in Total Eclipse (1995) where he describes it as "The Poet's third eye.". In Deceiver (1997), Tim Roth's character is shown drinking absinthe; the drink's legendary effects are highlighted in the plot. In From Hell (2001), Inspector Abberline (Johnny Depp) mixes laudanum with absinthe to make an addictive drink. Moulin Rouge! (2001) portrayed absinthe as the drink of the Bohemian revolution; Christian (Ewan McGregor ) drinks absinthe with newfound bohemian friends including Toulouse Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and Kylie Minogue is featured as the Absinthe 'Green Fairy'. Absinthe was also used indirectly as the subject of an American independent neo-noir film, Bitters and Blue Ruin. In Murder by Numbers (2002), absinthe is prepared by Michael Pitt's character, who also gives a speech on its effects and ingredients, using information from a 1970s scientific paper that incorrectly reported thujone was related to THC and most likely had similar hallucinogenic properties based on its shape. In the 2002 movie xXx absinthe is drunk during a club scene. The film Bright Young Things (2003) follows a group of 1930s London socialites who do a number of drugs, including absinthe. In EuroTrip (2004), the main characters purchase a bottle of (bohemian) absinth at a nightclub in Bratislava and experience its (supposedly) psychoactive effects. After drinking the liquor the characters who are brother and sister start making out with each other, prompting the two other main characters to talk to an imaginary green fairy who comments "That's some fucked up shit, can you say what the hell did I do last night?" In Van Helsing (2004), Van Helsing finds the Frankenstein monster under a windmill full of bottles of absinthe. In the remake of Alfie (2004), Liz (Susan Sarandon) plies the main character (Jude Law) with absinthe prepared in contemporary style with a sugar cube set on fire.

Absinth is featured as well in “Modigliani” (2004) where (Andy Garcia) drinks a lot of it during the whole movie and a tremendous quantity in a bar in Paris, just before being beaten to death.

In the oft-filmed Madame X, the title character's fall is facilitated by an absinthe addiction. The movie Pretty Baby (1978) set in turn-of-the-century, New Orleans, focusing on a girl named Violet whos soon coming twelfth birthday signals her "readiness" to become a career prostitute, also contains absinthe drinking.

Absinthe made an appearance in the HBO television series Carnivàle, imbibed by the mysterious blind mentalist Professor Ernst Lodz (Patrick Bauchau), as well as in the episode Suckers of the CBS crime drama C.S.I., where it is incorrectly stated the distillation process makes absinthe toxic, immediately followed by a scene in a goth club where absinthe is being drunk using the "fire ritual." Absinthe was also featured in the episode "The Big Lockout" of the British comedy series Black Books, where character Bernard Black says, "What do they say, absinthe, the drink that makes you want to kill yourself." By the end of the episode, Manny (Bill Bailey) has drunk the whole bottle as a water substitute while locked in a shop, but suffers no more than a hangover. In the second series of Sky One's Hex, Ella (Laura Pyper) offers absinthe to the popular students as means to break the ice when she enrolls in their school. She warns the character of Leon (Jamie Davis) that it "rots your brain".

Absinthe makes an appearance on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, during the 2005 pilot episode where he visits France entiteled "Why the French Don't Suck". The distilling process is discussed, and he drinks some "real" vintage absinthe and it is suggested through camera effects that he is experiencing hallucinogenic effects. The Thirsty Traveler also dedicated an entire episode to absinthe in 2004.

Absinthe is prominently featured in the title and story of Dirty Poet Films' forthcoming movie Les Absintheurs

[edit] Music

Cover of Absinthe: La Folie Verte

Progressive power metal band Symphony X released "Absinthe And Rue" on their self-titled debut album (1994). The John Zorn-founded ensemble Naked City released an ethereal album entitled Absinthe in 1996. A collaboration between Blood Axis and Les Joyaux De La Princesse produced the 2001 concept album Absinthe: La Folie Verte, followed up with the live album Absinthia Taetra. The absinthe ritual appears in the Nine Inch Nails video "The Perfect Drug". Mustis, the keyboardist from the band Dimmu Borgir, is often pictured with a bottle of absinthe, most notably in their 2003 album Death Cult Armageddon. The black metal band Cradle of Filth released a song on 2004's Nymphetamine, called "Absinthe with Faust"; its opening line is, "Pour the emerald wine into crystal glasses." Ginger of The Wildhearts released "Blinded By Absinthe" as a b-side for his singles club project. Vennaskond did a song entitled "Absint". Absinthe is also mentioned in the song "E-Bow The Letter" by R.E.M.

Marilyn Manson boasts of having written an entire album on absinthe.^[5] Manson has also developed his own brand of the drink, entitled Mansinthe. The drink would not include wormwood, and could thus be sold in the U.S.^[6]. The famous "One More Saturday Night" logo from the Grateful Dead featured a skeleton swigging absinthe. Jason Webley released a song on 1999's Against The Night album entitled "Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder". A song entitled "Absinthe" was released on UK punk group The Damned's 2001 release Grave Disorder. Also, Danish/Irish rapper LOC (Liam O´Connor) has written and performed a song called "Absint", in which he declares his love for the green liquid. Seattle band Minus the Bear have a track titled "Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse" on their album Highly Refined Pirates. Beth Orton has a track entitled Absinthe on her 2006 album, Comfort of Strangers. The Finnish goth band The 69 Eyes makes reference to absinthe in the song "Christina Death" from the album Devils. Texas group, She, Sir, refer to La Clandestine Absinthe on their song "The Clandestine" on their CD "Who can't say yes."

Absinthe has even been used as part of a band's name. The idea to name the indie rock band he started in the summer of 1996 Absinthe Blind came to frontman Adam Fein after he saw L'Absinthe. Absinthe Blind went on to become a major player in the music scene of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois until its breakup in September 2003. The Belgian band Absynthe Minded started off in 1998 as a one man band and is currently touring regularly in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Danish rapper L.O.C. (Liam O´Connor) has a track on his 2001 solo debut album Dominologi named Absinthe, a tribute to the drink and its effects on your brain. The track was one of the biggest hits from the album and it brought attention to Absinthe in the general Danish population.

[edit] Radio

Washington D.C.-based Don & Mike Show has a bi-annual tradition of doing an entire 4 hour show while drinking absinthe, complete with audience participation, interviews, and a news segment. Newsman Buzz Burbank is the most vocal proponant of absinthe, and has consumed the drink outside of the show.