Back and to the left
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Back and to the left" is a phrase originating from the 1991 Oliver Stone movie JFK about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States. In the movie, Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner, screens the Zapruder film to a jury, pausing and rewinding to show the direction that Kennedy appears to move. As he does this, he repeats the phrase, "back, and to the left" hypnotically, trying to prove the location of the alleged second gunman.
[edit] Parodies and tributes to "Back and to the left"
- In the Reduced Shakespeare Company's comedy The Complete History of America (Abridged), Austin states that the Shot Heard Round the World stopped at the Tar and Feathers Tavern, where it broke a table, knocking it back and to the left.
- In Seinfeld episode 34 (first airing on February 12, 1992) entitled "The Boyfriend" wherein Cosmo Kramer and Newman investigate a spitting incident. In the incident, Kramer stood behind Newman, as Kennedy sat behind Connally. Actor Wayne Knight, who played Newman in Seinfeld, was in the exact same position in the movie JFK, standing in for Connally in the trial scene's demonstration of the "magic bullet."
- In the 2004 Oliver Stone movie Alexander, a Macedonian soldier yells the phrase during a battle scene.
- In an episode of The Critic, the phrase is parodied when Jay Sherman announces the Director's Cut of JFK with seventeen added minutes of "back, and to the left."
- The phrase has also been used by the comedian Bill Hicks.
- "Back and To The Left" is a song by the group Texas Is the Reason.
- Season one Episode 2 of ESPN's Cheap Seats: Jason and Randy make fun of a stat graphic error with a long chalkboard segment culminating in the repeated line, "back and to the left".
- A Seattle-based futurepop band is named "backandtotheleft".
- An interdisciplinary performing arts group based in Chicago named Back and to the Left is co-directed by Jennifer Smith and Tiffany VanCleaf.
- In the Mission Hill episode "The Big-Ass Viacom Lawsuit" ( Or, "Andy vs. The Real World"), the character Jim screens footage of a Real World cast member being hit by a bus, while he repeats "back and to the left."
- In Bio-Dome news commentator repeats this phrase while a video of a clown being shot plays over and over.
- "Bullet Theory" by Welsh post-hardcore band Funeral for a Friend repeats the lines "Back and to the left" during the song's middle eight section which is followed by the line "Come on and shoot..."
