Cultural depictions of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

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A major American icon, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has been portrayed, alluded to, and referred to in many media in the popular culture from the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century.

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[edit] Television references

There have been many references and allusions to her in television and cartoon series since the 1960s.

In the Seinfeld episode "The Chaperone", Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) interviewed for Jackie O's former job as editor at Doubleday. Though Elaine was not given the job at Doubleday, she was given a job by a former (fictional) friend of Jackie O's. The job was given to Elaine based primarily on the fact that the friend of Jackie O felt Elaine resembled his deceased friend. In the episode, Elaine is depicted as wearing large sunglasses and a scarf over her hair, in a style that had become synonymous with Jackie O's later days. In the episode, Elaine declares to Jackie O's friend, "I was a great admirer of Mrs. Onassis'."

In an episode of the Japanese anime Lupin the 3rd, "A Pretty Woman Has Venom", Lupin meets Jackie.

In the 21st episode of the third season of That 70's Show, Eric's Drunken Tattoo, Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) seemingly mentions the character Jackie's (Mila Kunis) name while asleep, however, after he has gone back to sleep it is revealed that he is talking about Jackie O.

In the Greys Anatomy Lois, while giving the media a tour of Petoria, is dressed in the same pink suit that was made famous by Jacqueline Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is referenced in the long-running series, The Simpsons in several ways. Marge Simpson's mother is named Jacqueline Ingrid Bouvier

[α]. Similarly, the town's Mayor Quimby speaks with Kennedy-like inflections and has a wife who, when shown, constantly wears Jackie's famous pink suit, hairstyle and pillbox hat. In one episode, Marge and Homer come across a TV Guide once owned by Jackie Onassis. A clerk mentions, "You should see the crossword puzzle. She thought that Mindy lived with Mark." In another episode, Lisa eats a breakfast cereal called "Jackie O's" which came with a free pair of stretch pants. In another episode, Marge Simpson says she wants to be Jackie O.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is referenced in Futurama in A Taste of Freedom, where the outfit Amy wears during the trial of Zoidberg looks similar to Jacqueline Kennedy's.

In The Drew Carey Show Mimi Bobeck shows up to work wearing over-sized glasses and a scarf over her hair due to an allergic reaction to her trademark makeup. This prompts Drew to remark "It's Jackie! Oh my god!"

In the short-lived TV show Popular the girls go to a fictional high school called Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy High School, which is referred to as the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School.

In the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros., the character of Dr. Girlfriend resembles Jackie Onassis, but talks in a deep male voice.

In a Jackie-O parody made by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders on their series, French and Saunders, she is portrayed as a vacuous woman who keeps avoiding questions by saying, "No, I shall never mention that."

[edit] Literature

In Kurt Vonnegut's "Galápagos" he identifies one of the intended cruise passengers as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. She turns out to be the celebrity who abandons the cruise before it leaves port.

[edit] Art

Andy Warhol's piece 16 Jackies uses four news images of Jackie Kennedy prior to, the day of, and shortly after her husband's shooting.

[edit] Music

Carly Simon wrote the song "Touched by the Sun", recorded on her 1994 album Letters Never Sent, for Jacqueline Onassis, who was her personal friend.

Punk rock band Strung Out wrote a song called "Jackie O" about her after her husband's assassination. The song was on their EP, "The Element of Sonic Defiance."

Tori Amos's song "Jackie's Strength", on her album From the Choirgirl Hotel, was inspired by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

A Bouvier till her wedding day
Shots rang out, the police came
Mama laid me on the front lawn
And prayed for Jackie's strength
If you love enough you'll lie a lot
Guess they did in Camelot
Mama's waiting on my front lawn
I said pray for Jackie's strength

The punk band Human Sexual Response had a song called "Jackie Onassis":

First the world will call me Bouvier
Then I'll change to Jackie K.
After my date with tragedy
I will let Aristotle take care of me
I want to be Jackie Onassis oh yeah....
Oh-o-oh I'd be happy to be Jackie
I'd be happy to be Jackie
I'd be happy to be Jackie
Oh yeah

Human Sexual Response's song inspired the Rage Against the Machine song "Tire me",[1] Jackie O. is mentioned in this song along with an allusion to the death of JFK:

"I wanna be Jackie Onassis
I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses
I wanna be Jackie O
Oh oh oh oh please don't die!"

The Wu-Tang Clan's song, I can't go to sleep on their album "The W" references Jackie's reaction to JFK's assassination as RZA raps about other Civil Rights leaders' deaths.

I can't go to sleep, I can't shut my eyes
They shot Malcolm in the chest front of his little seeds
Jesse watched, as they shot King on the balcony
Ohh Jacqueline you heard the rifle shots cracklin
Her husband head in her hair, you tried to put it back in

Shel Silverstein's "One's On the Way", later recorded by country singer Loretta Lynn, references Jacqueline Onassis with "And Jackie is seen dancin' at the latest disco."

The 1972 Rod Stewart song "You Wear It Well" uses "Madame Onassis" as a marker of style and grace against which one could be compared.

The opera Jackie O was composed by art-composer Michael Daugherty. It is a pop opera about sixties icons Andy Warhol, Maria Callas and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and is sung in English.

Jackie is also mentioned in the Spice Girls song, "Lady is a Vamp", in which the group sings "Jackie O., we loved her so/So did Mr. President, as far as we know."

English electronica band "Jackie Onassis" released an EP on Rubber Family Records in 1995.

Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals contains references to both JFK and Jackie O. The song "Posthuman" contains the lyrics:

"She's pilgrim and pagan
Softworn and so-cial
In all of her dreams
She's a saint like Jackie-O"

Marilyn Manson's music video for the song "Coma White" a reenactment of the JFK assassination, with Manson's then-girlfriend Rose McGowan playing Jackie.

Third Eye Blind mention Jackie several times in their song "Anything." (i.e. "Jackie O with the top down open)

Gil Scott Heron also refers to Jackie in his famous "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".

The Misfits' song "Bullet" describes a sexual fantasy about Jackie, beginning with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, with the following lyrics:

"You gotta suck, suck, Jackie suck
Arise Jackie O, Jonathon of Kennedy
Well, arise and be shot down
The dirt's gonna be your dessert
My cum be your life source"

Groop Dogdrill in their song "Jackie-O" mentions her several times (i.e. "Just like Jackie-O!)

The Hold Steady mention Jackie Onassis in their song "Don't Let Me Explode" with the lyrics, We didn't go to Dallas. 'Cause Jackie Onassis said that it ain't safe for Catholics yet. Think about what they pulled on Kennedy.

In Jay-Z's song "La La La" from the Bad Boys 2 Soundtrack, Jay proclaims (speaking about himself) "He tatted hisself as the rap JFK, you wanna pass at my Jacqueline Onassis"

The New Order single "1963" is based on "a theory that JFK was trying to get rid of his wife the day he got shot." New Order Online.

The song "Hero Theme" by hip-hop group The Infesticons references Jackie with the lyrics, "...sweet and slow, like Jackie Onassis with Alzheimer's..."

In 1990, the American band Concrete Blonde recorded a song by Andy Prieboy "Tomorrow Wendy" with the following reference to the assassination:

Underneath the chilly gray November Sky
We can make believe that Kennedy is still alive
We're shooting for the moon and smiling Jackie's riding by....

Blind Melon include a reference to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in their song "Dump Truck" with the following lyric:

New York City
Soothing my itchy, itchy month of may
Time has passed for Ms. Onassis
Decay on display

The band Shiny Toy Guns' song "Jackie Will Save Me" is about Jackie Kennedy herself.

New York band The Spies wrote a song "Ruby" about the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Which contains the lyrics :

My Dearest Jackie
You must understand me
This fever, the fire
Can't let a child go through a public trial
I won't stop. I can't stop.
Oh… I was bound to lose control of my heart
The day I was born is the day that it started
So I crossed as the traitor came off the elevator
And I…I shot the killer
I shot the killer
It was the least I could have done to end the war he'd begun

The band Rage Against the Machine mentions Jackie in the breakdown of the song "Tire Me".

[edit] Film references

There also have been references and allusions to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in films.

In the 1975 comedy film Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tim Curry's character Dr. Frankenfurter is dressed in a distinct Jackie O. style when the main characters first come up to his lab.

The 1978 film The Greek Tycoon is a fictionalized portrayal of the story of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, with the names changed. The Jackie character, under the name of Liz Cassidy, is portrayed by Jacqueline Bisset who also portrayed Jackie in America's Prince. Bisset's clothes were designed by Halson, who was also designing for Jackie O at the time.

The 1992 film Love Field, set during (and after) the assassination of the President, a Dallas housewife's life centers around Jacqueline Kennedy's actions. Sooner, she finds herself ruined by the President's assassination in Dallas. The role of Jacqueline Kennedy is played by actress Rhoda Griffis, which is regarded as her breakout role.[citation needed]

In the 1997 movie The House of Yes, actress Parker Posey played a main character who referred to herself as "Jackie O.", due to her obsession with the First Lady.

The 2000 film Songcatcher, the look of a minor character Clementine McFarland resembles to that of Jacqueline Kennedy's, but has no relation.

In the 2001 film Legally Blonde, the main character is left by her boyfriend with the following explanation: "If I'm going to be a senator by the time I'm thirty, well, I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn."

The 2002 science fiction film Timequest explores what happens to Jacqueline Kennedy after the JFK assassination is prevented, taking on an alternate timeline. Jacqueline Kennedy is one of the main leading roles in this film, and is played by Caprice Benedetti.

The 2007 film Hairspray compares their hair to the style of the first lady, Jackie Kennedy.

[edit] Film and other media portrayals

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis has been portrayed by many actresses in film and other media including:

[edit] Notes and references

[[#endnote_[α]|Jackie Bouvier]]The shows' developers created this character and named her after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose maiden name was Bouvier. It is also noted that Marge Simpson has the maiden name "Bouvier", and all Bouvier women are voiced by Julie Kavner.

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Human Sexual Response
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