To Kill a Mockingbird in popular culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Since the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, there have been many references and allusions to it in popular culture.

Contents

[edit] Comics

  • In the Simpsons/Futurama crossover crisis 2, various literary characters try to bring down a giant Homer Simpson. One characters asks how Atticus Finch is succeeding in this task to which he replies 'It's harder than killing a mockingbird!'
  • In the comic strip "Get Fuzzy", Bucky the Cat begins to read the book, before his owner Rob explains that it is not "a how-to manual."
  • In the DC Comics continuity, it has been established that To Kill a Mockingbird is Superman's favorite book and movie.
  • In the cartoon strip Frazz, Caulfield is a ham for Halloween. Frazz is the only person to guess that Caulfield is Scout Finch in the pageant.
  • In the comic strip Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, Opus the penguin is frequently seen reading To Kill a Mockingbird and has stated he rereads it every summer. In the comic strip, a fictional movie was created entitled "Kill Mo'Mockingbird".
  • On August 24, 2007, the Halo-based comic One One Se7en parodied a quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird" entitled "Boo, Indeed" (which parodies the name Boo Radley).
  • In the comic strip Garfield, Garfield can be seen reading a book entitled "To Grill a Mockingbird".

[edit] Movies

  • In Cameron Crowe's 2000 film Almost Famous, the young William Miller and his mother Elaine have just viewed the 1962 film and discuss it as they stroll along the street.
  • The 2006 film Failure to Launch contains a subplot about killing a mockingbird. The book is specifically mentioned in the gun shop scene.
  • In the 2002 film A Walk to Remember, Mandy Moore's character Jamie was seen reading the novel as part of her book list.
  • In the 2002 film Mr. Deeds, Wynona Ryder's character, Babe Bennett, alludes to Boo Radley in an attempt to lie about her past.
  • In the movie Vanilla Sky the movie is on the screen in the background of the security room in David Aames', played by Tom Cruise, cell. Atticus Finch is also revealed to be the inspiration for Dr. Curtis McCabe, played by Kurt Russel
  • In the 2005 movie "Capote," Truman Capote is invited to the debut reading of To Kill a Mockingbird
  • In the film "Benny and Joon" Joon asks Sam, played by Johnny Depp if he's having a "Boo Radley" moment after she catches him staring at her.

[edit] Television

  • In the TV series Lost, Season 3 - Episode 5, The Cost of Living, Juliet shows Jack a video tape, calling it To Kill a Mockingbird, while the tape is actually a secret message requesting his help to overthrow Ben, the apparent leader of The Others.
  • In the TV series Get Smart, Maxwell Smart hunts down the Mexican artifact, the "Tequila Mockingbird."
  • There is an episode of King of the Hill entitled "To Kill a Ladybird".
  • In one of the episodes of the TV series Smallville (Hug, season 1) Lex refers to Clark as "Atticus" due to the fact that Clark is trying to help a seemingly guilty man. Lex explains he is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. When Clark asks Lex how the book ends Lex pauses and replies "The ending's not important, it's the journey".
  • An episode of the American situation comedy Frasier was titled "To Kill a Talking Bird".
  • In one episode of The Simpsons Homer says, "I'll have to read Marge's book and I swore never to read again after "To Kill a Mockingbird" gave me no useful advice on killing Mockingbirds! It did teach me not to judge a man by the color of his skin, but what good does that do me?" In another episode, is a pun title of an Itchy And Scratchy Cartoon called "To Kill a Talking Bird". Also, in Bart to the Future, Bart Simpson's failed band is called the Tequila Mockingbirds.
  • In Everybody Loves Raymond, Debra wrote her college thesis on "To Kill a Mockingbird."
  • In Gilmore Girls, season 3, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore refer to Boo Radley. "A town needs as many Boo Radleys as they can get".
  • In an episode of "8 Simple Rules" Rory has to do a book report on the book.
  • In a VH1 Documentary titled "Awesomely Wacky Celebrity Baby Names" Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's choice of their daughter's name "Scout" is discussed

[edit] Music

  • The character of Boo Radley – a mysterious neighbor who lives quietly in his dark house and is feared by the local children – gave his name to the British band The Boo Radleys.
  • The Moxy Früvous song "Boo Time" is also named for Boo Radley. The song exhorts the listener to "Trim the trad, go troglodyte" – in other words, to leave behind civilisation and let the animal nature within take over, as Boo arguably does in the novel's climax.
  • The Knoxville, Tennessee-based rock band Atticus was inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird.
  • In 2005, the Seattle-based rock group Acceptance released an instrumental track on their album Phantoms titled "Ad Astra Per Aspera", after the Halloween pageant that Scout is in near the end of the book.
  • In 2001, Blink-182 band members Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus created the clothing line Atticus Clothing, named after the character in this book. Similarly, the female line of the brand is called Scout. The brand's logo is a dead bird.
  • Bruce Hornsby wrote a song called "Sneaking Up on Boo Radley," which describes the kids' adventures and reactions with regard to their neighbor Boo. The end of the song suggests that it is written from Jem's point of view. The song can be found on the 1998 studio album Spirit Trail and the live album Here Come the Noise Makers, which was released in 2000.
  • The fictional rock band Strange Fruit, from the movie Still Crazy, wrote a song entitled "Tequila Mockingbird."

[edit] Other

  • A Flash animation called How to Kill a Mockingbird found on AwesomeFunny is a mockumentary about To Kill a Mockingbird. It starts out as a genuine description of the book, but quickly turns into a science-fiction fantasy about pirates, ninjas, nuclear explosions, various burning wildlife, and time-traveling castles.
  • In the 2002 novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold a paperback copy of To Kill a Mockingbird is among the first items of evidence uncovered during investigations into the murder of the novel's narrator, Susie Salmon. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lovely Bones is told by a female narrator from a first-person perspective and also recounts aspects of American childhood and family life.
  • To Kill A Mockingbird is also one of the feature films the character may watch in the game The Darkness.
  • Bruce Willis and Demi Moore named their second child Scout, reportedly after the character in the novel.
  • Smoky Mountain Wrestling once had a character named Boo Bradley, who was an homage to Boo Radley. The wrestler went on to become ECW and WWE character Balls Mahoney.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal has stated that the book is his favorite, and named his two dogs Atticus Finch and Boo Radley.

[edit] Puns

  • The name tequila mockingbird is used for various alcoholic drinks, bars, restaurants, etc.
  • A educational joke asks, "What do you call 2000 mockingbirds?" The answer is "two kilo-mockingbirds", playing on the scientific prefix kilo-, meaning 1000.