Out of pure curiosity, I decided to investigate whether or not Midnight Cowboy truly withstood the test of time - and hence, deserving the honor of being named a true classic. The way in which I would go about my investigation would to take a look at how many times this film is actually referred to in the modern culture of today. Surely enough, a true classic piece of art (let's take Tolstoy's War and Peace for example) would be lampooned and paradied everywhere from the the most sacred bastions of highbrow radio broadcasting such as the Howard Stern Show to the most tasteful family-friendly children's programming such as South Park. Now let's see where this journey takes us...
While perusing the internet for Midnight Cowboy references, I come up with an exorbitant list of advertences top it. Although I can go on and on, analyzing just about all of them. Below, I will only go into the ones I have come across first-hand. Since (contrary to popular opinion) I am not always fond of talking out of my ass about things I have no idea about whatsoever.
1. Seinfeld
In the infamous 1990's sitcom, Midnight Cowboy was parodied in a 1994 episode by the name of "The Mom and Pop Store." In one scene, central character George Costanza comes to believe that he has had the fortune to purchase the actor Jon Voight's car. (Unbeknownst to Mr.Costanza, it is actually the car of a local neighborhood dentist of the same name). During one point in the half-hour episode, George becomes so overwhelmed with glee at his new purchase -he even bursts out into song! The lyrics go something along the lines of "Everybody's talking at me... I don't hear a word they're saying..." (Referring to the opening song of the movie with the same exact lyrics). Using his powerful imagination, Georgie even adds in couple of his own words to the wonderful tune - "Just drivin' around in Jon Voight's car."
The final scene of the episode is actually a shot of best friends Jerry Seinfeld and Kosmo Kramer sitting on a city bus. Their dynamic becomes very similar to the final scene of the Midnight Cowboy movie itself. Jerry falls into the role of respresenting Joe Buck, who finds himself dealing with the situation arising as a result of Kramer's bloody nose (Ratso's sickening affliction). Just as in the closing moments of midnight cowboy, the ultra-conspicous "Everybody's Talking" theme is played as a back-drop to the last moments of the episode.
2. Borat
In Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (a close favorite of mine very near & dear to my heart), the Kazakhstani journalist is seen doing various tactless things to the innocent populace of the metropolis that is New York City - of course, this is done to the background of "Everybody's Talking"
3. GTA IV
To my surprise, Midnight Cowboy's legacy seems to have permeated not just cinema & television, but also to the video game industry. In the wildley popular Grand Theft Auto IV, during a certain cinematic cutscene, a Russian gangster by the name of Vladimir is nearly hit by a speeding taxi while crossing the street. When this occurs, he shouts out Ratso's infamous line of, "Hey! I'm walking here!" Who knows, Maybe even the developers of violent video games want their predominantly teenage-male demographic to be well cultured in the knowledge of class cinema? ;-)
