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? ;-)
I enjoyed everything you had to say in this post and it was very interesting to read. However, you referred to Seinfeld as "the infamous 1990's sitcom". While it was a sitcom from the 1990's, it was by no means infamous. Infamy is to have a bad reputation, and is used to describe something as dishonorable. Seinfeld is a beloved series that is hailed as possibly the best sitcom of all time.
ReplyDeleteI remembered that episode while watching Midnight Cowboy, and I was glad that I was now finally able to understand it's references. I had a similar experience when I had finally seen Schindler's List. The episode entitled "The Raincoats" finally made sense to me.
Nice article. Classic American films finding their way into pop culture is something that we all enjoy "While going around quoting lines from pulp fiction etc".
DeleteYou have delightfully, scratched this topic.
I would like to read the final essay. if this was an assignment, good job you've got yourself on the Internet. Too short but you certainly show talent as a writer.
Very interesting Yuriy. Would not have realized those. I'll need to watch these things more closely, now that I know. Nice research!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Nick:
ReplyDeleteThanks bro, I'm actually a bit surprised about how quickly you responded after I posted it less than ten minutes ago... hahaha
Regarding Seinfeld, I used the term "infamous" as a joke in regards to how widely known it was throughout now only New York City, but across the entire nation as well. (Kind of like I referred to the Howard Stern Show as a bastion of "highbrow radio broadcasting" and South Park as "tasteful family-friendly children's programming" ;-)
The sitcom itself is actually a really fascinating subject to look at from under the lense of a sociologist, mainly for the way in which it gained widespread popularity across all segments of the American populace. I was actually watching a documentary quite a while ago highlighting the history of the series itself. In this short documentary, the producers of the show said something that struck me as memorable and thought-provoking. The producers were telling the interviewer they were completely astonished with the fact that "a show about nothing" whose central character was an affluent, urbanite, intellectual Jewish comedian who lived alone in his well-to-do upper-class Manhattan apartment had become such a hit with even the heartland of America. Mainly for the fact that many Middle-Americans had almost nothing in common with Jerry's lifestyle. (I'll post up the link the the documentary if I ever find it again)
And in regards to the episode entitled "Raincoats" - Is that where they try to hook up in the movie theather while watching Schindler's List?
ReplyDeleteTo Jimmy Cassidy:
ReplyDeleteYeah, lol. I decided to put a bit more effort and research into this post considering the fact that I previously had only had one other entry on this blog...
Also, for anyone interested the Seinfeld episode, "The Mom and Pop Store" which Yuriy referred to will be on FOX, on March 19th, Thursday at 7:30 pm. I am planning DVR it because I am interested it seeing it after seeing the movie. Hopefully you will all catch this clever homage.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as the scene with Ratso and Joe being seen through the window came on the screen, I instantly remembered the scene from Seinfeld with Kramer and Jerry on the bus. This is not so much a product of my keen memory, but more so of my obsession with Seinfeld. This movie is undoubtedly a classic.
ReplyDeleteThe movie theater making out scene in Seinfeld was just one reference. At the very end of the episode, as Jerry's parents are leaving at the airport, Judge Reinhold gives a speech about how "he could have done more". That was taken directly from the ending of Schindler's List
ReplyDeleteI do remember two out of three of the references you've made here. I myself being included in that demographic of young males interested in violent video games can now put two and two together after watching the film and playing the game. Not a big Seinfeld fan so I've never seen the episode but I have seen Borat and I was surprised to find out that that was the song playing in the background during the scenes in N.Y.
ReplyDeleteBy the way Yuriy I wonder where you got the inspiration for the colors of your blog. Oh if only this were the McCarthy era how different our school would be.
To quote James Cassidy:
ReplyDelete"Also, for anyone interested the Seinfeld episode, "The Mom and Pop Store" which Yuriy referred to will be on FOX, on March 19th, Thursday at 7:30 pm. I am planning DVR it because I am interested it seeing it after seeing the movie. Hopefully you will all catch this clever homage."
That is absolutely amazing Jimmy! How the hell did you figure all of that out??? Does TiVo tell you which episodes will be airing a whole week in advance? That's actually quite fascinating.
I'm actually gonna write this info in big bold letters for all to see on Bennett's board on Wednesday ;-)
In response to Roberto:
ReplyDeleteYeah, I must agree with you - the song is quite epic. As a matter of fact, I just downloaded "Everybody's Talking" from youtube and uploaded it onto my ipod just a few short minutes ago... Just out of curiosity, how much do you like GTA IV on a scale from 1-10?
In regards to your clever quip about the color scheme of my blog:
You are correct - it is inspired by the glorious colors of the mighty banner of the Soviet Union!
Fortunately we don't live in the McCarthy era. As a result, all of the Russian kids in the school are free to proudly wear their USSR shirts while roaming the halls of our school all day long ;-)
Why feeling a sense of nostalgia at the good old days? If we were actually living in that nightmare of paranoia, you would actually be discouraged from wearing your nice little "Forza Italia!" futbol jerseys... hahaha
Come to think of it, I highly doubt our teacher Tom Bennett would have fared very well under a pseudo-fascist educational climate.....
One more to Roberto:
ReplyDeleteI'm actually quite surprised that you chose the bland color of jet black for your blog...
It doesn't quite seem you. I would have expected something more along the lines of it being adorned in the Italian Tri-Color with famous futbolers all over the place
Thank you for the kind words Yuriy. Actually what I did was that I searched Seinfeld on IMDB.com and I searched episodes and it gives the episodes coming up for the next couple of weeks. I'm glad that you will write it on Mr. Bennett's board on Wednesday because it is very interesting to see how old movies and things are copied and imitated in present-day culture. Also, I have downloaded the song as well, and have to watch Borat again because of you. (Not exactly a sacrifice)
ReplyDeleteYuriy, granted this is a good assessment, you just summarized what was already on wikipedia- you did not come up with these first hand..
ReplyDeleteTsk tsk...