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13 - Poe and popular culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

Kevin J. Hayes
Affiliation:
University of Central Oklahoma
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Summary

When the newly reformed Baltimore professional football team chose to call itself the Ravens in 1996, Poe received a fin-de-siècle apotheosis as one of popular culture's favorite sons. The fact that football and Poe have nothing to do with each other only highlights the extent to which this nineteenth-century American author has remained not only present, but much appreciated in the minds of the general public throughout the world. Poe pops up almost everywhere: from a commemorative stamp issued by the US Post Office to a somewhat confused John Wayne listening to Robert Mitchum recite lines from Poe's poem “Eldorado” in the Hollywood western of the same name. Poe's face appears amidst the crowd on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; the enigmatic “I am the Walrus” on Magical Mystery Tour includes the line “Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.” The Simpsons has made several allusions to Poe, including an admirable cartoon dramatization of “The Raven.” The Crow (1994) offers a triple-level tribute as Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) quotes “The Raven” after returning from the dead and entering a pawn shop in search of his murdered fiancée's ring. In the world of consumer goods, Raven Beer uses a publicity poster incorporating an irresistible pun: “I Know You're in the Pits. How about a Raven?”

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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