Mount Rushmore in popular culture

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Close-up view of Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore Closeup 2017.jpg
Close-up view of Mount Rushmore.

Because of its fame as a monument, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota has appeared frequently in works of fiction. It has been discussed or depicted in dozens of popular works, such as the location of the climactic chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film North by Northwest , and in the 2007 film National Treasure: Book of Secrets . Repeated themes using the mountain have been depictions of its destruction to imply a larger catastrophe, alterations or additions being made to the famous faces on the mountain, or use of the monument as a cover to hide a secret such as a treasure trove or military base.

Contents

Reasons for popularity

The popularity of Mount Rushmore is tied to the monumental sculpture's attraction as a tourist destination. [1] It features as a setting in a number of films, comic books, and television series [1] [2] and has according to Jessica Gunderson "become part of Hollywood legend". [3] In 2016, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the monument, Time Magazine published a 90-second video listing "Mount Rushmore's Most Memorable Moments at the Movies", including North by Northwest , Head of State , Team America: World Police , Nebraska , Mars Attacks! , Superman II , Richie Rich , and National Treasure: Book of Secrets . [4]

Common themes

Gunderson notes that "films have portrayed the monument as a secret hideout, a chase scene location, or the entrance to a city of gold". [3] Mount Rushmore "usually serves to connect the national security to individual romance", although other media exist in which the monument is used to symbolize other aspects of the human experience, such as being unfinished, as the monument is. [5]

Destruction

Erika Doss notes that Mount Rushmore is a common target in movies showing an attack on a landmark to signify the scope of a threat, "destroyed by lasers in Richie Rich (1994), ruined by an earthquake in 10.5: Apocalypse (2006), blown up by terrorist missiles in The Peacekeeper (1997), annihilated by Michael Moore (playing a suicide bomber) in Team America: World Police (2004) and defaced (or rather, refaced) in movies like Superman II (1980) Mars Attacks! (1996) and Head of State (2003)". [6]

Alterations and additions to the faces

Mount Rushmore with a fifth President in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Mount Rushmore trek.jpg
Mount Rushmore with a fifth President in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

As one source notes, "Cartoonists have added more famous faces, real and imaginary, to Mount Rushmore, or show the four presidents talking. Toothpaste companies have made commercials showing how Roosevelt's teeth could be brushed if he'd only smile again!" [7] In other cases, "movies replace the presidential faces with faces of movie characters". [3] Examples include the 1980 film Superman II , in which supervillain General Zod and his criminal partners Ursa and Non use their superpowers to replace the faces of Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt with their own, while destroying Lincoln's. [8] [9] In the 2021 What If...? episode "What If... Thor Were an Only Child?", Frost Giants partying with Thor on Earth add ice sculptures in the shape of Loki's horns to Mount Rushmore. [10] The 2023 film Barbie features a fictional Barbie Land in which, among other things, "every face on Mount Rushmore is a woman". [11]

During his term in office, President Barack Obama was added as a fifth head to Mount Rushmore on internet depictions of the mountain. On July 8, 2009, climate change activists unfurled a banner over the monument portraying a fifth face on Mount Rushmore of Obama, depicting him as a President who could make Presidential changes in leading effective climate legislation as opposed to being a politician. [12] [13] [14] Former President Donald Trump kept a sculpture in his Mar-a-Lago office, gifted to him by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, depicting Mount Rushmore with Trump's face added to the mountain, to the right of Abraham Lincoln. [15]

Imitations of the style

A fictional monument in the Japanese anime Naruto, inspired by Mount Rushmore Naruto-Rushmore.JPG
A fictional monument in the Japanese anime Naruto, inspired by Mount Rushmore

Similar monuments with other faces have been depicted by different artists. Examples include alien faces in a drawing by Gary Larson and a wall print of a version with celebrity faces: Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and John Lennon. [16] The album cover of Deep Purple's 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock has "iconic sleeve art that depicted the five Purple members' faces carved into the surface of Mount Rushmore in place of the faces of US presidents". [17] In the Japanese manga Naruto , the main leaders of Konohagakure have had their faces carved into a mountain overlooking the village in the style of Mount Rushmore. [18] In the 1994 film Richie Rich , the Rich family owns an imitation of Mount Rushmore, but carved with the faces of the Rich family. [19]

Major portrayals

In North by Northwest

Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) and Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) dangle precipitously from the sculpture of George Washington in North by Northwest. North by Northwest movie trailer screenshot (28).jpg
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) and Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) dangle precipitously from the sculpture of George Washington in North by Northwest.
Sign near the mountain Nxnwsign.jpg
Sign near the mountain

The memorial was used as the location of the climactic chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film North by Northwest , which has been described as "[t]he mountain's primary visual association—aside from souvenir postcards". [20] Scriptwriter Ernest Lehman later recalled that, as they were developing their story idea, Hitchcock "murmured wistfully, 'I always wanted to do a chase across the faces of Mount Rushmore.'" [21] The scene in the film was not actually filmed at the monument, as the National Park Service, which had initially granted permission for the sequence to be filmed there, revoked this permission following concerns that the film would treat the monument unseriously. [22] In the film the villain's house is located on a fictitious forested plateau above the monument. It has been noted that "the Mount Rushmore sequence undermines name, identity, and national purpose", with the protagonists of the film fleeing for their lives across the famous faces, which themselves are of no help. [23]

The 2005 Family Guy episode "North by North Quahog", is "a parody of the film, North by Northwest, winding up in a face-off with Gibson atop Mount Rushmore". [24] [25] In the 1994 film Richie Rich , the Rich family's imitation of Mount Rushmore becomes the setting for the film's finale, also echoing the finale of North by Northwest. [19]

In music

The 1986 album The Ballad of Sally Rose by Emmylou Harris satirizes the monument, singing of "Roosevelt's nose". [16]

The song "Little Snakes", from the 2020 Protest the Hero album Palimpsest , "addresses the violent colonial history involved in the sculpting of Mount Rushmore", critiquing the monument as a symbol of colonialism, referencing the genocide of indigenous peoples and the ownership of slaves by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>North by Northwest</i> 1959 film by Alfred Hitchcock

North by Northwest is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rushmore</span> Mountain in the US featuring a sculpture of four presidents

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation, respectively. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres. The mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gutzon Borglum</span> American sculptor (1867–1941)

John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georgia, statues of Union General Philip Sheridan in Washington D.C. and in Chicago, as well as a bust of Abraham Lincoln exhibited in the White House by Theodore Roosevelt and now held in the United States Capitol crypt in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relief</span> Sculptural technique of embossed depth

Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevare, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. When a relief is carved into a flat surface of stone or wood, the field is actually lowered, leaving the unsculpted areas seeming higher. The approach requires a lot of chiselling away of the background, which takes a long time. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, particularly in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be simply added to or raised up from the background. Monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sculpture of the United States</span>

The history of sculpture in the United States begins in the 1600s "with the modest efforts of craftsmen who adorned gravestones, Bible boxes, and various utilitarian objects with simple low-relief decorations." American sculpture in its many forms, genres and guises has continuously contributed to the cultural landscape of world art into the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North by North Quahog</span> 1st episode of the 4th season of Family Guy

"North by North Quahog" is the fourth season premiere of the animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 1, 2005, though it had premiered three days earlier at a special screening at the University of Vermont, Burlington. In the episode, Peter and Lois go on a second honeymoon to rekindle their marriage, but are chased by Mel Gibson after Peter steals the sequel to The Passion of the Christ from Gibson's private hotel room. Meanwhile, Brian and Stewie take care of Chris and Meg at home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doane Robinson</span> American historian (1856–1946)

Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson was an American historian who was the state historian of South Dakota. He is known for conceiving of the idea for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills, which he believed would stimulate tourism to the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Borglum</span> American artist (1912–1986)

James Lincoln de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor, photographer, author and engineer; he was best known for overseeing the completion of the Mount Rushmore after the death of the project's leader, his father, Gutzon Borglum, in 1941. One of his best-known works, a bust of his father, is on display outside the Lincoln Borglum Visitors Center at Mount Rushmore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Construction of Mount Rushmore</span>

The construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial began on October 4, 1927, and took 14 years to complete. The sculptor of the memorial was Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants. He chose the two most famous presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and chose Thomas Jefferson because of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Theodore Roosevelt was suggested by Calvin Coolidge. Borglum's original design was intended to go down to their waists, but time constraints and funding only provided for their heads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Horse Memorial</span> Mountain monument under construction in South Dakota

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

The Man on Lincoln's Nose is a 2000 American short documentary film directed by Daniel Raim about Hollywood art director Robert F. Boyle. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The title is derived from the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest (1959), which has a climactic scene of two characters dangling from the carving of Abraham Lincoln's face on Mount Rushmore. One of the producers was Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia Hitchcock.

<i>Seated Lincoln</i> (Borglum) United States historic place

Seated Lincoln is a 1911 sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, located next to the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1995, for its significance in art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Philip Sheridan (Washington, D.C.)</span> Bronze sculpture by Gutzon Borglum

General Philip Sheridan is a bronze sculpture that honors Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, best known for his design of Mount Rushmore. Dedicated in 1908, dignitaries in attendance at the unveiling ceremony included President Theodore Roosevelt, members of the President's cabinet, high-ranking military officers and veterans from the Civil War and Spanish–American War. The equestrian statue is located in the center of Sheridan Circle in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The bronze statue, surrounded by a plaza and park, is one of eighteen Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C., which were collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The sculpture and surrounding park are owned and maintained by the National Park Service, a federal agency of the Interior Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar</span> American fifty-cent piece (1925)

The Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar was an American fifty-cent piece struck in 1925 at the Philadelphia Mint. Its main purpose was to raise money on behalf of the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association for the Stone Mountain Memorial near Atlanta, Georgia. Designed by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, the coin features a depiction of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on the obverse and the caption: "Memorial to the Valor of the Soldier of the South" on the reverse. The piece was also originally intended to be in memory of the recently deceased president, Warren G. Harding, but no mention of him appears on the coin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Harvey W. Scott</span> Statue of Harvey W. Scott by Gutzon Borglum in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

A bronze sculpture of American pioneer, newspaper editor and historian Harvey W. Scott (1838–1910) by Gutzon Borglum, sometimes called Harvey Scott or Harvey W. Scott, was installed on Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon, United States, until being toppled in October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norbeck-Williamson Act of 1929</span>

Norbeck-Williamson Act of 1929 or Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act of 1929 established the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission defining the powers and purpose of the twelve member committee. The Act of Congress authorized the Mount Harney Memorial Association of South Dakota to stone carve models of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt in the Harney National Forest encompassed by the Black Hills National Forest. The granite sculpture was to be created in accordance with the rock relief designs by Gutzon Borglum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Garden of American Heroes</span> Sculpture garden proposed by Donald Trump

A National Garden of American Heroes was proposed by President Donald Trump in executive orders on July 3, 2020, and January 18, 2021, as a sculpture garden honoring "great figures of America's history". Trump first announced the idea at an Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota. The sculpture garden idea was part of a series of executive orders issued by Trump in his final months in office to address conservative cultural grievances; the second of the two executive orders was issued two days before Trump's term expired. Congress never appropriated funding for such a garden, nor were concrete steps ever taken to construct such a site. President Joe Biden revoked the executive orders relating to the garden in May 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020</span>

A Fireworks Celebration at Mount Rushmore held on July 3, 2020, was the first and only use of fireworks at Mount Rushmore since 2008. President Donald Trump spoke at the event, which was also attended by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, host of Entertainment Tonight Mary Hart, First Lady Melania Trump and Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bust of York</span> Sculpture in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

A 4 foot bust of York, the only African American on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was installed in Portland, Oregon's Mount Tabor Park, in the United States, from February to July 2021. The artist stayed anonymous at first, but after the bust was removed he revealed himself as Todd McGrain. McGrain was a student of Darrell Millner, Portland State University professor of history and Black Studies. The bust appeared on February 20, replacing the statue of Harvey W. Scott, which had been toppled on October 20, 2020. McGrain did not seek city permission to install the bust, which McGrain expected to be temporary; on June 11 the city announced that it would remove the bust.

References

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