|
Actress, singer, Playmate and stage show performer Jayne Mansfield, despite her limited success in Hollywood, had an enormous impact on popular culture of the late 1950s and has remained a popular subject in popular culture ever since. During a period between 1956 and 1957, there were about 122,000 lines of copy and 2,500 photographs that appeared in newspapers. Dennis Russel, in an article on her in the ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'' (1999), said that "Although many people have never seen her movies, Jayne Mansfield remains, long after her death, one of the most recognizable icons of 1950s celebrity culture."〔 In the 2004 novel ''Child of My Heart'' by Alice McDermott, a National Book Award winning writer, the 1950s is referred to as "in those Marilyn Monroe/Jayne Mansfield days". R. L. Rutsky〔R. L. Rutsky; ''High Techne: Art and Technology from the Machine Aesthetic to the Posthuman''; page 19; University of Minnesota Press; 1999〕 and Bill Osgerby〔Bill Osgerby; ''Playboys in Paradise: Masculinity, Youth and Leisure-Style in Modern America''; page 109; Berg Publishers; 2001〕 has claimed that it was Mansfield along with Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot who made the bikini popular. M. Thomas Inge describes Mansfield, Monroe and Jane Russell as personification of the bad girl in popular culture, as opposed to Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Natalie Wood personifying the good girl.〔M. Thomas Inge; ''Handbook of American Popular Culture''; page 1432; Greenwood Pub Group; 1989〕 Mansfield, Monroe and Barbara Windsor have been described as representations of a historical juncture of sexuality in comedy and popular culture.〔Stephen Wagg; ''Because I Tell a Joke Or Two: Comedy, Politics, and Social Difference''; page 73; Routledge; 1998〕 Evangelist Billy Graham once said, "This country knows more about Jayne Mansfield's statistics than the Second Commandment."〔 As late as the mid-1980s she remained one of the biggest TV draws.〔Todd Gitlin; ''Inside Prime Time''; page 196; Routledge; 1994〕 As an indication of her impact on popular culture today, more than two generations later, there are numerous cultural references to the Hollywood sex symbol and Playboy Playmate in recent films, books, TV and music. Numerous show biz people were dubbed Jayne Mansfield over the time, including Italian actress Marisa Allasio and professional wrestler Missy Hyatt.〔Luis Canales, ''Imperial Gina: The Strictly Unauthorized Biography of Gina Lollobrigida'', page 91, Branden Booksef, 1990, ISBN 0-8283-1932-4〕〔Mira Liehm, ''Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from 1942 to the Present'', page 143, University of California Press, 1984〕〔Hyatt, Missy, Salzberg, Charles, Goldblatt, Mark; ''Missy Hyatt: First Lady of Wrestling''; page 78〕 ==Life and career== Mansfield's public persona and career image became another subject in popular culture. Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat books often refer to Mansfield; their characters Dirk and Weetzie watch ''The Girl Can't Help It'', and the Witch Baby's mother is part of a sinister cult that masquerades as a Jayne Mansfield fan club. In Lynda Curnyn's 2004 novel, ''Bombshell'', the character Grace is advised not to become a Jayne Mansfield when it is suspected that she is pregnant without a boyfriend or a husband.〔Lynda Curnyn; ''Bombshell''; page 119; Red Dress Ink; 2004〕 Mansfield's films and events of her life also became subjects of inspiration in popular culture. In the 1963 movie, ''The Stripper'', the aspiring stripper Lila Green, played by Joanne Woodward, is mistaken as Mansfield. In the 2005 novel ''Who Wrote the Book of Love?'' by Lee Siegel, Lucky Lee, an American boy in Southern California in the 1950s, becomes infatuated with Marilyn Monroe and Mansfield in his journey through sexual enlightenment. In the book Lucky Lee uses famous quotes from films and literature - like "Wow! What a body!" and "Me Tarzan, you Jayne!" In the book it is spelled Jayne instead of Jane, to make a pun to allude to Mansfield.〔Lee Siegel; ''Who Wrote the Book of Love?''; page 151; University of Chicago Press; 2005〕 Dutch writer Jan Cremer wrote a large part of his autobiographical novel ''I, Jan Cremer – III'' about their relationship.〔''Ik, Jan Cremer – Derde Boek'', De Bezige Bij, 2007, ISBN 978-90-234-2982-1〕 She remains a recurring character in works of fiction. In the eleventh episode of the second season of TV series ''Goodnight Sweetheart'' - titled ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'' (1993) - Diana Kent plays the role of Mansfield in a time travel story. In the same episode John Evans plays the role of Winston Churchill.〔(''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'' ) on Internet Movie Database; Retrieved: 2007-11-29''〕 She also was a character in ''Underworld'', a 2005 novel by Don DeLillo. In a 2002 detective novel by Max Allan Collins, ''Chicago Confidential'', the series private investigator Nathan Heller falls in love with Mansfield, becomes friends with Frank Sinatra and is threatened by Joseph McCarthy. Mansfield also features in numerous works of art and entertainment in general. She is mentioned in the third sketch of the 48th show of the second season of ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' (also featuring Wailing Whale episodes 5 & 6), which was first released on May 13, 1961. Mansfield also helped unveil a Rocky & Bullwinkle statue on Sunset Boulevard. On the ''Married... with Children'' season 3 episode "A Dump of My Own," Al Bundy says that when he was young he had two dreams and one of them was to become an astronaut and land on the planet Jayne Mansfield. In the episode of ''Frasier'', "The Impossible Dream", Mansfield is mentioned by Marty, stating that an example of a fun dream would be in the jungle with Jayne Mansfield and her getting bit by a snake. In the 2001 film ''Vixen Highway'', Ann Tait plays the role of a Dr. Jayne Mansfield.〔(''Vixen Highway'' ) on Internet Movie Database; Retrieved: 2007-11-29''〕 Writer-artist Jack Kirby of Marvel Comics drew inspiration from the strong-woman image of Jayne Mansfield in designing the character Susan Storm of the Fantastic Four.〔Mike Gartland, ''The Collected Jack Kirby Collector'' (ed. Jack Kirby and John Morrow), page 41, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2006〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jayne Mansfield in popular culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|