Albert Einstein in popular culture

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Albert Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many works of popular culture.

The famous "tongue" image.
The famous "tongue" image.

On Einstein's 72nd birthday in 1951, UPI photographer Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera, but having smiled for photographers many times that day, Einstein stuck out his tongue instead.[1] This photo became one of the most popular photos ever taken of Einstein and it is well recognized in popular culture,[2][3] often used in merchandise depicting Einstein in a lighthearted sense. (For example, it is used as the poster above the bed of Jeremie Belpois in Code Lyoko (he is referred as "Einstein" and/or "brainiac" because of his high intelligence and tendency to speak in technobabble) "Einstein" has become a word used to describe someone extremely intelligent; the name is also applied sarcastically to someone who exhibits a lack of intelligence or insight (e.g., "Way to go, Einstein!").

Albert Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels, films and plays, such as Yahoo Serious's intentionally inaccurate biography of Einstein as a Tasmanian in the film Young Einstein, Jean-Claude Carrier's 2005 French novel, Einstein S'il Vous Plaît ("Please, Mr Einstein"), Nicolas Roeg's film Insignificance, Fred Schepisi's film I.Q. (where he was portrayed by Walter Matthau), Alan Lightman's collection of short stories Einstein's Dreams, and Steve Martin's comedic play Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He was the subject of Philip Glass's groundbreaking 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach and his humorous side is the subject of Ed Metzger's one-man play Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian. In the film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence he was portrayed as a holographic personality called Dr. Know (voiced by Robin Williams). He was also portrayed in the real-time strategy game Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Einstein is a favorite model for depictions of mad scientists and absent-minded professors; his expressive face and distinctive hairstyle have been widely copied and exaggerated. The Star Wars character Yoda's eyes were modeled after Einstein's.[4] Time magazine's Frederic Golden wrote that Einstein was "a cartoonist's dream come true."[5]

Kerry Livgren of the progressive rock band Kansas stated that he wrote the song “Portrait (He Knew)” about Albert Einstein. (In The Studio for the Point of Know Return, show #220, originally aired September 7, 1992)

The scientist is widely mentioned on lists of left-handed people[6] but several photographs show him using his right hand to hold pens, chalk and violin bows.[7]

[edit] Licensing

Einstein bequeathed his estate, as well as the use of his image (see personality rights), to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,[8] which from the mid-1980s has sponsored the Einstein Papers Project with the Princeton University Press. Einstein actively supported the university during his life and this support continues with the royalties received from licensing activities. The Roger Richman Agency licences the commercial use of the name "Albert Einstein" and associated imagery and likenesses of Einstein, as agent for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As head licensee the agency can control commercial usage of Einstein's name which does not comply with certain standards (e.g., when Einstein's name is used as a trademark, the ™ symbol must be used).[9] As of May, 2005, the Roger Richman Agency was acquired by Corbis.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kupper, Hans-Josef (2000), “Various things about Albert Einstein” 
  2. ^ Ingledew, John (2005). "The world's best known pictures", Photography. Laurence King Publishing, p 133. ISBN 1856694321. 
  3. ^ Faber, John (1978). "Einstein's Birthday Joke", Great News Photos and the Stories Behind Them. Courier Dover Publications, p. 108. ISBN 0486236676. 
  4. ^ The Making of Yoda (part one).. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  5. ^ Golden, Frederic (Jan. 3, 2000), “Person of the Century: Albert Einstein”, Time, <http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/magazine/albert_einstein5a.html>. Retrieved on 25 February 2006 
  6. ^ Some of the many World Wide Web lists of left-handers that include Einstein: [1]"Famous Left-handers — Professions" Web page at "Anything Left handed" Web site, [Weaver, Warren, Jr., "Washington Talk: The Presidential Campaign; Another Issue for '88: Left-Winged Politics", news feature article, November 27, 1987
  7. ^ These photographs show Einstein using his right hand: [2] (satirical image based on a photograph), [3], [4], [5], [6], [7].
  8. ^ http://aip.org/history/esva/einuse.htm. Retrieved on 21 November, 2005.
  9. ^ ALBRT EINSTEIN BRAND LOGO. Retrieved on 21 November, 2005.