Marquis de Sade in Popular Culture - Other Works

Other Works

• The writer Georges Bataille applied Sade's methods of writing about sexual transgression to shock and provoke readers.
• A character named Marquis de Singe in the adventure game Tales of Monkey Island is thought to reference Marquis de Sade. The character has a strong affiliation with amputation and has been exiled to Flotsam Island after his cross-breeding experiments on the Queen's poodles.
• Marquis de Sade is also mentioned in Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende as having taken a young girl as an apprentice while in jail who went on to be the source of one of the main character's prodigious knowledge of seduction and sex.
• In Harlan Ellison's science fiction anthology, Dangerous Visions (1967), Robert Bloch wrote a story entitled "A Toy For Juliette" whose title character was both named for and used techniques based on Sade's works.
• Bloch also wrote a short story called "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade", in which a collector becomes possessed by the violent spirit of the Marquis after stealing the titular item. The story was the basis for the film The Skull (1966), starring Peter Cushing and Patrick Wymark.
• In Garth Ennis's Preacher comic series, a pale, long-haired character goes by the name of Jesus de Sade. This character is intended as an insult to Christians and a parody of Marquis de Sade by having him sodomizing small animals and his pantless butlers.
• In the comic book series The Invisibles, Sade is recruited by the anarchistic group the Invisibles, as part of the revolution. The portrayal of him is supported by his liberal views, anti-authority stance and unhegemonic lifestyle.
• Jack of All Trades (TV series) a comedy-adventure series set in the 1800s starring Bruce Campbell. In the episode "X Marquis the Spot" (2000), Jack visits the island resort of the Marquis de Sade and competes in an S&M-themed obstacle course race that parodies Survivor (TV series).
• The DC Comics character Desaad, created by Jack Kirby in New Gods #2 (1971), is a play on "De Sade". Desaad's assistant Lady Justeen, created by Walt Simonson in Orion #1 (2000), is likewise a play on "Justine".
• Polish science fiction author Stanisław Lem has written an essay analyzing game-theoretical arguments that appear in Sade's novel Justine.
• The 1990 song "Sadeness" (and indeed the entire piece it is a part of, "Principles of Lust"), created by the "musical project" Enigma, is named after the Marquis de Sade, and he is a theme of the song(s).
• In Thomas Pynchon's Vineland "The Marquis de Sod" is the name of a landscaping company.
• In the 2007 Marvel Comics limited series " Penance Relentless" the main character, Penance (Robbie Baldwin), is shown to have a copy of "Pain & Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Marquis de Sade". This is due to his powers, something he enjoys, only becoming active when he experiences extreme pain.
• In the song "Babalon AD (So Glad For The Madness)" by metal band Cradle of Filth from their album Damnation and a Day, the narrator (which is supposed to be the devil,) says that he "dictated to de Sade in the dark entrails of the Bastille."
• The Marquis Doll Adventures, a novel by Paula Hopkins, invokes a future world using characters based on De Sade's writings.
• Dutch DJ and Producer, Dov J. Elkabas, more famously The Prophet, used the name "MarQuiz De Sade" for the release of the vinyl MarQ 1. Containing the tracks "Sadizm", "The Brother MarQuiz" and "S.O.A.B".
• In the Kingdom Hearts series manga, Larxene was seen reading a Marquis de Sade book while lounging on the couch. Larxene herself is a sadist.
• In the adventure video game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, a receptionist in a Parisian hospital talks about another nurse's strict methods, saying "In terms of strictness, she'd whip the butt off the Marquis de Sade!"
• In a comical vein, in the "Carry On" movie Don't Lose Your Head (1966), Charles Hawtrey's character "Duc de Pommfrit" is seen reading a book by de Sade before a foiled attempt to guillotine him.
• An anachronistic De Sade (played by Lloyd Bochner), also served as a villainous foil for a pair of would-be 17th-century lovers in an episode of the TV show Fantasy Island.
• Guido Crepax's graphic novel combining Justine with Anne Desclos's Histoire d'O, supposedly followed Sade's example of creating beauty from the vile and the degenerate.
• He is also mentioned in Alan Menken's "Little Shop of Horrors" in the song, "Dentist", which is about a sadistic dentist. The line reads, "Here he is, girls, the leader of the plaque / watch him suck up that gas, oh my God / he's a dentist and he'll never ever be any good / who wants their teeth done by the Marquis de Sade?"
• He is name-checked in the Alice Cooper song Unfinished Sweet from the Billion Dollar Babies album, in the line "De Sade is gonna live in my mouth tonight/Achin' to get me."
• The BBC mockumentary Operation Good Guys featured a character Dominic de Sade, who had an interest in BDSM
• The low budget horror film The Dungeon of Harrow by comic book artist Pat Boyette features an antagonist called "Count de Sade," here pronounced to rhyme with "maid."
• The Marquis de Sade is depicted in the pages of Alley Cat, a graphic series published by Image comics which featured Alley Baggett as a crime fighter.
• He is mentioned as having developed the torture scene in the graphic novel Y The Last Man.
• The Marquis de Sade is also mentioned in the Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart as having traded Lemarchand's Box for paper on which to write the 120 days of Sodom.
• An album by the Austrian blackened-death metal band Belphegor, Bondage Goat Zombie, is somewhat of a concept album revolving around de Sade's works as an overall theme and inspiration, also featuring the song "Justine: Soaked in Blood", directly based on his work.
• In Family Guy, Brian Griffin refers to the Marquis as Stewie's "favourite hero".
• Kafka's Soup, a literary pastiche in the form of a cookbook, contains a recipe for boned stuffed poussins à la Marquis de Sade.
• The Stone Roses mention the Marquis de Sade in their 1989 seminal hit "Fools Gold".
• In The Charnel Pit — the final episode of the horror television series, Friday the 13th: The Series — the heroine Micki travels through time and space via a cursed double-sided painting to the Marquis' era, appearing within the walls of Sade's estate at the Château de Lacoste. During her stay, she is mistaken for a noblewoman Sade (played by Neil Munro) was expecting to arrive. Both are intrigued by the other (Micki still is drawn to Sade even after learning who he really was) and they engage in a charged, dangerous rapport...
• Author Mary Ann Mitchell bases a series around the Marquis De Sade in modern times. In her novels he is a vampire who (along with his mother in law, and niece) has survived to the 21st century.