American Gothic - Parodies

Parodies

The Depression-era understanding of the painting as a depiction of an authentically American scene prompted the first well-known parody, a 1942 photo by Gordon Parks of cleaning woman Ella Watson, shot in Washington, D.C.

American Gothic is one of the few paintings to achieve iconic cultural status, along with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch's The Scream. It is thus one of the most reproduced – and parodied – images ever. Many artists have replaced the two people with other known couples and replaced the house with well known houses.

References and parodies of the image have been numerous for generations, appearing regularly in such media as postcards, magazines, animated cartoons, advertisements, comic books, album covers, television shows and other artists, such as Tony Julianos parody, "American Goths" which depicts goth teens instead of the traditional farmers. The opening credits of the 1965 television show Green Acres had the main couple in an American Gothic-style pose; cinematic posters of the films For Richer or Poorer, Son In Law, American Gothic, and Good Fences parody the painting. It is also a key motif in Anthony Weigh's play 2,000 Feet Away, which opens with a scene featuring the painting at the Art Institute.

A sculpture entitled "God Bless America" by sculptor John Seward Johnson II that features the American Gothic couple went on display in Chicago, Illinois, just south of the Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Avenue, in December 2008 but has been removed as of February 26, 2010. Postcards mimicking the couple with sitting US Presidents, Presidential nominees, and their spouses are popular commercial products. Ohio State Buckeyes football games feature the painting on their scoreboard; within a few seconds of its display, the man's eyes bug out and his tongue wags.

A 1963 Saturday Evening Post cover featured the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies in a parody of American Gothic with Irene Ryan and Buddy Ebsen posing like the 2 people in the painting flanked by Max Baer and Donna Douglas at their sides.

David Ackles borrowed the title for his 1973 American Gothic album, as did The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2008 EP American Gothic and a 1995 television horror series created by Shaun Cassidy. Elton John and RuPaul portray the couple on the video for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". Astrovamps parodied the painting on the cover of their album, American Gothik. The Ma and Pa couple at the beginning of the Doctor Who episode "Gridlock" are fashioned in the style of the couple in the painting. The American Gothic couple have even been reinterpreted as Living Dead Dolls twice, in 2004 and 2009.

In the opening scene of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn appear as a farmer and his wife in parody of American Gothic. They are joined by a daughter dressed in the same fashion.

One scene in episode 7 of season 6 of Dexter features an advert for a lawn mower of the Carpenter Gothic house from the original painting which Dexter and his partner stand in front of after committing murder with a pitchfork. Dexter holds the blood dripping pitchfork in the same manner as the original painting.

The painting was parodied in a Saturday Night Live episode in 2012 with host Anne Hathaway as Nan Wood Graham, Jason Sudeikis as Dr. Byron McKeeby, Tarran Killam as Grant Wood, and Kenan Thompson as a tour guide in The Art Institute of Chicago.

The painting was also parodied in a classic commercial for "New Country Corn Flakes", a General Mills product.