Cultural References
In the final scene of the May 10, 2004 series finale of the UPN sitcom The Parkers, Kim Parker (Countess Vaughn) sings the song following the wedding of her mother Nikki Parker (Mo'Nique) and the longtime object of Nikki's affection, Professor Stanley Oglevee (Dorien Wilson). Appropriately, the episode is entitled "At Last."
The Etta James version is used in several movies and television series. Her version of "At Last" is in the 1998 film Pleasantville, appearing in the score behind the decisive scene when the pink 1950s-era Buick convertible carries the newly enlightened kids down to the park by the lake in a gentle shower of pink blossoms. It was also used in American Pie in one of the early scenes of the film where lovestruck Jim approaches foreign exchange student Nadia at a party. In addition, the song was used in the 1988 film Rain Man in the scene where Charlie is teaching his brother Raymond how to slow dance. The Etta James version was featured in an almost silent episode of Two Guys and a Girl. A brief clip of the song (Etta James) is heard on Strong Arms of the Ma of the TV series, The Simpsons, when Marge rips the jukebox out of the wall at Moe's Tavern. Additionally, it was played in The Simpsons episode The Wife Aquatic, when Homer clubs the haul of Yum Yum Fish that has just been caught. The Etta James version is also used in the Chuck episode Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner. The movie Little Manhattan also features this song in the wedding scene.
The song was used in FOX's post-game coverage of Game 4 of the 2004 World Series when the Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year championship drought.
Ventriloquist Terry Fator won the summer 2007 season of America's Got Talent largely on the strength of his performance of the song with his puppet "Emma Taylor".
The song is covered by R&B/jazz artist Felicia Loud in the 2007 feature documentary "Inlaws & Outlaws", directed by Drew Emery.
In the 2008 film, My Mother's New Boyfriend, a romantic comedy directed by George Gallo, Eva Cassidy's version is played at the very end of the film.
It was used in the trailer for the 2008 film Wall-E (Etta James Version).
Kevin Michael performed a cover of the song during the wedding scene in the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer.
In the 2009 series of The X Factor, Stacey Solomon performed this song on Diva Week. The performance received mixed reviews from judges, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole both enjoyed it but Simon Cowell said she was out of her comfort zone. In the 2011 series it was performed by Johnny Robinson.
At the first of many inaugural balls for President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, Beyoncé Knowles performed At Last live for the President's and First Lady's first dance, reprising her Grammy-winning performance of the song in the 2008 film Cadillac Records.
In the 2011 series of The X Factor USA, Josh Krajcik performed this song on the first audition. The performance received great reviews from judges.
In 2012 on Series 9 of The X Factor Jahmene Douglas performed this song at his audition and at the semi-final.
Read more about this topic: At Last
Famous quotes containing the word cultural:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)