Poetry in Popular Culture

Donald Hall claimed poems make "the unsayable said.” Taking this quote into account, it is apparent why poetry is such a prominent resource in our past and present forms of expression. In recent popular culture poetry has made its debut in music, movies, and television shows. For instance, in the well-known movie The Notebook, Walt Whitman’s poetry is read on more than one occasion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODtVXpULPv4&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpXCzX8hr0&feature=related
The links above are taken from part of the movie. At the end of the first link a scene opens with main character Noah reading Walt Whitman’s “Spontaneous Me,” and the scene continues through the beginning of the second clip. Poetry can influence pop culture in a variety of ways, however, in this movie poetry is represented as a key of sorts. Poetry unlocks some of Noah’s most inner feelings, as well as reveals an embarrassing childhood memory to his new love. The first night the lovers are reunited after many years, Noah reads poetry to her out on the porch. Here, poetry helped reunite the two and erase away all the years they spent apart.
Another example of poetry in pop culture would be in the hit movie 10 Things I Hate About You. Based off Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, one of the less popular characters directly quotes Shakespeare to impress a girl who is a die-hard fan. A teacher in the movie also recites to the class Shakespeare’s sonnet 141 in a rapping manner. Evidently, Shakespeare’s poetry lyrics are still timeless in the minds of many. Personally, I find it refreshing that writers continue to find ways to incorporate past poetry and make it relevant to present generations. Poetry allusions and references like these help us to better understand our past by applying poetry to present situations.