Kafkaesque

Reading Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a bit of a unique experience for me. For one thing, I don't think I've ever read a book with such a specific, gloomy mood as Kafka's book. Secondly, besides the first two Harry Potter books, I haven't read anything else that has had such a significant impact on pop culture. The whole class discussion on what makes something "Kafkaesque" combined with the intriguing alternate world presented in The Metamorphosis is really making me interested in finding some Kafkaesque influences in pop culture.

For starters, I should probably start out with defining what makes something Kafkaesque. From what I found, something that is Kafkaesque takes something very familiar and distorts it into something somewhat unsettling. Kafkaesque images are usually in/on a dark background and have little to no color variation as well as being physically distorted. Every Kafkaesque image I came across was either black and white or brown (which often included dark swirling lines). Also, Kafkaesque media (especially music) seem to attach itself to childlike innocence. For example, we have all probably seen an old horror movie or two where there is a child's music box that plays creepy music. Basically, Kafkaesque things take something and distort it and make it literally, spiritually, or metaphorically darker.

A familiar example of something that is Kafkaesque is Edward Scissor-hands. He is a perfect example of a Kafkaesque character both aesthetically and personality-wise. In terms of physical appearance, he has pasty white skin, swirling jet black hair, and wears all black, which are both attributes of a dimly colored Kafkaesque painting. In terms of personality, Edward Scissor-hands is basically a child trapped in an adult's body (plus he has scissors for hands). Edward Scissor-hands is actually a lot like Gregor Samsa in the book because he accidentally hurts people in the movie, which causes people to fear what he is much like Gregor's family fears him for what he is and does. Both are misunderstood and both just want to please people.

Here is an example of how even hip-hop can become Kafkaesque. This song is from the classic Cypress Hill album Black Sunday. This type of theme is unusual for Cypress Hill, and even more unusual in hip-hop. Despite its unusually dark theme, this album went triple platinum and contains the classic single Insane in the Brain. This album is very Kafkaesque because it took the well-known art form of gangsta rap music and gave it a dark twist. The album cover is very dimly colored and has different shades of brown combined with the swirling clouds in the background, which are all key attributes to Kafkaesque works of art. This particular track is very Kafkaesque because if you listen to the lyrics by themselves, they make up a typical gangsta rap song. But the instrumental part of the song sounds like it's straight out of a horror movie, which gives the familiar genre a bizarre twist.

I actually don't know too much about this work of art. I couldn't find out who drew it, and it's not exactly pop culture, but it is a perfect example of Kafkaesque art, and this particular example is directly inspired by The Metamorphosis. It has all the elements of a Kafkaesque work of art. It has the familiar businessman suit, tie, and suitcase twisted by the image of the cockroach combined with the swirling red aura in the background, which is a welcome change to swirling black lines. This picture is obviously portraying Gregor from the book in his traveling salesman attire in his metamorphic state. That may even be a fabric sample he is holding on the right. This picture adequately portrays the feeling I get whenever I read the book.

I believe that Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events shows how Kafka has affected other authors. In case it wasn't obvious enough, Snicket's juvenile readers' series deals with some rather dark subjects; this is of course an aspect of being Kafkaesque. The three main children are orphaned and then forced to live with their uncle, who is a shady character that is just after their money. There are thirteen books in the entire series (the last was released on a Friday the 13th), The kids are always on the run from their (to say the least) abusive uncle, and I believe at least one person dies in each book. This series is about as dark as preteen books get. Another thing that makes this Kafkaesque is that it has that same distorted dream-like reality to it. I reacall in the third book, the children go into a house built over the edge of a cliff and kept from falling by a few two-by-fours. The house was unstable, a refrigerator crushed someone to death, a doorknob exploded. Then the children had to escape their uncle by rowing a dingy through sea monster-infested waters. A connection I see between this book and The Metamorphasis is the messed up family dynamic between the characters in both books. Which family is even more messed up is debatable.

This last picture isn't exactly Kafkaesque, but I believe it is partially Kafkaesque in the sense that it twists something we know; in this case what it means to be Kafkaesque. Basically, this little comic is a twist on a twist, which some may argue is VERY Kafkaesque. It is a clever parody of the opening line to the book The Metamorphasis which I thought would be interesting to share.













There are many examples of things out there that are Kafkaesque. I think that many times when people create something that is Kafkaesque, they don't even realize it. These are just a few examples of how Franz Kafka's tormented mind helped mold pop culture that can still be seen today.