Napoleon in popular culture

Napoléon Bonaparte, emperor of France, has become a worldwide cultural icon symbolizing strength, genius, and political solidity. Since his death, countless towns, streets, ships, and even cartoon characters have been named after him.

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In Western culture, believing oneself to be Napoléon has become semi-synonymous with delusions and more particularly delusions of grandeur http://www.bartleby.com/59/10/napoleonbona.html.

Related Topics:
Delusion - Delusions of grandeur

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There are two reasons for this, firstly delusional patients often believe themselves to be important figures (see paranoia) such as Jesus or Napoleon (naturally the belief that one is Napoleon has declined in favour of more modern powerful people over time). In particular, the psychiatrist R. D. Laing in his book The Divided Self refers to a case of a paranoid schizophrenic who believes he is the reincarnation of Napoleon http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:kqT94oRkiZIJ:www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/N-Q/psysc/staff/rmyoung/papers/paper72h.html+%22The+Divided+Self%22+Laing+Napoleon&hl=en. Secondly, there is the psychiatric term Napoleon complex which describes an overly aggressive behaviour thought to be exhibited by some short men.

Related Topics:
Paranoia - Jesus - R. D. Laing - Reincarnation - Napoleon complex

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Thus, Napoleon has come to be used as a comedic shorthand for psychiatric illness:

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• Stan Laurel's first film Mixed Nuts shows him receiving a blow to the head, leaving him thinking he is Napoleon http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:kswboGjdb-cJ:www.a-1video.com/laurel.htm+laurel+%22mixed+nuts%22+napoleon&hl=en
• In the 2001 film The Emperor's New Clothes Ian Holm plays Napoleon who stumbles into the grounds of an asylum and finds himself surrounded by other "Napoleons" - he cannot reveal his identity for fear of being grouped with the deluded http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/interviews/story.jsp?story=481551 http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,4267,1136245,00.html
• In the Bugs Bunny film Napoleon Bunny-part a man is dragged away by psychiatric attendants for being dressed as Napoleon http://members.tripod.com/bugsbunnypage/scripts/napoleon.html
• In Asterix and the Big Fight the druid Psychoanalix has a patient who adopts the posture of Napoleon. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:OPXfDmnn0EsJ:www.gthomas.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/books/fight.html+%22Asterix+and+the+Big+Fight%22+napoleon&hl=en http://www.mage.fst.uha.fr/asterix/allusion/napo2.png
• In the film a patient in a psychiatric hospital believes himself to be Napoleon (the credits list him as "Loony Napoleon") http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:bSEl0FlJe-kJ:www.imdb.com/title/tt0110027/combined+%22highlander+III%22+%22loony+napoleon%22&hl=en
• In the film The Exorcist the priest says "Look, your daughter doesn't say she's a demon, she says he's the devil himself. Now, if you've seen as many psychotics as I have, you'd say it's the same thing as saying you're Napoleon Bonaparte."http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:TpgAoNEjL-wJ:www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/quotes+site:www.imdb.com+napoleon+exorcist&hl=en
• In the Frank Capra film Arsenic and Old Lace one of the characters believes himself to be Theodore Roosevelt. The local sanitorium does not want to admit him because they "have too many Roosevelts" adding, "could you talk him into being Napoleon, perhaps?" http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:CMk5utBW08AJ:www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/arsenic.shtml+%22arsenic+and+old+lace%22++napoleon+roosevelt&hl=en
• In the popular British sitcom Dad's Army, Captain Mainwaring is nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his short stature and imperious manner.
• In the popular science-fiction cartoon Futurama, Bender pretends to be a singing, banjo-playing Napoleon in order to fit in at an insane asylum in the episode Insane in the Mainframe.
• In the film Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon is a high-school student suffering from extreme social awkwardness.

Although Napoleon sometimes appears as himself:

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• He appears as a character in the time travelling comedy film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, wherein he discovers a fondness for ice cream http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:s7epXpo0VakJ:www.chucksconnection.com/billandted.html+%22bill+%26+Ted%27s%22+napoleon+ice-cream&hl=en
• Also appears in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits.
• In British scifi sitcom, Red Dwarf in episode "Better Than Life", Arnold J. Rimmer meets his role model in virtual reality. http://www.sadgeezer.com/RedDwarf/epis2-02.htm

Some fictional characters are named after Napoleon:

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• Napoleon the Pig in George Orwell's Animal Farm is a character resembling Joseph Stalin.