Cultural Impact The Invisible Man, Frida Kahlo, and the Three Stooges

The X-Rays influence reached even into the realm of print media, as seen in this anti-Hitler poster by John Heartfield.  (Translation:  This is the hell that he brings) Copyright Artists Rights Society125

The X-Ray not only touched the physical world, but created new genres in the arts.  Literary science fiction developed out of the new emerging technology , with many titles centering around the concept of X-Rays and invisibility.  Artwork also adopted many of the principles of the X-Ray; artists such as Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, and Francis Picabia incorporated many X-Ray influenced elements into their paintings.126  Photographers also felt this influence; the photomontage, collage, and photographic elements all reflected the new phenomenon.  Hollywood also had their share of X-Ray influenced work; such movies as The Invisible Man and The Blood of the Poet, along with television shows such as The Three Stooges reflected the common citizen's fascination with the possibilities presented in the X-Ray.127 The invention of the X-Ray coincided with the rise of an artistic counterculture in Europe and North America.  In the early 20th century, these artists, known as the avant-garde, were revolting against a society that restricted their freedom of thought, thus the artists felt the need to revolt against a world of "superficiality" to find the meaning of "truth".128  The cubist movement, which included artists such as Picasso and Braque, was subtly influenced by the X-Ray;  "they adopted monochrome palettes-- a deliberate abandonment of color--and depicted objects broken into surfaces with light coming from a variety of angles."129   Frantizek Kupka capitalized on the study of optics in relation to the X-Ray, creating paintings that reflected the impression of transparency.  For instance, in The Dream, he explains his mind as, "an ultra sensitive film, capable of seeing even the unknown worlds of which the rhythms would seem incomprehensible to us."130  Francis Picabia also concentrated on the X-Ray, producing both Mechanical Expression as seen through our own Mechanical Expression, a sketch that includes a spinning, spark-producing X-Ray tube, and New York through an X-Ray, a watercolor that can be seen from any angle.131

   
   
   
   
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Frida Kahlo, the famous female Mexican painter, included many elements of the X-Ray in her work.  Before becoming a painter, she studied anatomy as a premedical student.133  Thus, this background provided her with inspiration for much of her work.  Her X-Ray-like images portrayed the transparent body while emphasizing the reproductive organs in surrealistic, autobiographical ways.134  Frequently she painted the insides of her body, often "isolating internal organs but keeping them connected to her and to each other."135  For instance, in The Broken Column, her spine is depicted as "a fractured ionic pillar inside her flayed torso which is held together by a surgical brace."136  Her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, also used X-Ray-like images in Mechanized Maternity.137 Because photography and X-Rays were so similar, it is no surprise that photographers also adopted many elements of the X-Ray into their work.  The photographic process itself was altered; taking the X-Ray's lead, artists used various materials such as film and chemically treated paper to recreate the translucent properties of X-Rays.138  During the interwar period, German dadaists created the term photomontage, a style of fitting photographs together to produce and artificial but realistic image, as seen in the image at the top of this page.139  John Heartfield used his political images to expose evil, especially hypocrisy through "the evil within."140

Frida Kahlo's The Broken Column (1944) Copyright Instituto Nacional de  Bellas Artes y Literatura132

The literary world was also influenced in the artistic movement.  Authors wrote many books based on the X-Ray.  The Magic Mountain, written by Thomas Mann, allowed society to identify with the main character, Hans Castorp, because both had experienced the process of being X-Rayed.141 In 1897's The Invisible Man, a scientist discovers a ray that makes his body invisible.  His only weakness is that digesting food is visible, which was based on the actual practice of using barium meals for fluoroscopic examinations.142  Similarly, in A.A. Merrill's The Great Awakening:  The Story of the Twenty-Second Century, the author views the future where X-Rays are used as a super-antiseptic.143  Even Jack London was influenced by the X-Ray in his short story "A Thousand Deaths," where a pair of father and son scientists attempt to conquer death through the use of a special kind of ray reminiscent of the X-Ray.144  Through science fiction, the optimistic hopes and ideals of the X-Ray generation were manifested.

Even the lovable stooges were not immune from the influence of the X-Ray. Copyright Radiology Centennial Inc.145

The relatively recently created motion picture and television were the last inventions to incorporate the X-Ray.  In 1896 John MacIntyre experimented with methods of X-ray motion pictures, which came to be known as "cinemaradiology".146  However, the process was not successful until after 1950.147  In 1930  The Blood of the Poet, the first film to use X-Ray imagery, was produced.148  However, the first full-scale box office success involving the X-Ray was the adaptation of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man.  This movie was an important touchstone of American culture because it signaled the audience's acceptance of transparency as a sign of life, not of death.149  The X-Ray had become so deeply imbedded in American culture that the public no longer saw the X-Ray as the revolutionary device it once was.