Brave New World in popular culture covers the influences of the novel Brave New World on popular culture and mass media such as television and film, as well as the influences upon the book from such sources.

Influences on the novel

Prior to the publication of Brave New World in 1932 dystopian fiction was primarily established in popular culture by the influence of pulp fiction and the 1927 Metropolis – a silent, German expressivist film which featured a futuristic dystopia with a very rigidly defined class structure.

Influences of Brave New World

Film & television

The 1993 movie Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Nigel Hawthorne, repeatedly makes allusions to Brave New World. Both involve a mechanised future where everybody is kept happy, where undesirable things (those that reduce society's happiness) are banned. A couple of references to the book include the fact that Sandra Bullock's character is named Lenina Huxley, a mix of Lenina Crowne and Aldous Huxley, and a scene where Lenina Huxley tells John Spartan (Stallone's character), "John, you're a savage!" calling John the Savage to mind. At one point in the movie Snipes' character says, "It's a brave new world," to Spartan. The movie is otherwise not related to the book.

The 1998 (made-for-TV) movie Brave New World, starring Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy, is an abridged version of the original story. The numerous alterations to the novel include the absence of the Epsilon caste as well as the Plus/Minus inter-caste distinctions, the characterisation of Linda as a"savage" who was seduced by the Alpha DHC, the addition of a Delta who was conditioned by the DHC to kill Bernard Marx, John the Savage falling off a cliff while being pursued by the paparazzi and Mond giving Marx the job of DHC (after the previous one was fired), which he leaves when Lenina becomes pregnant with his child. The film ends with Marx and Lenina raising their child in a Savage Reservation.

The 2002 movie Equilibrium, which describes a dystopian futuristic world, borrows several themes from Brave New World. The film depicts a world society created in the aftermath of a catastrophic war, in which an all-powerful world government has eliminated war, crime, and poverty through compulsory use of the sedative drug "Prozium". All races have equality and citizens of the society wear colour-coded clothing according to their class. Outside the clean, efficient cities are "The Nethers", a reference to the Savage Reservations of Brave New World. The Nethers, which encompass the ruins of cities destroyed during the war, are home to those who do not wish to live in the new society. Equilibrium borrows imagery from Brave New World such as the "T" symbol and colour-coded clothing.

The Simpsons have an episode in which the town is ruled by the most intelligent members of society. They refer to themselves as the Alphas.

Brave New World is mentioned in the 2001 movie, Garden State, relating it to the drug use in their town.

Music

The Steve Miller Band album "Brave New World", featuring the title track "Brave New World", September, 1969

Singer-songwriter Donovan recorded a song titled "Brave New World" on his eponymous 1977 album, borrowing from the book's themes, and declaring "Test-tube brother, test-tube sister, it'll never be," with the preservation of the family.

The 1979 album (and the 1982 movie based on the album) The Wall by Pink Floyd has a song named "Goodbye Blue Sky", which features the line "Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a Brave New World unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?". This references the similitudes of post-war Europe and the conditions of the world described in the novel.

The Swedish band Tiamat made a song named "Love Is As Good As Soma," a reference to the book.

The band The Smashing Pumpkins created a song entitled "Soma" which is evidently inspired by the novel.

The 2000 album and song Brave New World by Iron Maiden. Both the song and the album are inspired by the novel.

Reagan Youth released a song named "Brave New World," which describes the conditions of the novel.

The dance track "Opera Song," by Jurgen Vries, features a chorus with the lines "and it's a brave new world that we live in... we have no control of our feelings."

New York City rockers The Strokes have a song on their 2001 Is This It? debut with a song entitled "Soma" that is undoubtedly inspired by Huxley's novel.

In their CD, The Woods, the band Sleater-Kinney released a song called "Modern Girl" which features the line "I'm sick of this brave new world."

The Australian drum & bass/techstep band Pendulum's song "Coma" features the lyrics taken from a song quoted by Lenina in the book itself, "Hug me til you drug me honey/Kiss me til I'm in a coma."

The Ambient/Dub music compilation "One A.D." includes a track titled "Soma Holiday" by the band G.O.L.

The 2003 album The Golden Age Of Grotesque by Marilyn Manson has a song entitled "Ka-Boom Ka-Boom," which features the line "Inhale, exhale, let's all hail / It's a depraved new world."