Pop Culture Flashback: 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' (August 13)

Graphic novels tend to be a step above comic books as they often contain a more thorough plot but adapting them into movies is often a difficult task. Universal Pictures had an uphill battle with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World from the beginning but today, it is a cult classic.

2010 – Scott Faced the World and Lost – Sort of

Images from "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" movie poster. — *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. (Universal Pictures)*

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opened in theaters on this day and bombed. Despite largely favorable reviews from critics, the masses didn’t come to same him. Universal Pictures acknowledged that they had a hard time marketing the film for a mainstream audience. However, the movie received over 70 award nominations and today has a strong cult following.

The movie was directed by Edgar Wright and the film is known for its unique visual style and humor. It is told with a mix of different art imagery. Kevin Smith said that Wright brought the graphic novel to life.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World starred Michael Cera as Scott, a teenager tasked with defeating seven of his new girlfriend’s exes. Cera’s co-stars included Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Mae Whitman, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza and Jason Schwartzman.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1860 – Annie Oakley: Anything You Could Do, She Could Do Better

Annie Oakley shooting in front of a crowd in Pinehurst, NC. — Annie Oakley shooting a shotgun in front of spectators in Pinehurst, NC. *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Anything you can do, she could do better. At least, that is how the song goes in the stage musical, Annie Get Your Gun based on the life of Annie Oakley. Welcomed to the world as Phoebe Ann Mosey, “Annie” was born in Woodland, Ohio. By the age of seven, Annie had learned the art of trapping and a year later learned how to shoot and hunt animals.

Annie did not attend school regularly as a child and 1870, she was sent to work as a nanny agreeing to the pay of fifty cents per week and an education. It is said that Annie spent two years serving in a near-slavery conditions where she was mentally and physically abused.

Later when she returned home, Annie sold what she caught to local restaurants and hotels. By the age of 15 she was able to pay off her mother’s farm. It was the same year that Annie took on Frank E. Butler, a traveling show marksman in a shooting competition. Butler missed his 25th shot and Annie took home $100. However, in a sense, they both won as he began to court Annie and the two were married a year later.

The two joined the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1885 and was known as “Little Sure Shot” in many of the show’s advertisements. It is believed that Annie taught about 15,000 women how to use a gun during her lifetime.

1992 – Left-Handers Unite!

4 photos of left hands — *(HNDPTESBC/Pixabay)*

It is estimated that about 10% of the world’s population are left-handed. However, for many years, left-handed children in grade schools were forced to write with their right hands. In 1990, The Left Handers Club began campaigning for designers to create more left-handed products. Two years later on this day, they created the unofficial holiday, Left-Handers Day to raise awareness of the struggles that left-handed children and adults face every day.

OSCAR WINNER

2021: ‘CODA’ Debuts on Streaming Service

A family applaud a performance. — Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant in *CODA. (AppleTV)*

CODA, a remake of the French-Belgian film La Famille Bélier, debuted on Apple TV+ on this day. Directed by Sian Heder, the comedy/drama film centers mostly on Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) a young woman who is the only hearing member of her family. The movie used deaf actors to play the deaf characters. Marlee Matlin played Ruby’s mother, Troy Kotsur played her father and Daniel Durant played her brother.

Having been released on the Apple TV+ streaming service, CODA was the first movie to win the Best Picture Oscar even though it had never been available on physical media. The movie also won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Kotsur) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

In August of 2024, Deaf West Theatre announced that they were working on a musical stage play based on the movie.

1967: Bonnie and Clyde

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in "Bonnie & Clyde" — *(Warner Bros.)*

Directed by Arthur Penn, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty played gangster couple, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde

2015: Picasso

More of Picasso’s paintings has been stolen than any other artist. “La Coiffeuse” was returned to Paris’ National Museum of Modern Art after being stolen 17 years earlier.

1997: South Park

The kids from South Park — *(Paramount+)*

Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the foul-mouthed, adult animation show South Park debuted on Comedy Central.

1918 – The First Woman Joined the U.S. Marine Corps

Opha May Johnson and her monument — *(Lance Cpl. Paul Ochoa of US Marines/Wikimedia Commons)*

During World I, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to join the United States Marine Corps Reserve. She was the first in line of 300 or so women. And she was 39 years old at the time too. Some of her first duties were to serve as a clerk managing records of other women reservists. By that September, she was the highest-ranking woman in the corps.

The monument at the gravesite of Opha May Johnson, St. Paul’s Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., was put up in 2018 by the Women Marines Association to commemorate the 100 years of women serving in the Marine Corps.