Passion for Chocolate - Chocolate in Pop Culture

Chocolate is such a big part of our lives that it’s been featured in books, movies, and iconic

television episodes. Roald Dahl’s 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was successful, but the 1971 movie Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder cast as the “Candy Man” of song might be even more well-known. The story has even made its way to Broadway. And while Johnny Depp left his eccentric mark as Wonka in Tim Burton’s 2005 movie following Charlie’s golden ticket adventure, it was his charm as gypsy river rat Roux that stole rebellious chocolate maker Vianne’s heart in the film Chocolat, based on the novel of the same name. Other movies like The Chocolate War and Like Water for Chocolate illustrate the complex relationship we have with this confection that can by turns be sensuous, indulgent, decadent, and bittersweet. And one of television’s finest comedic moments might be Lucy and Ethel wrapping chocolates on the factory assembly line in I Love Lucy. Even sixty years after it originally aired, you can’t help but laugh at the sight of Lucy stuffing her mouth with the unwrapped chocolates to “hide” them as they start running behind. Unforgettable.

From Jean Harlow seductively nibbling her way through a giant box of chocolates in 1933 film Dinner at Eight to Harry Potter and his friends buying (and chasing) chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express or eating chocolate to recover after dementor attacks, there’s no question that

we identify with the feelings that chocolate evokes. We all understood Elaine’s horrified and bewildered reaction to seeing Mr. Pitt eating a Snickers bar with a knife and fork on Seinfeld. But maybe Tom Hanks as the title character in Forrest Gump served up the best quote about chocolate in one of the most memorable movie lines of all time: “My momma always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Here’s hoping that whether dark and rich or creamy and sweet, or a combination of it all, your box of chocolates holds nothing but deliciousness.