I bet you’re tired of hearing from me by now, but I promise that we are finished enduring through all of the boring, dense stuff. Now to the fun stuff!
You may ask, “What else is there to talk about?” We’ve covered everything from the history to thread count to air filters to pet stains. But we’ve never really talked about why these rugs are so popular in the United States. I have a few theories and they’re all concerned with one aspect of our culture.
Pop Culture
That’s right, pop culture. The thing Millennials love to know way too much about and secretly wish existed as a college major choice. Obviously, pop culture has a very large presence in our society. It’s constantly being fed to us through phones, TVs, movies, music, magazines, books, and billboards. Those are just a few examples. Because it is so omnipresent, we are heavily influenced by the images it projects. Whatever it suggests we eat, buy, listen to, watch, do, wear, or say we tend to do. Monkey see, monkey do, and all that jazz.
You may never notice the effect or not want to admit the power it has over us but it’s definitely there. All of this to say exposure to the same thing over time can leave an imprint on our brain of said thing. In this case, it’s rugs. And one outlet that they appear to pop up in the most is movies. I’ve included a few examples below of iconic rugs in popular movies. Movies you may have seen countless time, but never noticed the subtle integration of rugs.
The Shining (1980)
You had to have noticed this one. It’s all over the hotel where much of the movie takes place. That creepy, hexagonal pattern still gives me the creeps when I think about it. It makes me think of scary twins, an axe-wielding manic, and just an all-around scare fest. You can’t watch this movie without catching sight of the carpet at some point and feeling goosebumps just from the sheer horror of the sight of it.
Toy Story (1995)
Speaking of that same creepy, hexagonal carpet, it makes a brief appearance in Toy Story. When Woody and Buzz are trying to escape from the next door neighbor Sid’s house, the carpet can be spotted. The colors are a bit different, but the reference is still understood. It’s also a good spot for the carpet considering what a psychopath Sid is. That movie may have scarred me more than The Shining. No one needs to see toys dismantled like that only to be put back together in the most nightmarish of combinations.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Just like you may be discovering in your own room with your new rug, the Dude’s rug ties his room together. It’s really the only thing that ties anything together since everything else exists in a disassociated fashion. While you can get pet urine stains out of the rug, I’ve never heard of a person peeing on one before. Maybe it’s one of the most disrespectful things you can do to a man who really only has that rug, even if it a dingy old rug. Remember, antiques are priceless! That one just needed a good spit and shine, that’s all. Well, until it got peed on. Then it had to go. Don’t try that at home, folks.
American Psycho (2000)
We’ve come full circle, folks. This list started with murder and it’s going to end with murder. When I first viewed this movie, I immediately wanted to pop in my copy of The Dark Knight because I much prefer watching Christian Bale be the valiant anti-hero rather than play the uptight, murdering fiend. While I sometimes had to turn away when Bale gave into his psychotic tendencies, I couldn’t help but stare at his immaculate home décor. If the scene about business cards revealed anything, it showed Patrick Bateman has a very specific eye for detail. Who notices a watermark? I certainly wouldn’t. But Bateman was astounded by it. It infuriated him that his business card was outdone by his colleague’s card. I can imagine he feels the same way about interior design which explains why his home is so well-decorated. He also knows he’s going to make the occasional kill, so he’s going to need furniture that’s easy to clean up. Which is why the newspaper rug is such a good choice. When you’re done murdering to your heart’s content, you simply wrap up the remains in the newspaper rug and toss it in the dumpster. No one can tell the difference.
So that’s it! Some of the most famous rugs in movies that you may have never noticed before or maybe you have. Hope you all enjoyed learning about Oriental rugs with me, the ins and outs, dos and don’ts, and so on and so forth. So I guess that about wraps this all up!
You all had thought I forgotten, hadn’t you? Like I could forget.
I couldn’t do a list of movies that featured famous rugs and not talk about the one, the only…
Aladdin (1992)
That’s right! The best movie rug ever simply because it’s a magic flying carpet. None of the other movies on this list can even come close with their creepy carpets and their pee-stained rugs. Not even close. I also have to talk about this carpet because it’s what inspired me to go on this journey in the first place. It’s what brought me here and it’s what helped inspire these articles. You can’t forget about your roots, am I right? No other rug has saved Aladdin from a collapsing Cave of Wonders, been the comedic relief at just the right moment, and helped convince Princess Jasmine that Aladdin was a prince (even though he clearly is out of his element). The magic flying carpet is just as much of a scene-stealer as the Genie is. And that’s what you want from a rug. You want it to steal the room, to capture everyone’s attention as soon as they walk in. Which is why I consider this movie the best representative of the iconic rug image in our society. It’s the reason I got started with Oriental rugs, so who’s to say that it didn’t jumpstart someone else’s interest?
I promise this is actually the end of this article. You should feel like a rug expert now, well maybe not an expert, but definitely more educated than you were when we began this journey together.
Now I can officially let you guys spread your wings and fly solo. I hope you find the rug of your dreams and I hope it makes you happy. Happy shopping!
