How The Mummy (1999) Shaped My Career and My Cultural Sensibilities

Hello, it’s still me, Jeremy, hiding up here behind these italics. The parade of new bylines continues with more Mummy Month content, this time from someone who is not a copywriter! Her name is Georgie McDaniel, and she is a forensic biologist, which is honestly a lot cooler than being a copywriter. Also, she is an admirably unpretentious cinephile, which is why she was willing to wax prosaic about one of here favorite films for this newsletter. Oh, and if you missed either of the last two weeks, there’s more Mummy Month content from Audi Barnes and Terry Turner III for you to enjoy after this one! And now, here’s Georgie.

I own a sweatshirt that says “The Mummy (1999) is Perfect.” The sweatshirt is new, but I’ve held this opinion since its release, back when I was a cool six year old with taste.

I was actually a fan of Brendan Fraser already by that time. George of the Jungle was a hit among my four year old peers. My name is basically George, the school playground had a rope swing, and I’ve always loved earning some laughs, so I immediately loved everything about Brendan Fraser and the few movies of his that I had seen at a young age. Cherishing a movie that most consider “not good” doesn’t phase me (I love Ben Affleck’s Daredevil too), but the resurgence of appreciation for The Mummy that we’ve seen recently has brought me true joy in these weird, unprecedented* times. 

My older brother and I used to watch The Mummy all the time. It’s a perfect film for bickering siblings who have different interests but who also know quality entertainment when they see it. This was the same time that a new television craze hit the air: C. S. I.: Crime Scene Investigation.

My tiny child brain was taking in DNA analysis and biological samples while watching a studious Rachel Weisz go up against a vengeful walking cadaver. Twenty years later, I work as a forensic biologist; honestly, my visit to the state morgue to view autopsies is one of my favorite training memories. I even conducted my master’s research at the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm.

While I don’t interact with dead bodies in my daily tasks at work, perhaps my obsession with Imhotep’s decomposed body slowly coming back to life left more of an impression than I thought it did. I didn’t shy away from my research, nor do I feel repulsed in front of cadavers. Perhaps this is because my most impressionable years featured a badass Smart Girl using her knowledge and her books to stop a Bad Guy. I’m not claiming to be on the same level as Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, because who is, but maybe she helped me see what was possible as a career. My love of The Mummy is especially relevant in my forensic career as forensic biology moves toward the future: forensic genealogy, which I believe is a natural progression of a study that builds on the groundwork of archeology and anthropology.

When Brendan Fraser (and, subsequently, The Mummy) had a renaissance within the last few years, I was fully on board. It’s a great movie! (I don’t think I’ve seen a single negative opinion about it come across my timeline, and that means I’ve got my algorithm juuuuust right.) I mean, sure, the opening scenes look like a video game, and some of the dialogue is cheesy, but perfect things can have flaws, too.  

Since his cultural reappraisal, Fraser has landed roles in new films from Steven Soderbergh, Martin Scorsese, and Darren Aronofsky. Every time his casting is announced, he’s trending for hours with wholesome opinions of some of his work (memes of The Mummy included, of course). Oh, and that sweatshirt I own? It was part of SuperYaki’s “Fraser February” collection released almost a year ago, which also includes this sticker (which I also own).

But it’s not just Fraser himself putting The Mummy back in the spotlight. Last May, Disney released a trailer for their delayed Jungle Cruise, and the online community quickly compared it to The Mummy. A comedy adventure film teaming up a handsome explorer and a beautiful woman of academia for a supernatural quest? Sounds very familiar.**

Trends come and go, and there’s a new meme online almost every day. Somehow, someway, The Mummy has become a go to source of meme material more than two decades after its release. Multiple times in the last year, a quote tweet has gone viral after naming the cast of The Mummy as the source of someone’s bisexual awakening.*** I don’t even have a Tik Tok account, but that didn’t stop me from seeing multiple Mummy fan cams in 2021.

I take comfort in knowing that The Mummy didn’t just stick with me (and possibly influence my career choice). It has entered the pop culture zeitgeist for good, and we Millennials shall see to it that the Zoomers follow us and carry this love and admiration to the right side of the river.

*Ugh.

**I would like to point out that while Jungle Cruise is based on a theme park ride, The Mummy also has a theme park ride, and it is way better.

***Every person in the cast is beautiful, this is a fact.

The Mummy is now streaming on HBO Max, and it’s available to rent elsewhere.