Is Scouting Referenced in Popular Culture?

Since the early 20th century when scouting first appeared on the scene, scout troops have been referenced in various forms of popular culture. Sometimes they are not explicitly named as scouts, but they engage in activities which let the audience know that they are scouts.

Scouting is absolutely brought to attention in popular culture such as television and movies.

Movie Mentions and Plot Lines

Even if the scouting aspects are not at the heart of the movie, the troop is. In the 1995 film Bushwhacked, a troop goes on a series of adventures in the mountains with an a man being tracked by the authorities. The children's skills as scouts come through in a variety of different ways, but the movie is certainly not based on the typically serene environment of a traditional Girl Scout or Boy Scout meeting.

Norman Rockwell and the Scouts

Although some films did come out before Rockwell began his artistic depictions of scouts, he was a huge reason why scouts really came to the surface in popular culture. On the Norman Rockwell Museum website, you can find graphic representations of his work.

For 50 years, from 1924 to 1974 - except for two of those years - he painted calendars for the Boy Scouts of America. Some of his most famous depictions included:

• Scout Master
• Our Heritage
• A Scout is Helpful
• From Concord to Tranquility
• Helping Hand
• Girl Scout

At the present time, individuals are able to purchase these different paintings in print form. The museum website also sells magnets and mugs.

Other Examples of Scouts in Popular Culture

Certainly Norman Rockwell was a major reason why scouts were brought into the pop culture domain. However, there are many other examples as well, including:

• Stephanie and Michelle Tanner, from the television show Full House, were in a troop known as the Honey Bees.
• 1989 film Troop Beverley Hills
• 1991 film The Last Boy Scout
• Marcia and Greg join each others troops in order to prove a point to one another on an episode of the television show The Brady Bunch.
• Although we are not talking about a movie or a radio show in this particular instance, we can certainly say that advertisements are an important part of popular culture. For example, Girl Scout cookies are frequently advertised in the local community.
• The television show Camp Lazlo is about a scouting troop.
• In the television show The Golden Girls, Rose Nylund is a group leader for the Sunshine Cadets.
• Space Cub Troop 54 makes an appearance in an episode of the television cartoon show Jetsons.

For a complete list of all movies, books, television shows, and so forth regarding the scouts, you can visit the list available on Wikipedia.

Scouting's Place in Popular Culture

Scouts are an important aspect of American society, since they have been around so long, but also because they represent good citizenship and adherence to principles that have guided the actions and laws of the United States since the beginning of the country.

Simply taking a look at the Girl Scout's Promise will help you to see why they are so important. Girl Scouts say,

"On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout law."

This Girl Scout's Promise is an example of the basic principles that scouts are taught to abide by and shows how these principles are the basic bedrock of society, and thus, popular culture.