Editing River Phoenix (section)

== In popular culture ==
Phoenix's status as a teen idol and promising young actor, and his subsequent premature death, made him a frequent subject in popular culture media. He first gained references in music with Brazilian singer [[Milton Nascimento]] writing the song "River Phoenix: Letter to a Young Actor" about him after having seen Phoenix in ''The Mosquito Coast'' (1986). The song appears on the 1989 release ''Miltons''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lannett |first=John |date=June 8, 1990 |title=Rain Forests Come First With Singer |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-06-08-9001120617-story.html |access-date=April 19, 2022 |work=Sun Sentinel}}</ref>

[[Gus Van Sant]], with whom Phoenix worked in the film ''[[My Own Private Idaho]]'', dedicated his 1993 movie ''[[Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)|Even Cowgirls Get the Blues]]'' as well as his 1997 novel ''Pink'' to him. Experimental [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]] filmmaker [[Cam Archer]] also produced a documentary called ''Drowning River Phoenix'' as part of his American Fame series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/12728382.html |title=Film Guide Archive &#124; American Fame Pt. 1: Drowning River Phoenix |publisher=TribecaFilm.com |date=March 29, 2010 |access-date=December 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810042905/http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/12728382.html |archive-date=August 10, 2011 }}</ref>

[[Natalie Merchant]], singer from [[10,000 Maniacs]], wrote and sang about the media's immediate and critical effect on culture and cultural icons such as River Phoenix. In "River", a 1995 song from ''[[Tigerlily]]'', Merchant defends River Phoenix as she castigates the media for systematically dissecting the child actor after his death.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/196542/a-more-relaxed-natalie-merchant-fondly-revisits-tigerlily | title=A more relaxed Natalie Merchant fondly revisits 'Tigerlily' | date=June 24, 2016 }}</ref>

Phoenix was the subject of a controversial song by Australian group [[TISM]] titled "[[(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River]]". The single originally featured a mock-up of Phoenix's tombstone as its cover art in 1995. The chorus features the line, "I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dwyer|first1=Michael|title=The phantom menace|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/the-phantom-menace-20040702-gdy5ls.html|access-date=April 19, 2022|work=The Age|date=July 2, 2004|location=Melbourne}}</ref>

A lesser-known reference to River Phoenix was ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''{{'s}} main protagonist [[Squall Leonhart]]. [[Tetsuya Nomura]], the lead character designer for the game, stated he modeled Squall on Phoenix's visage during development and even gave Squall the same birthdate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/09/22/the-bouncer-team-talks-about-its-mysterious-game |title=The Bouncer Team Talks About Its Mysterious Game |website=IGN |date=September 21, 2000 | last=Staff |access-date=June 24, 2009}}</ref> The scene of Phoenix's death also merits several mentions in [[William Gibson]]'s book ''[[Spook Country]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Itzkoff |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Itzkoff |date=August 26, 2007 |title=Spook Country - William Gibson - Books - Review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/books/review/Itzkoff4-t.html |access-date=May 30, 2019 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Rapper [[Tyler, the Creator]] references Phoenix in his 2017's ''[[Flower Boy]]'', perceived by some critics as a kind of [[coming out]] album.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/07/tyler-the-creator-flower-boy-coming-out-queerness/534486/|title=The Classic Queer Paradox of Tyler, the Creator |magazine=The Atlantic |date=July 21, 2017 | first=Spencer | last=Kornhaber |access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/21/tyler-the-creator-flower-boy-review|title=Tyler, the Creator: Flower Boy review – closet door opens to gawky gorgeousness |work=The Guardian |date=July 17, 2017 | first=Spencer | last=Kornhaber |access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref>

With the song ''Halloween'' on the album ''Storm Hymnal: Gems from the Vault'', the band [[Grant Lee Buffalo]] paid homage to River Phoenix. The lyrics in the refrain are: ''You were like my own [[James Byron Dean]]/ [[My Own Private Idaho|Private Idaho]] was my [[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]/ Hit me like a stone when I heard you passed/ On Halloween''.

Phoenix's acting, music and 'manifesto' was cited by English author [[Guy Mankowski]] as having a large influence on his 2020 novel "Dead Rock Stars".<ref>{{cite web |last=Mankowski |first=Guy |date=September 20, 2020 |title=Six Of The Best: Guy Mankowski |url=https://narcmagazine.com/six-of-the-best-guy-mankowski/ |access-date=January 24, 2022 |work=Narc Magazine}}</ref>