I'd heard of Susan Sontag, but mainly as a name that was dropped at cocktail parties in Woody Allen movies. Or something like that. But due to one thing and another I got curious and read her book Against Interpretation. So now I have a frame of reference for what those swells in the Woody movies were talking about.
That sounds dismissive, but I don't mean to be. Some of her ideas resonate with me more than others. Her Notes on "Camp" is pretty vivid, perhaps because by her own account she's not entirely for or against the quality of camp.
That sounds dismissive, but I don't mean to be. Some of her ideas resonate with me more than others. Her Notes on "Camp" is pretty vivid, perhaps because by her own account she's not entirely for or against the quality of camp.
For myself, I plead the goal of self-edification, and a goad of a sharp conflict in my own sensibility. I am strongly drawn to Camp, and almost as strongly offended by it. That is why I want to talk about it, and why I can.Whether camp, the quality of "too much" means the same thing now as it did then is questionable, but it still means something. Which is something.
2 comments:
Unlike you I still don't know much about Susan Sontag and never have found myself looking for something she wrote or being captured by something she said. With the understanding I haven't read what she had to say about camp makes it hard for me to comment. I don't think camp even existed as a subject until after wwii (okay, Marie Antoinette indulged but didn't name it) and now such it's such a broad category it can encompass everything from gay culture to collecting memorabilia and more in between. It's one of those things I recognize in the wild but don't go overboard about enshrining. It's nice to have an old phone because it was well made and is still useful, but if it breaks I'm not about to look for its replica.
We saw a very cool movie last night based on an H.P. Lovecraft story. Called Stonehearst Asylum it stars Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine among others (Brendan Gleason, for instance) and was a lot of fun. It never did get much press but if you haven't seen it we both think it's a movie you'd enjoy.
The other thing she's famous for is keeping a single white streak in her otherwise dark hair. I imagine the upkeep requirements on that one changed over the years. You're right that at least the public reputation of Marie Antoinette gibes with that over-the-top camp quality. There was probably something of it in Victorian melodrama as well. As to the associations with gay culture, I'm not gay so I'd have to go by educated guesses. My main one is that being legally/socially obliged to cover up a big part of your identity gives you an appreciation for the hustle.
Nothing wrong with having a nice old telephone, though.
Stonehearst Asylum does look kind of cool. According to imdb it's actually based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. From context I'd guess "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether." I'll see if I can schedule a viewing.
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