I’m watching Hard Candy, the Ellen Page movie nobody cared about before Juno.  I was very impressed by the first fifteen minutes, right up until Ellen Page transformed from spectacular nymphet to a fatal attraction.  At first, the camera’s extreme close-ups on Page’s face were indulgent and disturbing at once.  Truly, she was grotesque.  As the movie progressed, however, it alternated between excessive sentimentalism and “realistic” austerity, abandoning its original, objectifying mode.

Regardless, check it out, the first fifteen minutes, at least.

Also, check out the Psycho shower scene at 1:00.  It’s not particularly subtle in its allusion, but I did appreciate the substitution of Page’s tazer for Norman’s knife.  The director was very careful never to use penetrating camera movements toward the objects of Page’s gaze, nor to diegetically arm Page with a penetrative object.  To the phallocentric, virginocentric dialogue typically represented in pedophile narratives, Hard Candy adds a third, subductive option.

trying to teach myself this stuff a little at a time.

j.bee

Gorgeously grotesque (called that because of their shape) pink freshwater pearls, sterling silver rounds and a quartz focal bead make this necklace. It measures 18.5 inches and closes with a silver flower toggle.  This can be purchased at www.meowjewelry.etsy.com.

Christopher Kane appropriates The Flintstones dinosaur scales and Planet of the Apes gorilla nightmares in his 2009 Spring/Summer collection.

A fitting companion to John Galliano’s 2007 Fall/Winter rags-and-yarn cavemen from the time of the mammoths. I’m sure there can be something equally Freudian interpreted from the sheer organza dresses.

The forwardness of both collections conceal a bleakness uncovered by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s graffiti paintings.

There is something visceral about the associations and references, something intrinsically raw and animalistic, which is frozen in formalin or captured in sculpture by contemporary artist Damien Hirst.

Kane’s new collection may border on the tacky. But restraint and visionary punch lift concept to wearability.

Galliano takes the opposite tack by dusting and greasing up wearable items with modern mythology.

Either way, the outcome stares at you straight at the face. Both succeed in selling their ideas.

For Hirst, the element of shock found in his works draws audiences to the maw of disconcertment.

Is it because of the works’ scale?

Or the encounter with sheer physicality and objectivity, which jar the sensibility of city and internet inhabitants?

Whether Damien Hirst is a revolutionary artist or merely a swindler of both ideas and auction patrons, true art shall continue to strive to represent current conditions.

Honesty is a fragile thing.

On the canvas or in the flesh.

Good thing for fashion, the evolution of art shall provide an an ever-expanding portofolio of cultural references, from painting and architecture to cinema and music.

Life in all its beauty and ugliness.

Its pretensions and emptiness.

Anything can be a source of inspiration.

Everything is pregnant with meaning. It is only a matter of dissecting.

Posted by Miguel Paolo Celestial

Photos from men.style.com and style.com

“Character is defined by what you do when no one is looking”~JC Watts

Luckily, not every President’s term in office has the daunting task of speaking to the American people about a tragedy so great that people look to them for comfort. But, almost every President has made a speech about a tragic incident during their term. So far, in the 10 months Obama has been in office, we have heard two such speeches made by him. The first was regarding the botched and blatantly rigged election in Iran and the subsequent uprising. The next was in connection with the horrific massacre at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. One was not as personal as the other but both were equally reprehensible, as were the remarks given to us by Obama on them.

In the beginning of Obama’s comments on the Fort Hood he said this, and I quote:

“I planned to make some broader remarks,” he told the crowd. “But as some of you might have heard there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.”

Well, we are so sorry your Majesty. We know that when someone shoots up American Soldiers on their own soil days before they deploy to Iraq, that such said maniac should check with you first to make sure it doesn’t interrupt your speech! The only other time I can remember such an act of blatant disregard for the feelings of a President is in 2001 when Al Queda decided to fly some planes into buildings right when Bush was reading a book to some school children. How rude!

The next sentences Obama said surely mentioned the slayings right? I mean after that statement he must have said something to smooth things over. Let’s see shall we?

“I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you,”

There are a plethora of blameworthy undertones and outright ignorance in that statement. Dr. Joe Medicine Crow has won medals in his life, the Congressional Gold Medal and earlier this year Obama himself awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Never has Dr. Crow won the Congressional Medal Of Honor.The Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the two highest awards given to civilians. You think that if you gave him one of the awards, you would know what award it was. You’d think, but you’d be wrong. To salt the wound a bit more, he said “give a shout out”. Was he on a call in talk radio show? A shout out? Really? Dr. Joe Medicine Crow is 96 years old! Do you think he has even a inkling of what a shout out actually is? Remarkable. The only way he could have made it worse would have been to say:

“I wanna give a shout out to my homeslice and nigga Dr. Joe Crow. You da man.”

If your mind is inquiring what it would be like if other Presidents had done what Obama did speaking on a tragedy…let me give you an idea.

George Bush on 9/11: “I was trying to finish reading Red Fish Blue Fish to some kids at a school, but I couldn’t. Most of you know by now that some planes crashed into buildings. I hear Harry Whittington is here today I wanna give him a shout out. Good to see my Vice President hasn’t shot you in the leg again.”

FDR on Pearl Harbor: “I was going to teach my wife how to become a ghost and chat with a First Lady in the year 2000, but unfortunately those pesky Japs bombed a harbor in Hawaii. I hear that Daddy Warbucks is here and I wanted to give a shout out to him and Little Orphan Annie. Let’s sing “Tomorrow” together in the Oval Office later.”

At the beginning of this blog post I quoted JC Watts. If character is in fact defined by what you do when no one is watching, what then does that say about what Obama does when he KNOWS people are watching?

by Elliot Adams

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has refused certification to Koji Shiraishi’s Gurotesuku, which was due to be released in the UK under the title of Grotesque. This puts the film in the company of an extremely select group to have earned the dubious honour of outright bans in the UK, being only one of three films to have been banned by the Board in the last four years, the others being Murder-Set-Pieces in 2008 and NF713 in 2009 – all three having been banned for their scenes of eroticised torture.

Courtesy of BBFC

Japanese cinema has a long history of depicting this type of sadomasochism, from Masumura Yasuzo’s story of abduction Blind Beast (1969) through to Takashi Miike’s psychodrama Audition (1999). But Grotesque is more likely to now be associated with the controversial genre of ‘torture porn’ which originated in Hostel and Saw. BBFC Director, David Cooke claims these ‘18’ rated ‘torture porn’ films are surpassed by Grotesque’s “unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism” where the chief pleasure on offer is the “spectacle of sadism.”

This latest act of censorship marks the point at which ‘torture porn’ becomes unacceptable to the BBFC. But the uncrossable line is far from distinct to the outside observer. For example, Lars von Trier’s Antichrist was recently released by the BBFC without cuts. It depicts a similar, although highly aestheticisized, scenario to Grotesque. Both films have similar scenes of mutilation and torture and similar victims, so what exactly is the difference between the two?

For David Cooke however, the difference is clear. Grotesque’s scenes of torture are clearly eroticised, whereas Antichrist uses torture and scenes of real sex to illustrate psychological turmoil and so is “not a ‘sex work’ whose primary purpose is sexual arousal.  For these purposes Antichrist is very clearly not a ‘sex work’.”

Cooke’s remarks on Grotesque, which unlike American ‘torture porn’, emphasizes the sexual element implied by that label, will be seen by some as a valid rationale for its banning, and by others as a reason for viewing it.

It is hard to take this hype seriously in either case, especially when the film contains a particularly memorable scene in which a decapitated head bites the antagonist on the neck to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory. Whether the BBFC is protecting us from “moral harm” or indulging in nanny-statism will only become clear when the film emerges from the BBFC’s own darkened cellars and audiences are allowed to decide in the light of day.

Behold! All that a woman should be:

I shouldn’t ever study at Barnes and Noble. I ended up happening upon The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor and, by the time I left, I had read 2 chapters of what I came to read, but had re-read “A Good Man is Hard To Find,” and several others.

I know I’ve said this about many other famous women, including Zooey Deschanel and Anne Lammott, but this time I really mean it: Flannery O’Connor is the woman I am meant to be with. Only problem is that she’s dead. [note to self: the women you say you are supposed to be with are getting progressively older. mention this to a therapist if the opportunity ever presents its self.] Thankfully, my dream woman being dead isn’t a problem, kudos to this man:

…telling me that I am a witch and that I should be burnt at the stake. I asked one of those popular bloggers (one of the purdy and cool ones) whether they could put my plastic surgery button up and they said ‘why are you being a dick?’ A bit mean. I only asked a question. As I said even in the mad-o-sphere there is a hierarchy – probably based on the way you look. my exterior. She prolly saw my pic and said ’she’s a witch. I bet if we put her on the ducking stool she wouldn’t drown.’

four hours sleep in two days

ooh, Loopy Louise got loadsa prizes
dey must wuff her

Loopy Louise just choose not to put dem up ’cause she is so purrdy modest. A good trait even in witches like her. Riecat. Louise is away. Punting.

WHY DON’T YOU RESPOND?   WHY DON”T YOU RESPOND?   WHY DOEN”T ANYONE RESPOND?

Tonight we scored the silent film _Sunrise_ with our buds Dead Friend. It was in the public library. Previous to the show there had been controversy. I won’t tell you what the controversy was about, but these people can:

http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=4680&sid=5cb40ad5ebe1dcca46afcea1e580af94

This topic is kind of amazing. I wish every town could have grotesque music in its library, but only Albany can. Thanks!

I could draw a comic about dialogism but obviously I am going to draw one about the grotesque body. I’m in the process of watercoloring this lil’ thing which should be fun since I never do that.

j bee.

Michelle Obama Action Figure Hits Stores Next Month!
Source: The Life Files

Jailbreak Toy Co. will release a Michelle Obama action figure doll on November 20th. The toy company already released President Obama’s action figure that came out last November and has already had sold of over 200,000 units. The new Michelle Obama doll comes with a choice of 1 of 3 dresses and aims to target more females when it is released later this year.

Oh, God. Isn’t a lump of coal a little more traditional? What could be bad enough behaviour to deserve something as grotesque as THAT?!