Priest vs. Maiden: Possibly Some More Thoughts on Camp
I'm really down on the masturbators these days, for some reason. When something annoys me, it's quite likely that I'll characterize it as some kind of self-stroking. For instance, my brother and I were talking about Oceans 13 the other day, and I said that I wasn't going to go out of my way to see George Clooney jack off to his own smugness anymore; the last 15 minutes of Oceans 11 was more than enough for me, thank you. My brother said that Adam Corolla had a similar complaint, but worded more lucidly: two hours of Clooney, Pitt, and Damon standing around grinning their "I'm too cool for you" grin.
Come to think of it, that's precisely what I hate about many kinds of British comedy. The posturing, or whatever. Even a good joke, excessive self-voyeurism can ruin. Family Guy has the same problem (in addition to South Park's very apt critique about the interchangeable jokes).
But I digress. I'm supposed to talk about Priest and Maiden. I had a sudden urge today in my car to pop in my old Iron Maiden mix tape, compiled by my fellow Grease ensemble member in high school whose name I forget. I always was a fan of Hallowed Be Thy Name. I thought it would be a good song to karaoke, which must have been why I got the idea of seeing what versions of it are on youtube. I found an old live version, and even before the bells stopped ringing, I was turned off by a distinct impression that somewhere, a dolphin was being flogged.
The surprising thing is that Judas Priest doesn't seem to have that same problem - and you would totally expect them to! I mean, the bondage gear: nuff fucking said. And the sound too, of course, it doesn't hold back anything. And yet, it's so interesting: I've always found Priest stuff to be of unimpeachable taste. Observe the Breaking the Law video: perfect, exquisite! I really think it's something that all videos should take as their philosophical basis. Far from conjuring up "masturbation" when you hear Priest, you're actually more inclined toward "AWESOME."
Why is that? My best hypothesis is that they're just so far over the top that you couldn't possibly imagine them voyeuring off themselves; that is, if self-awareness were present at all, wouldn't they be restrained by modesty and embarrassment? It may also have something to do with my personal take on gender. People like Rob Halford and his bondaged bandmates so thoroughly embrace the feminine that it looks more like copulation than masturbation. By contrast, the toughness and the seriousness of, say, Hallowed Be Thy Name easily slips into macho posturing. (I still love the song, but it an be precarious.)
Could this be a model for my preferences in people as well? Is the secret attraction of androgyny the idea of my own inclusion, qua feminine? If so, talk about self-stroking! Still, I think there may be something to this idea. People who approach their masculinity as a purity thing usually look to me like they have less of it, paradoxically.
Come to think of it, that's precisely what I hate about many kinds of British comedy. The posturing, or whatever. Even a good joke, excessive self-voyeurism can ruin. Family Guy has the same problem (in addition to South Park's very apt critique about the interchangeable jokes).
But I digress. I'm supposed to talk about Priest and Maiden. I had a sudden urge today in my car to pop in my old Iron Maiden mix tape, compiled by my fellow Grease ensemble member in high school whose name I forget. I always was a fan of Hallowed Be Thy Name. I thought it would be a good song to karaoke, which must have been why I got the idea of seeing what versions of it are on youtube. I found an old live version, and even before the bells stopped ringing, I was turned off by a distinct impression that somewhere, a dolphin was being flogged.
The surprising thing is that Judas Priest doesn't seem to have that same problem - and you would totally expect them to! I mean, the bondage gear: nuff fucking said. And the sound too, of course, it doesn't hold back anything. And yet, it's so interesting: I've always found Priest stuff to be of unimpeachable taste. Observe the Breaking the Law video: perfect, exquisite! I really think it's something that all videos should take as their philosophical basis. Far from conjuring up "masturbation" when you hear Priest, you're actually more inclined toward "AWESOME."
Why is that? My best hypothesis is that they're just so far over the top that you couldn't possibly imagine them voyeuring off themselves; that is, if self-awareness were present at all, wouldn't they be restrained by modesty and embarrassment? It may also have something to do with my personal take on gender. People like Rob Halford and his bondaged bandmates so thoroughly embrace the feminine that it looks more like copulation than masturbation. By contrast, the toughness and the seriousness of, say, Hallowed Be Thy Name easily slips into macho posturing. (I still love the song, but it an be precarious.)
Could this be a model for my preferences in people as well? Is the secret attraction of androgyny the idea of my own inclusion, qua feminine? If so, talk about self-stroking! Still, I think there may be something to this idea. People who approach their masculinity as a purity thing usually look to me like they have less of it, paradoxically.
posted by Rex at 12:38 AM
2 Comments:
Totally unrelated, but the other night I was watching Conan's "In the Year 2000":
Just when economists predict that the dollar can't sink any lower, it will go on VH1's "Flava of Love".
HA! Good one!
Speaking of which, I recently read that Bret Michaels of Poison will be starring in the spin off, "Rock of Love."
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