Gaga Feminism -- Signs of a Revolution?
J[udith]. Jack Halberstam, professor of English and Gender Studies
at the University of Southern California, has laid out a
most convincing and detailed scenario for a brewing
revolution among young people in the second decade of the XXIst century.
(NOTE: I will refer to this author
using masculine pronouns because, from what I've read, that's what
Halberstam prefers; please excuse me if I've misunderstood the preference.)
In his book, Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender and the End of Normal (Boston: Beacon
Press, 2012), Prof. Halberstam delves deeply into pop culture, including music,
films and art, particularly performance art, to present a picture of
youth unwilling to accept stereotypes; of a surging "queer" culture;
of big changes coming (perhaps) in the near future.
His focus, near the end of the book, on L'insurrection qui vient (The Coming
Revolution), produced anonymously by a French group calling itself
"Comité Invisible" ("The Invisible Committee")
makes it quite clear that he views many current trends in pop culture to be
revolutionary, in the actual, not merely figurative, sense of the word.
It remains to be seen if he has predicted (or, considering the recent publication
of his book, is predicting) a societal change on the scale of what the
Western world experienced in the 1960s and 1970s.
Following are some observations of events and behaviour other than that of
Lady Gaga which some might read as harbingers of some interesting news, if not
a NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM.
(NOTE that the people referenced below may or may not be around [as political or
social "movers"] long enough to participate in or claim responsibility
for any revolution. Some are revolutionaries themselves, some are just clinging
for dear life onto the bandwagon of the moment. Life is short. Life on social
media is minuscule.)
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PEOPLE:
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Miley Cyrus [Destiny Hope Cyrus](born 1992), in her post-Hannah Montana years, is
pushing lots of envelopes -- fashion, sexuality, image -- apparently in a derivative
emulation of Lady Gaga herself. Cyrus's career choices, if you will, are more than
routinely interesting because of the very real impression and high likelihood that
she has brought her "tween" and teen fan-base with her. Hosts of talk shows
(e.g., ABC's The View) who are parents are complaining that they are unable
to shield their kids from her "new" behaviour, as they find it difficult to convince
the kids that this is not Hannah Montana any more. Most interesting for the possibility
of a Gaga revolution.
NOTE WELL: In my opinion, Cyrus is not in any way, shape nor form, an original artist.
When this subject came up on The View during the Summer (2013), one panelist
tried to make a comparison between Cyrus (2013) and Madonna (1980s). Another panelist
quite quickly, and rightly, noted that Madonna's "message" was empowerment of women
and sexual freedom in general, while Cyrus's message, by contrast, is "Buy my albums".
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Justin Bieber [Justin Drew Bieber](born 1994) -- oh, hell, just see Miley Cyrus
above. They're all the same -- conforming in their non-conformity, which is the easiest
way, according to their promoters and market research, to make millions off their
pre-adult customers. The "original" of which Cyrus is a copy is Gaga;
Bieber's "original" apparently is Michael Jackson, or maybe Prince.
Still, these phenomenally popular "copies" are trying to edge outside
the mainstream, and may be indications of fundamental change. We'll have to wait
and see.
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Tavis Smiley (born 1964) seems an unlikely addition to a list of voices talking
about revolution. He is a widely respected and watched TV host and author. His
Wiki page lists him as a "liberal political commentator" (and he is that,
without question). He is not, on the other hand, comparable with WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange nor Comité Invisible (see above), who, in their own ways and
for their own reasons, predict revolution. If anything, this difference makes Smiley's
words that much more compelling, indeed surprising.
On the NBC television program "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning,
22 September 2013, Smiley introduced his point -- indeed his warning -- with a litany
of recent problems society was dealing with, including:
- a black man, running toward police and asking for help, was shot dead by the cops
- Republicans in Congress threatening to withhold the money necessary to run the
government of the United States for fiscal year 2014 unless "Obamacare" (the
Affordable Care Act of 2010) is defunded
- approval rate of Congress according to polls is less than 10% favorable
- mass shootings have disrupted schools and military facilities, among other targets
He followed this shameful list with a terse statement:
"If we don't course-correct soon, we're going to lose this democracy. It's as
simple as that."
Whew.
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Jaden Smith [Jaden Christopher Syre Smith](born 1998) made news, as he has in the
past, by "tweeting" his opinions, including tweets in September 2013 regarding
the quality and effect of education in America. Good Morning America posted
their opinion, with video (17 September 2013).
His tweets (@officialjaden) have included:
- People Use [sic] To Ask Me What Do You Wanna Be When You Get Older And
I Would Say What A Stupid Question The Real Question Is What Am I Right Now
(5 September 2013)
- All The Rules In This World Were Made By Someone No Smarter Than You.
So Make Your Own (9 September 2013)
- School Is The Tool To Brainwash The Youth (12 September 2013)
- If Everybody In The World Dropped Out Of School We Would Have A Much More
Intelligent Society (13 September 2013)
- Everybody Get Off Your Phones And Go Do What You Actually Wanna Do
(16 September 2013)
Most people took his comments in a narrow context (of course) and disagreed. They seemed
to think he was just advocating dropping out; they missed the criticism, in my view valid, of
what education means for most people in America: conformity and getting by with the
least possible effort necessary to become a consumer in our society. (For the last
point, note his tweet about kids getting off their cell phones.)
The above-referenced ABC article noted that Jaden's education and that of his sister,
Willow (12), according to his father, actor Will Smith in an appearance on ABC's
Live With Regis and Kelly in 2007, have been in accordance with a teaching
method called "study-tech", which was developed by the late Scientology
founder L. Ron Hubbard. The elder Smith described the method as having "powerful
educational concepts that we [Jaden and Willow's parents] believe in".
As for their parenting philosophy, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith seem to have a most
interesting and unique "take" on treating children and teens as persons,
based in part on their ethnic heritage and its history within American society.
In an interview with Haute Living magazine (quoted on
www.webpronews.com/jaden-smith-tweet-bashes-school-system-and-lazy-folk),
Will Smith said, "I think that, specifically in African American households, the idea
coming out of slavery, there's a concept of your children being property and that
was a major part that Jada and I realized with our kids. We respect our children
the way we would respect any other person. Things like cleaning up their room. You
would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don't tell our kids
to clean their rooms."
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GROUPS:
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The Occupy Movement made headlines in 2011 for their goals and objectives as well as
for their tenacity. The first protest began in September 2011 in New York City's
Zuccotti Park as "Occupy Wall Street". by the second week of October 2011, the protests
had spread to over 95 cities in 82 countries, as reported on
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_movement.
According to https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/occupy-movement [DEAD LINK 2022-12-01], an American Civil Liberties Union Web page,
the Occupy Movement was "inspired by the Arab Spring" of early 2011. They note that
it began with "a few hundred protesters". The fact that it grew so large, and so
quickly, seems to indicate its "message" was relevant to many already-dissatisfied
people and groups. A "tagline" on the occupywallst.org/ Web site says, "the only solution
is WorldRevolution" [sic].
The "grass-roots" nature of this movement may be one reason there seems to be no
Web site for the movement itself, rather a collection of Web sites with various
stated objectives and groups behind them who support, each in their own way, the
goals of the Occupy Movement. This becomes apparent when one enters "occupy movement"
into a Web search engine.
Occupy* Posters is a Web site offering images that can be shared and/or used in public
to disseminate the idea that there is disagreement in the civilised world about the
way some governments and societies have been operating. Silhouette Man, as one example,
has a lot to say about differences between America and various smaller and, he would say,
more effective countries/societies. (The Silhouette Man poster, which is in cartoon-panel
format, was split into four parts for easier readability:
part 1 -- part 2 -- part 3 -- part 4.)
Occupy* Posters explains on owsposters.tumblr.com/about
that they were "Born of solidarity with the Occupy Movement's grievances . . ."
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wikileaks.org/ has been quite active in the second decade of the XXIst century,
with its founder, Julian Assange and a number of contributors, such as Edward
Snowden, considered as "most-wanted individuals" (many use the term "criminals")
by authorities in the United States of America and other Western countries.
Related: The Fifth Estate is a 2013 film dramatization of some of the activities of
WikiLeaks. The trailer can be viewed on www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT1wb8_tcYU
One of the taglines: "The revolution has begun".
Interestingly, WikiLeaks has criticised the film as "A work of fiction masquerading
as fact", even as it published a bootleg copy of the film's script!
(Reference: www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/20/wikileaks-fifth-estate-julian-assange-benedict-cumberbatch)
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BOOKS and MEDIA:
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Audi (automobile company) commercials in 2015
This isn't outright revolution, of course, but the company mantras, "The world is
full of rules. Be the exception. Challenge all givens. Never follow." are unmistakable echoes
of the widely-seen bumper-sticker/poster slogan of the 1970s, "Question Authority".
The idea, and sometimes the slogan itself, was paired with photographs of Albert Einstein
(1879-1955), who for his part, said, "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest
enemy of truth" (Letter to Jost Winteler, c.1901). The slogan, in turn, has its roots
in quotations often attributed (unsourced) to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) ("It is the
first responsibility of every citizen to question authority."), and in the overall
philosophy and teaching method of Socrates (who was put to death in 399 B.C.E. for
"corrupting" the youth of Athens with such advice).
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Spanx® commercial in 2015
Subtle revolution, perhaps, though the Spanx® company labels their 2015 ad
campaign as "feminist inspiration", according to The New York
Times (story by Hiroko Tabuchi, 24 April 2015, online edition).
Beginning in April 2015, Spanx® packaging carries the messages, "Don't take
yourself or the 'rules' too seriously," and "Re-shape the way you get
dressed, so you can shape the world." Anyone can tell you that when
advertising begins to exploit tendencies in society to break the 'rules',
then something is in the wind.
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The Comic Strip Presents . . ., (BBC/Channel 4 television anthology series, 1982-2012)
"Didn't You Kill My Brother?", 19 March 1988
We might as well start with the underlying theme of this film: Revolution can
be seen as the modern-day {re-]incarnation of Robin Hood. As a central character
says in the story, "Property is theft." Another slightly paraphrases
the famous line from The Threepenny Opera (1928) by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956),
"Who's the real criminal, he who robs a bank, or he who founds one?"
This film is definitely not 1960s-style rebellion, yet it was also far enough in
the past to be not XXIst century rebellion either. Apparently, it was placed
squarely in the [Margaret] Thatcher era of British politics in which much of
the lower and middle classes were dissatisfied (to say the least). It is not
explicitly anti-Thatcher, however. Its themes are broader, its philosophy placed
in the grass roots of the streets, rather than Houses and palaces of government.
Alexei Sayle [Alexei David Sayle](born 1957) wrote the screenplay along with
David Stafford (born mid-XXth century) and Pauline Melville (born 1948), and
Sayle also plays the dual roles of the twin brothers Carl and Sterling Moss.
In the first scenes, Carl is getting out of prison after earning some 428
academic distinctions (including four Ph.D.s), and, according to a newsreader,
acquiring a Liverpool accent. His prison stay apparently was caused by his evil,
corrupt brother Sterling working with a sleazy copper, Officer Chipstick (Peter
Richardson [born 1951]), both of whom still seem intent on putting Carl away
permanently (if you get their meaning!).
In an extended musical production number, Sterling lays out his views for all in the
pub (and viewers) to consider: "Crime? It needs skill and stealth, and redistributing
wealth." Carl, on the other hand, decides to take over his brother's
bike-theft operation, and the young kids who keep it running, and convert them --
using a shotgun! -- to building bikes, instead of stealing them. He gives an
impassioned "dream" speech, with a clear nod (it seems to me) to Martin
Luther King: "I had a dream. I dreamt that all over this great nation, and all over
the great nations of the world, there was machinery like this [he appears to be
referring to the young people he's speaking to], rotting and wasting in schools
and factories and community centers; and I dreamed that there were people -- people
with skills and talents and abilities that, like the machines, were rotting and
wasting. And I dreamed of taking those resources -- those people, those machines --
and with them, forging a new spirit in the world: a spirit of trust and cooperation
and enterprise and creativity. [The music begins to swell.] . . . And I dreamt
that this new spirit would seize the imagination of a generation, until everywhere
this new economy was the only economy."
The film closes with only one twin brother remaining. I won't spoil the ending
for those who haven't seen it by revealing which one, but it doesn't matter
to this essay anyway, since the film makes clear that both brothers, in very
different ways, have a similar goal to change society. Indeed, in the final
scenes, everyone, even their mother, questions which brother is dead and which
is still alive. The survivor closes the play, addressing the audience in rhyme:
"And now, our story's finished / our tale is almost told. / But can we find a
moral / in the story of the Moss brothers so bold? / This country's based on
stealing, / the poor are on the rack. / But men like me will always be / plotting
to steal this country back."
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Los Angeles television station KTLA sometimes shows the words
"Dare to Defy" under their logo (2016).
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Eerie, Indiana (NBC, 1991-92)
"Just Say No Fun", 27 October 1991
Marshall Teller (Omri Katz) and Simon Holmes (Justin Shenkarow) learn that
Nurse Nancy (Lucy Lee Flippin) is hypnotising their fellow students during
obligatory eye exams, so that they will be docile and not want to have fun.
Nurse Nancy: In this day and age, Mr Teller, we don't want courage
and imagination. These days demand a certain simplicity, a certain
shallowness.
Marshall: Is that why you're against fun?
Nurse Nancy: Oh, fun is poison. It frees the mind. And when the
mind starts to wander, who knows where it will take you? Who knows what
difficult questions you'll ask. No, we can't afford that. . . . I don't
know why you're making such a fuss, Mr Teller. My world is orderly and
peaceful.
Marshall: [quietly defiant] Yeah? Well, I like my world messy and alive.
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Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (film, 2016)
Katie Walsh's review in the Los Angeles Times (7 October 2016) provides a nice
summary blurb for the cover of this film's Blu-ray release: "A fun, rebellious
romp that celebrates creativity and outside-the-box thinking." It must be noted,
however, that as Middle School is a mass-market film, it is nowhere near
a documentary or revolutionary how-to film, since parents and the society-of-the-status-quo
ultimately decide the financial success of ventures such as this. That said, it is
still significant that, in a pro-conformity world, there is still an audience
for a film that offers, in the words of Katie Walsh elsewhere in her review, "all-out
insurrection" as adolescents' response to "evil" institutions and
"tyrannical" school principals, even if those images are closer to cartoon than
reality. It is also significant that Middle School is the setting for such a morality
tale, as it is "puberty central", and the first flowering of Piaget's stage
known as "formal operations", the beginning (in simple terms) of truly independent
thought and behaviour.
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My Secret Identity (CTV [Canada], 1988-1991)
"Pirate Radio", 11 February 1991
Teen culture would seem a likely venue for expressions of rebellion, but a mass-audience,
sponsored television show aimed at teens would not. This episode (teleplay by Wilson
Coneybeare, story by John May) seems to bridge the divide, portraying the two High
School protagonists, Andrew Clements (Jerry O'Connell) and Kirk Stevens (Christopher
Bolton) as harmless bootleg broadcasters whose activites, in the spirit of innocent
fun, nonetheless attract the attention of Federal broadcast authorities. Their
unintentional lawbreaking takes on a decidedly serious tone when they use the airwaves
to force education authorities to acknowledge high levels of lead in school drinking
water. In a sincere effort to evaluate whether his broadcast activities are
justified and should be continued or abandoned, he turns to his neighbor, mentor
and friend, Dr Benjamin Jeffcoate (Derek McGrath) for perspective:
Andrew: Dr J, what do you think of systems and rules? . . . Like society's
systems and rules?
Jeffcoate: Well, as in science, systems and rules are there for a reason.
Andrew: So you would never go against the system?
Jeffcoate: Well, I'm not saying that. . . . History teaches us that, often as
not, progress comes from healthy rebellion. Even science has had its revolutionaries:
Darwin, Freud -- if Copernicus hadn't bucked the system, we'd all still believe
the world was flat. The system is not always right.
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Revolution by film star Russell Brand (New York: Ballantine Books, 2014)
In a basically humourous approach, Brand "offers a hopeful handbook of
new ways of thinking." (Quote is from a review posted on amazon.com/)
The book's cover shows the title REVOLUTION with the "E" and "L" reversed, and
the letters EVOL (LOVE backwards) in red, a clever manipulation.
The front flap of the dust jacket proclaims, "We all know the system isn't working. Our
governments are corrupt and the opposing parties pointlessly similar. . . . In this book,
Russell Brand hilariously lacerates the straw men and paper tigers of our conformist
times."
Brand addresses the reader (and all people) on p.vii: "Beneath the fear, doubt and
conditioning, you know you can create a better world, don't you? This book is dedicated
to you."
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MISCELLANEA:
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A routine "fluff" piece about the seemingly mystical allure of Jack in the Box tacos
ran in early 2017 on National Public Radio, after a Wall Street Journal article on the
subject raised the question a few days earlier. While the issue was floated mostly in fun
and games (and perhaps some clever marketing behind the scenes?), an intriguing attitude in
XXIst century society was floated in the use, perhaps coining, of the term, "rejectionist
movement".
In an interview on National Public Radio (6 January 2017), food writer Sophie Egan
included the term in an article titled,
"How eating a Jack in the Box taco is an exercise in individual rights."
(Egan is the author of Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies -- How What
We Eat Defines Who We Are. New York: HarperCollins, 2016.)
Egan proposed three reasons why JITB tacos are so popular:
They're cheap
They're fried
They're a way to exert your individual rights as an American
The last of these was explained as follows:
There's also a psychological aspect to the appeal of an item like the
Jack in the Box taco. It's really in some ways a signal of a rejectionist
movement going on to what's been called the "food police." There are so
many issues right now with soda taxes and calorie postings. There are all
kinds of dietary guidelines that all of us feel pressured by each day.
So in some ways, eating this item is almost like a metaphoric flip of
the bird to Michelle Obama and all of the nutritionists telling us what
to eat everyday. Eating this perhaps disgusting, but ultimately quite
popular item, is a way of exercising our individual rights. It's saying,
"You know what, it might taste awful, but I'm an American, and it is my
right to sit in my car and eat as many of these I darn well please."
This is another example of a very small type of revolution, but the small
attitudes and trends sometimes become part of larger phenomena. (Just ask anyone
on the unlikely Donald Trump bandwagon.)
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A "hip" (and pretty good) breakfast place in the new (as of 2016) Liberty
Public Market in San Diego, California, has a sign posted in their dining room
that contains advice you can read while waiting for your order to be served.
Among the sayings written, as if on a blackboard, are:
Take chances. Tell the truth. Say no. Be random. Tell a jerk what you think.
Live life. Regret nothing.
Much of this contradicts what contemporary Western society teaches children in
school. It is, therefore, in a minor way, revolutionary, and flirts with being
politically incorrect.
(The last of the sayings noted above calls to mind a French singer of the mid-XXth
century, whose popularity was based in the non-elite of European society, and whose
cult status continues to this day. Édith Piaf [Édith Giovanna Gassion, 1915-1963]
began singing in the streets, and became a sensation with songs like,
"Non, je ne regrette rien". To say her rendition of this song was defiant,
even in her last concert at the Olympia shortly before her death, would be an understatement.
As an example of her status as an outsider, the Roman Catholic Church refused to
give her a funeral mass "because of her lifestyle", though in typical
Church style, they reconsidered with a posthumous mass in 2013.)
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BACKGROUND/HISTORY/CONTEXT:
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Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1974 song)
Black Wax (documentary film, 1982)
"A lot of times people see battles and skirmishes on TV and they say,
"Ah ha, the revolution is being televised."
No: the results of the revolution are being televised. The first
revolution is when you change your mind about how you look at things,
and see there might be another way to look at it that you have not
been shown. What you see later on is the results of that, but that
revolution, that change that takes place will not be televised.
an outtake in which Scott-Heron discusses revolution: vimeo.com/260356212
for extensive text of Scott-Heron's comments at Black Wax, see also:
dangerousminds.net/comments/gil_scott_heron_was_right_-_the_revolution_will_not_be_televised
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