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SUNDAY_MORNING

                                         January 18, 2005

There's a serious flaw here:
I'm writing in a mode which
is serious, and only serious.

        I really do enjoy things,
        like, say, Japanese pop
        culture, even the stuff
        that would be hard to         And the
        defend as good.               Republic
                                      Robot! Ah...

  I'm clearly being too harsh on      MYSTERIOUS_DOCTOR_SATAN
  Sontag's notions about Camp...
  for all that they make me
  uncomfortable, her observations
  describe my own reactions quite
  well.



  But try this example:
  "The Rocky Horror Picture Show":
  Mere camp, or worse, "camping"?

  But this is *literally* a cult
  movie, it became an object of
  worship, the center of a
  dionysian subculture.



       This is the characteristic
       that I think is missing from
       Sontag's analysis:

          Art often functions in
          an odd in-between,
          both-things-at-once
          sort of way.
                                                 AWARE_BUT_THERE
                    Heavy and light,
                    serious and camp,
                    central and frivolous...

                    It flip flops depending
                    on how you look at it.       Trivial or
                                                 crucial?

                                Cliched or          Is it irrelevant
                                archetypal?         to the real business
     Style should                                   of living, or is
     never be used                                  it central to it, the
     as an excuse                                   driving purpose
     to avoid                                       behind it?
     substance.
                                                           IRONTHORN


          Fear of being labeled
          pretentious should never
          drive you from wisdom.


          Fear of being labeled
          shallow should never
          be a barrier to joy.




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