Ok Paul, first off, youre gonna kill me for not doing a Judith Butler article. Ill do it, i promise. I know i was supposed to do it this time, but the idea of performance and the personal keep coming up over and over again. For my discussion question assignment, i am pulling out two quotes, one from Henry Rollins, one from the film Closer. Im gonna question and analyze both of them in terms of my current work. Dont punch me, this is important.
Bibliography:
Closer. Dir. Mike Nichols. Perf. Natalie Portman. DVD. Sony, 2004. (link to whole transcript: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/closer-movie-transcript.html)
Rollins, Henry. Solipsist. 1. Los Angeles: 2.13.61, 1998.
Quotes:
From Closer:
He gives her the money.
ALICE: Thank you. My real name is plain... Jane Jones.
LARRY: I may be rich, but I'm not stupid.
ALICE: (sassy) What a shame, Doc. I love 'em rich and stupid.
LARRY: Don't you fuck around with me!
ALICE: I apologize.
LARRY: Accepted. All the girls in this hellhole, the pneumatic robots, the coked-up baby dolls, and you're no different. You all use stage names to con yourselves into someone else, so you don't feel the shame when you show your cunts and assholes to complete fucking strangers.
Alice starts to leave.
From Rollins:
It'll destroy you if you try to make it mean anything to anyone but yourself.
1. Like Harry, many people who are outsiders in terms of strip club culture project moral or ethical superiority, sometimes without even realizing it. Discuss the importance of performance in the work and what i am bringing to the table regarding this idea. Why is it necessary to continue to be Olivia and not Nia in the work.
I want to discuss frustration/infatuation (and therefore conflict) with the act of performing. The above stated idea is what the work is about, currently. The “why” is problematic. Because of this, I hit walls regarding what I am bringing to the table. Im struggling with a stance regarding what I want to say about conflicting psyche.
I am Olivia in the work. Perhaps I do equate my existence with what I can bring home in a night. Part of that makes me feel good. Part of that doesn’t seem fair, but im not mad all the time about it anymore either. I cant be Nia in the work because the work is about being the character, Olivia (as opposed to reality). The public has blurred the Nia/Olivia boundaries. I choose to present Olivia because Olivia is protected and conditioned for the masses explosion regarding who she is. Nia is not.
2. Discuss how I plan on successfully universalizing and creating accessibility to my audience.
I want to use more common/general environments and more common/general signifiers that don’t give away, but allude to the personal experience, while still remaining one step removed. Are clear heels a signifier of strippers and their performance? Voluntary (or forced?) appearance in public spaces designed for entertainment/happiness (as if the two are the same, please! theyre just marketed as such) to suggest characterization of the people involved in creating that fantasy capsule. The physical struggle to remain still and calm as a metaphor for the inner struggle to remain still, calm and employed at a place that sucks life out of your body. This is the hardest part. This is where I fall apart (formal/conceptual). This is where it gets muddy and inaccessible. Maybe I only need the space and the shoes. I want to communicate performance and conflict. The key to accessibility is signifiers. I need more signifiers.
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