- "I want to be a pop idol". Oscar Wilde between parody and glam re-invention in Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine
- «I want to be a pop idol» Oscar Wilde tra parodia e reinvenzione glam in Velvet Goldmine di Todd Haynes
- Martino, Pierpaolo
Description
- The present essay analyses Velvet Goldmine a 1998 film directed by Todd Haynes, in order to investigate how the American director points to the relevance of glam (emerged in Great Britain at the beginning of the Seventies) within contemporary culture, focusing on one of its most relevant aspects, that is the parodic subversion of the normative idea of masculinity which was dominant in the previous decades. Glamsters – that is, such artists as Bolan, Bowie, Roxy Music and Glitter – were able, using such visual signs as make-up and glitter dresses, to construct (on stage) a hybrid gender identity, which sharply contrasted with the normative masculinity of many 1960s musicians. Employing a methodological approach in which cultural studies, literary studies and neo-musicology speak to each other, the present analysis establishes a strong connection between Oscar Wilde and glam culture – a relationship established by Haynes himself in the very first scenes of the film – which nevertheless the present essays defines in a more specific way, considering the film as a whole as a glam parody and refashioning of Wilde's epopee, one in which Wilde's images and aphorisms seem to question with their complexity and their desecrating value the present age.
- Il presente studio analizza Velvet Goldmine un film del 1998 diretto da Todd Haynes al fine di indagare come il regista americano riesca ad evidenziare la centralità del glam (emerso in Gran Bretagna nei primi anni Settanta) nella cultura contemporanea, ponendo un' enfasi specifica sull’aspetto che più di ogni altro aveva caratterizzato quell’esperienza, ossia la sovversione parodica dell' idea di mascolinità normativa nei decenni precedenti. Sul palco i 'glamsters' – ossia artisti quali Bolan, Bowie, Roxy Music, Glitter – erano in grado, utilizzando segni visivi quali trucco e abiti 'glitter' di costruire un’identità di genere ibrida che si poneva in netto contrasto con il machismo di molti musicisti degli anni Sessanta. Seguendo un approccio metodologico in cui studi culturali, studi letterari e neo-musicologia finiscono per dialogare tra loro, la presente indagine crea uno stretto rapporto tra Oscar Wilde e la cultura glam – un rapporto individuato dal regista sin dalle prime battute del film – ma che qui viene declinato in un senso più specifico, in base al quale l' intero film rappresenta una parodia o reinvenzione glam dell'intera epopea wildiana e in cui le immagini e gli aforismi wildiani sembrano interrogare con la loro complessità e la loro portata dissacrante il nostro presente. The present essay analyses Velvet Goldmine a 1998 film directed by Todd Haynes, in order to investigate how the American director points to the relevance of glam (emerged in Great Britain at the beginning of the Seventies) within contemporary culture, focusing on one of its most relevant aspects, that is the parodic subversion of the normative idea of masculinity which was dominant in the previous decades. Glamsters – that is, such artists as Bolan, Bowie, Roxy Music and Glitter – were able, using such visual signs as make-up and glitter dresses, to construct a hybrid gender identity, which sharply contrasted with the normative masculinity of many 1960s musicians. Employing a methodological approach in which cultural studies, literary studies and neo-musicology speak to each other, the present analysis establishes a strong connection between Oscar Wilde and glam culture – a relationship established by Haynes himself in the very first scenes of the film – which nevertheless the present essay defines in a more specific way, considering the film as a whole in terms of a glam parody and refashioning of Wilde's epopee, one in which Wilde's images and aphorisms seem to question with their complexity and their desecrating potential the present age.
Date
- 2017-01-03
Type
- info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Format
- application/pdf
Identifier
10.13125/2039-6597/2207