Skip to main content

"The Aristocrats"

We watched "The Aristocrats" last weekend--the documentary by Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller, not the BBC costume drama. It was painfully funny and dreadfully obscene and put some images in my head that I'd rather were not there, but it was an interesting look at the world of comedians and a study of shock and humor and taboo. The parts I liked best were when the joke was twisted on it's ear. If you haven't heard it's about a joke that is as scatalogical and shocking as possible with a punch line, "The Aristocrats!" I man walks into a talent agent and says, 'I have an act for you' and proceeds to describe or perform (depending on the telling) the most vile, depraved, disgusting acts imaginable and when it's over, the agent says, "What do you call yourselves?" Ba da bam! The variation was to perform a very genteel act and then say, "We're called the C*ock-Suck*ing Mo*therfu*ck*ers." (Highlight to read). Part of the point was to look at what's shocking--it needed to be tasteless but tastes vary. VERY, VERY UN-PC. The writers of The Onion sat around trying to think of what could be thrown in to make it worse--scatalogical black face was mentioned. Part of it was to look at how context--who tells it and where--makes the joke. The squeaky clean Bob Saget was touted as giving (and gave) one of the most vile. Some of the women comedians tried to inject a slight level of feminism. Whoopie Goldberg's was the most delightful for the cringes it probably causes men (as does Puppetry of the Penis). Sarah Silverman and Rita Rudner gave versions which were very true to their acts. Hearing Emo Phillips and Stephen Wright do it with their particular voices was just weird.

So what is shocking? What is a word after all, but a metaphor for something else and if we disconnect it from it's meaning can it still be shocking? A few years ago I wrote an essay about reclaiming the "C" word (you know for female anatomy). I had to say it in a play, wanted to say it to someone in life and designed a show where a character was named that in short succession. It's just a word the character points out in the last play. What will it mean when/if words no longer have the power to shock?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adapting a book--The Prestige

I was completely blown away by the movie of The Prestige , and I thought then about reading the novel, but it seemed too soon. So I carried the author's name around with me for over a year (Christopher Priest) and then, finally remembered to buy it through an odd sequence of events. We watched The Painted Veil based on the novel by Maugham starring Edward Norton, and while I decided I didn't want to read The Painted Veil because of it's differences from the film (which was more romantic and tragic) it reminded me that I had wanted to read Fight Club (the movie version of which starred Edward Norton) and that reminded me that I had wanted to read The Prestige (which did not star Edward Norton, but was up against The Illusionist which did). Whew...so it's all Edward Norton's fault. The Prestige is a very good novel, and yet, the movie differs from it considerably. And I am still trying to figure out what exactly that means. The central premise is the same, AND HE
Post a Comment
Read more

Putting my money (read time) where my mouth is

Some Duran Duran with some songs that I believe prove their musical merit. eSnips gives me the power and I'm going to use it. ( Bwahaha ) Get this widget Share Track details This is one of my all time favorite songs. I have it on a B-Side Collection, although I can't find any mention of what it was B-Side of, just that it came out in 1988. The words are quite haunting, as is the melody. But, I can hear you say, this is not at all a standard D2 song. Well, no, but what is a standard song by any band? How do you average that? Thomas Dolby's singles were always abnormal compared to the rest of their respective albums. Same with Barenaked Ladies. I think the B-Sides are often truer to what the band wants to be without the pressure of the labels for commercial success. Get this widget Share Track details This is probably more like Duran Duran you're thinking of, right? It's from Pop Trash , released 2000. The words are based on the true story of a boy who was building
8 comments
Read more

The end of Cloud Atlas

Feel I must write this--promised it to myself, can I finish before midnight (when I said I would go to bed at 11)? Where was I? Oh, yes, section 5, where it gets interesting--because it's the future, at least 25 years, hopefully more. I say hopefully, because I don't want to be living in this future. The section is called "An Orison of Sonmi-451." An Orison (I had to look it up, proving I don't remember my Shakespeare) is a prayer, but in this future world where language has taken as many turns as in Orwell's 1984, it is more a confession or final statement. Sonmi-451 is a clone (as the name might suggest). The section is not entirely original. It owes much to Brave New World and Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (made into the film Bladerunner ). I find it interesting that 40 or so years ago--when Dick wrote his book he believed that future slaves would be Androids, replicants. Now we are much more likely to presume they will be clo
5 comments
Read more