In Susan Sontag’s Notes on “Camp,” she discusses the cult phenomenon of a sensibility known as “camp” which is a love for the unnatural and the exaggerated. Different forms of “camp” can be seen through the arts, furniture, cinema, and everyday life.”Camp” converts the serious into the frivolous of tastes with “Camp vision,” a Camp way of looking at things. (Sontag, 277) With the aestheticism of Camp and Camp vision, it can transform how someone sees the world and change the viewers’ experience. There are many things that are inferred to be of a serious quality but are “camp” due to the eccentric, exaggerated obscurity in its style. There is no judgment in camp, just acceptance for things that are outside the seriousness which many seek in art and people. Traditional passing of judgment is not received through the Camp taste because it is the appreciation of Camp that is at the essence of its style. My example I will use to explain Susan Sontag’s Camp is the pop icon, Lady Gaga.
Stressed in Sontag’s notes on Camp #21 is the notion that, “Camp rests on innocence,” [Sontag, 283). Lady Gaga would be a pure or naïve form of Camp by Sontag’s definition because she is intended to be taken seriously as an artist and is highly respected in the art world, from her fashion to her stage performances. In Sontag’s note #17, she states: Camp as a verb, “to Camp,” is a mode of seduction- one which employs flamboyant mannerisms susceptible of a double interpretation; gestures full of duplicity, with a witty meaning for the cognoscenti and more impersonal for the outsider.” To relate this to Lady Gaga would be to judge her based on her staged theatrics and outlandish costumes, it would be easy as an outsider to say it is an attention seeking tactic to draw attention to her flamboyant mannerisms as fake or intended Camp but Lady Gaga’s well known style today is pure because it is Camp. She believes in the art of fashion that is very uncommon to an average person but highly respected in the world of French Vogue. The “straight” public sense of Lady Gaga is to see her as bizarre or purposely controversial. To see her as Camp one has found Lady Gaga “as a private zany experience of the thing.” (Sontag, 281)
Sontag’s note #23 is that Camp is a seriousness, a seriousness that fails which personifies Lady Gaga’s public persona because the absurdity and frivolousness of her lifestyle are of a serious nature yet fail because she is seen as a freak show or circus act. Here Sontag says the perfect combination of Camp is “the exaggerated, the fantastic, the passionate, and the naïve.” (Sontag, 283) The purity found in the Camp equation is the contrast to what is perceived as the norm. Camp holds a different set of standards, in which there are none and has an open mind to the theatricality of life in which seriousness is thrown to the wayside.
There are also similarities between Camp and the homosexual community that parallel in many ways. Camp is often associated with homosexuals, not as a whole but is very common and mainstream amongst their creative communities. As Sontag discusses in note #51, “while its not true that Camp taste is homosexual taste, there is no doubt a peculiar affinity and overlap.” She explains in further notes that Camp plays on not being serious relating to homosexual’s desire to remain youthful. Lady Gaga has become an icon of not only pop culture but also the gay community because of her androgynous perception that takes her oversexed image and combines masculinity among her feminine features. Lady Gaga is a strong example of Camp in society today because she is eye catching, yet she is often misunderstood though appreciated in Camp communities for her serious work ethic that fails and releases a playful persona behind her fashion and public image. The fact that she has become a voice and icon for the homosexual community also highlights her Campiness and acceptance amongst “the aristocrats of taste.” (Sontag, 290) Camp style is not good taste or bad taste but the enjoyment and appreciation for exaggerated sensibility. Lady Gaga preserves a pure form of Camp in pop culture.
Stressed in Sontag’s notes on Camp #21 is the notion that, “Camp rests on innocence,” [Sontag, 283). Lady Gaga would be a pure or naïve form of Camp by Sontag’s definition because she is intended to be taken seriously as an artist and is highly respected in the art world, from her fashion to her stage performances. In Sontag’s note #17, she states: Camp as a verb, “to Camp,” is a mode of seduction- one which employs flamboyant mannerisms susceptible of a double interpretation; gestures full of duplicity, with a witty meaning for the cognoscenti and more impersonal for the outsider.” To relate this to Lady Gaga would be to judge her based on her staged theatrics and outlandish costumes, it would be easy as an outsider to say it is an attention seeking tactic to draw attention to her flamboyant mannerisms as fake or intended Camp but Lady Gaga’s well known style today is pure because it is Camp. She believes in the art of fashion that is very uncommon to an average person but highly respected in the world of French Vogue. The “straight” public sense of Lady Gaga is to see her as bizarre or purposely controversial. To see her as Camp one has found Lady Gaga “as a private zany experience of the thing.” (Sontag, 281)
Sontag’s note #23 is that Camp is a seriousness, a seriousness that fails which personifies Lady Gaga’s public persona because the absurdity and frivolousness of her lifestyle are of a serious nature yet fail because she is seen as a freak show or circus act. Here Sontag says the perfect combination of Camp is “the exaggerated, the fantastic, the passionate, and the naïve.” (Sontag, 283) The purity found in the Camp equation is the contrast to what is perceived as the norm. Camp holds a different set of standards, in which there are none and has an open mind to the theatricality of life in which seriousness is thrown to the wayside.
There are also similarities between Camp and the homosexual community that parallel in many ways. Camp is often associated with homosexuals, not as a whole but is very common and mainstream amongst their creative communities. As Sontag discusses in note #51, “while its not true that Camp taste is homosexual taste, there is no doubt a peculiar affinity and overlap.” She explains in further notes that Camp plays on not being serious relating to homosexual’s desire to remain youthful. Lady Gaga has become an icon of not only pop culture but also the gay community because of her androgynous perception that takes her oversexed image and combines masculinity among her feminine features. Lady Gaga is a strong example of Camp in society today because she is eye catching, yet she is often misunderstood though appreciated in Camp communities for her serious work ethic that fails and releases a playful persona behind her fashion and public image. The fact that she has become a voice and icon for the homosexual community also highlights her Campiness and acceptance amongst “the aristocrats of taste.” (Sontag, 290) Camp style is not good taste or bad taste but the enjoyment and appreciation for exaggerated sensibility. Lady Gaga preserves a pure form of Camp in pop culture.
~Tiffani Wilshire
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