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R E C E N T L Y
Butler vs. Nussbaum Three-way sex with death Gender whores Are women soft on liars? The glories of male football and the limpness of female pornography ___________________ Do you love Camille Paglia? Worship at her altar at barnesandnoble.com
A L S O
About Camille Paglia
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BROADDRICK CHARGES ARE 21 YEARS TOO LATE | PAGE 1, 2
Dear James, Unfortunately, the two underwear-clad boys in the Calvin Klein ad (who are shown arm-wrestling and bouncing on a sofa) are not adolescents but ebullient 4-year-olds. The controversy began when a giant billboard of the photo was being constructed over Times Square. While I have written about parents' natural discomfort with their children's sexuality (Freud's theory of infantile sexuality is still instinctively resisted by most people), I don't think that the hedonistic supersophisticate Calvin Klein is the ideal person to challenge these conventions. He long ago lost cultural credibility, in my view, in his ham-handed 1995 campaign (similarly terminated after a media uproar), which showed half-clad adolescents of both sexes lounging around in a seedy basement as they were rudely interrogated by the disembodied voice of a porn master. Since I have repeatedly called for lowering the legal age of consent to 14 in this country, I was and am appalled at Klein's counterproductive muddying of the waters here. I heartily recommend Steven Gaines and Sharon Churcher's unauthorized 1994 biography, "Obsession," which chronicles Klein's career but actually doesn't do full justice to his historical importance as a creator of brilliantly iconic advertising featuring homoerotically beautiful young men in the noble Greek style. My primary complaint about Klein's two canceled pedophiliac campaigns is that they were poorly conceived and clumsily executed in artistic terms. The fashion industry, always a gay stronghold, seems to lack vision and talent these days. Calvin Klein's entire production team should be blamed for his latest exercise in high-concept banality.
Dear Camille:
Are you a fan of the British cooking
television show "Two Fat Ladies"? For one reason, I thought that you might be. Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright are two of the
funniest people to emerge from the British comedy scene. They both come
from old British families that had lots of money, and they aren't ashamed to admit this telling fact on their programs. They are extremely wacky
and quite informative. Best of all, they are extremely
fat, which is quite a refreshing sight on television.
Magnus J. Walsh
Dear Mr. Walsh, Bull's-eye! You're right on the money. I adore "Two Fat Ladies" -- which has expanded into three cookbooks. My partner, Alison, and I get the same campy pleasure from that show as we do from "Absolutely Fabulous," with its marauding, madcap duo (splendidly played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley). Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright motorcycling through the countryside and rampaging through school, convent or barracks kitchens are like Lewis Carroll duchesses living out a fantasy script by Oscar Wilde. They are hilariously funny and very un-PC indeed as they load their dishes with butter and lard and wrap mounds of red meat with belts of bacon. It's great, as you say, to see strong-willed, full-figured gals with unreconstructed middle-aged faces on the tube. As a product of old Italian-American culture, where grandmothers had crinkly faces and imposing heft, I feel blissfully at home with "Two Fat Ladies" and pray that the show goes on forever! Dear Camille:
Would you ever elect to join Roger Ebert on his weekly television program,
"At the Movies," given the fact that his former partner, Gene Siskel, has
met a premature demise? I would love to hear someone who speaks from a
more sensual/visceral perspective than the often-dry intellect that both
of those individuals shared.
Maryanne Razzo
Dear Ms. Razzo, Thank you for your very flattering proposal, but current movies are so bad that I think I'd die of boredom if I had to review them full time. What might be interesting instead is a regular dialogue on great or notable films of the past, which need far more serious appreciation on television. Roger Ebert seems like a very nice fellow, and I respect his judgment in film. But a more likely partner for me would be the dean of American culture critics, James Wolcott. It might be a new George Burns and Gracie Allen show -- the acerbic Dr. Samuel Johnson (whom Wolcott resembles in manner and temperament) meets peppery Brenda Vaccaro! Let me take this opportunity to confirm what has been reported by the British press: In June the National Film Theatre in London will be presenting a film series called "Camille Does the Movies," which includes 12 of my favorite films. I will be writing the program notes and introducing several films in person. The British Film Institute has also asked me to contribute a second volume to its Film Classics Series (following last year's study of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"). The famous film we've agreed upon will be announced shortly, but I'll drop the hint that it's a wide-screen modern epic that heavily influenced my 1960s generation.
Shed your false modesty. Ask Camille.
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