3.19.11 Adam News & Info
Mar 19, 2011 21:06:43 GMT -5
Post by nica575 on Mar 19, 2011 21:06:43 GMT -5
YES! Yes, yes, yes. and YES!
But then, I like my serious message delivered with a smile and a wink. I like Godspell better than Jesus Christ Superstar even though the music in JCS is undeniably better. I like Byron better than Wordsworth because Byron knew how to laugh at himself, how to hold the truth of overblown romanticism in one hand and the irony in the other.
And it's something that chimes with me about Adam, too. There's no question that his talent runs very deep. But when he wrote, after his album cover release, "Hey, folks, it's SUPPOSED to be ridiculous," it was over for me. I was hooked.
And my immediate response to mys*&@^#r's question about what was camp on FYE, too, was "Strut and Music Again". Not that there isn't good stuff in there, but watch him perform them -- as MWP points out, the very obvious eye rolls and winks, the self-parody. As someone who fears, sometimes, being seen as ridiculous, one of the things I love best about Adam is his ability to OWN it, wear it proudly.
I learn something worthwhile from the boy (or from Adamtopia) almost every day. That's just one reason why both are so damn addictive!
Adam's camp is very sophisticated which is why it is often not even recognized as camp. It sometimes goes over peoples heads. I've been thinking today that he is almost more DaDa than camp. Everything he does challenges preconceived notions. He juxtaposes things that you wouldn't think would go together. The way he both blends and contrasts the masculine and feminine and defies any attempt to box him in. As soon as you describe him he changes yet again. His response after the AMA's poked and challenged society. Rather than backing down he challenged our perceptions of what is acceptable. He hasn't just made us fans he has made us activists, or revitalized our activism. He makes us think and question the status quo. He is political in the way that artist should be political in that his art inspires us to examine and engage the world around us. The opening line of "Strut" is "I want to start a revolution" written at a time when he was saying he didn't want to be a poster child for the gay communtity. And he has started a revolution, a "personal solution" in his fan base. How many of us speak of the way he has reshaped us in the course of our fan experience. Many of us have taken up the challenge to "rewrite the role we play".
Dada was a response to fascism and we have a kind of neo-fascism going on in this country now. Adam's very existence challenges those ideas and just staying true to himself and strutting his stuff is a political statement all it's own. I love that he isn't afraid to be over the top but he also isn't afraid to tone it down and be understated even though many might see it as a cop out. He isn't afraid to take whatever direction the spirit moves him. I think that's one of the differences between him and Gaga. While Gaga is celebrating the freak aspect she almost seems to be rejecting the "normal" side. By always being weird and outlandish and out there she has put herself in a box that I don't think she can step out of. Could she wake up tomorrow and just do shows as plain old Stephanie Germanatta? I don't think she could. Adam has done a very good job all along of showing different aspects of himself and if he decided to do a stripped down coffee house style tour next time I think the fans would be right there with him because natural or normal Adam seems to be just as interesting as OTT Adam. Think about that VH1 acoustic set where he did DTRH. Most of us were scratching our heads trying to figure out how he could do that song acoustic. It just didn't seem possible, but it worked. I was amazed that it was just a psychedelic as the album version.
I also found that red carpet interview from Rupaul's Drag Race with both he and Sutan very interesting. When the drag queen interviewing them asked Adam what his Drag name was or would be he says "Adam Lambert" with a perfectly straight face and waits for them to "get it". That to me was a hint that his stage act for Glam Nation was in many ways a kind of Drag. I have a feeling that if the interviewer had questioned him about it instead of laughing that he would have had a perfectly convincing explanation of what made it drag and I really would love to hear that. I think that there are often deeper meanings to things that he may just never reveal and allows those that get it to revel in that depth without making those that don't get it feel left out or stupid. He did finally acknowledge very late in the tour that the red A on the top hat was in fact a reference to "The Scarlett Letter" but he didn't belabor the point.
mirages, ruhannsupf - love your posts and especially the parts I marked in red.
In general, it seems to me that we had to learn "the hard way", and it took me a while to realize how much "camp" or tongue-in-cheek his performances were. I even think the "serious" reception his performances were getting took Adam himself by surprise. But many of his performances were "revolutionizing" (especially the AMA and most of GNT). He did become a reluctant leader at first and then accepted and settled into the "flag bearing" position. Just listen to the intro to the CIGTC at the Music box - what a world of difference between that message and the immediate post Idol talk about being just a singer...
