O.K. I get to be the first to comment at last and It's one of those "Oh, yippee! a new AWWW's posting, haven't read it yet, but know it'll make my day! Back to you later after reading!
This chapter made me remember having the privilege of taking Theater 101 from Arthur Ballet at the U of Minnesota in the mid 1970's. It was one of his last years to teach that class. He was obviously a gay man in a town that was gay friendly (maybe more so at that time than in the era of AWWW.)His reputation as a theater critic made it hard to get into his class and I lucked out to get into it my very first quarter of my freshman year. One of his quotes that I vaguely remember( and can't find the source) is someone who described himself as having no epidermis. I think your Ennis is like that: he is so hyper-sensitive to the deeper meaning/symbolism of everything around him that he gets sensor overload at times. You sure got my head spinning. I've got so many questions and that's good because you know I'm gonna keep following AWWW
( ... )
Interesting idea about the lack of epidermis. This Ennis for sure doesn't have as hard a shell as canon Ennis.
There will be answers to most of your questions, eventually, but who is/was gay and who isn't/wasn't will remain a question mark in some cases.
Jay took the photo of Ennis and Jack on the steps of Cambridge City Hall when they got married, and as that couldn't have happened until 2004, it will have to be dealt with in the epilogue. And in case you're wondering, there is no link between that photo and the one taken of the stairs in the British Museum.
Actually, the most famous case of Mapplethorpe rejection came after his death, at the Corcoran gallery in Washington. I don't think those times will ever be completely over, at least not in America. :-/ It boggles my mind that Sarah Palin could be considered a credible candidate for anything.
"His hand smelled like yours." What was that smell? Developing chemicals? And I'm being dense again (yeah, what else is new ;-) Which photo is he thinking about here: I groaned with jealousy. That fucking photo. Amazing that Jay took Ennis photo twice before she knew him. You've got quite some eye for pictures and their interpretations, there are so many things and layers in this story - and I probably get only a part of them.
Lots of BBM references, cabins, Mexico, 4th of July, getting bashed in Texas, blue earrings ... I'm still wondering about Jack and why he calls Lureen Laura.
That night he had a dream that he was alone in a rowboat, crossing a great lake, straining against the oars, his back to the unknown, watching the happy families on the sandy shore recede.Leaving the straight shore, rowing (slowly) to the gay side
( ... )
That's right, the smell is darkroom chemicals. My father was a photographer and when I was a child I just thought the smell on his hands was unique to him. It was only when I walked into a photo supply shop for the first time, when I was a teenager, that I realized what it came from.
"Which photo is he thinking about here: I groaned with jealousy. That fucking photo."
I wondered if people would not understand which photo he was referring to but neither of my betas asked about it so I left it like that. So that's one of the tweaks I will make when I go back over it. He means Jay's Citgo sign photo, which was published instead of his article.
I don't expect everybody to get every layer or symbol in this story. A few of them are so obscure, and there are so few readers, that I doubt they'll ever get picked up.
Leaving the straight shore, rowing (slowly) to the gay side?Well, moving away from the "normal family life" shore to something else. I didn't know that about the German expression. It's very apt. There's no real equivalent to
( ... )
Extrodinary manjoetheoneOctober 15 2010, 22:41:00 UTC
Mr. Mapplethorpe usually did find most of his subjects from the streets he walked on a daily basis and his eye for seeing beyond the normal was exceptional. He would have loved the face of Heath Ledger (Ennis) he would have also loved Jack as well. But, he also took many "Normal" looking people and made them look like something you would never imagine. He like many artist also had the personality to see things in ways others do not. If you look at some of his work from 1979-1981 you may see someone you recognize or don't
( ... )
Re: Extrodinary mansoulanOctober 16 2010, 22:11:58 UTC
Actually, Ennis isn't moving on from Kaj yet. He will eventually, but he has to go through a soul-searing experience with him, just as Jack already went through his own with someone else and has yet to move on.
wonderfulgargarmarmarOctober 16 2010, 18:16:21 UTC
As I entered the DC forum slash site I kept saying to myself I hope there is an update, I hope there is an update, and there it was. I especially liked the Mapplethorpe video. Timely news. I just read that James Franco has signed on to play Mapplethorpe in a bio of his life. He did a great job in Howl, so I expect at least as good for this proposed film.
Earlier today I listened to an interview Terry Gross did with James Franco and this wasn't mentioned. When I read your comment I immediately Googled it and it sounds like there is nothing for him to sign yet. There is just a script, and a woman who wrote it was at a Q&A event and asked him if he'd be interested and he said yes. But he'd be perfect in the role. Franco is studying at the Rhode Island School of Design (the Talking Heads members met at RISD by the way) currently. Let's hope the film does get made.
Comments 21
Susan
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There will be answers to most of your questions, eventually, but who is/was gay and who isn't/wasn't will remain a question mark in some cases.
Jay took the photo of Ennis and Jack on the steps of Cambridge City Hall when they got married, and as that couldn't have happened until 2004, it will have to be dealt with in the epilogue. And in case you're wondering, there is no link between that photo and the one taken of the stairs in the British Museum.
Actually, the most famous case of Mapplethorpe rejection came after his death, at the Corcoran gallery in Washington. I don't think those times will ever be completely over, at least not in America. :-/ It boggles my mind that Sarah Palin could be considered a credible candidate for anything.
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What was that smell? Developing chemicals?
And I'm being dense again (yeah, what else is new ;-)
Which photo is he thinking about here: I groaned with jealousy. That fucking photo.
Amazing that Jay took Ennis photo twice before she knew him.
You've got quite some eye for pictures and their interpretations, there are so many things and layers in this story - and I probably get only a part of them.
Lots of BBM references, cabins, Mexico, 4th of July, getting bashed in Texas, blue earrings ...
I'm still wondering about Jack and why he calls Lureen Laura.
That night he had a dream that he was alone in a rowboat, crossing a great lake, straining against the oars, his back to the unknown, watching the happy families on the sandy shore recede.Leaving the straight shore, rowing (slowly) to the gay side ( ... )
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"Which photo is he thinking about here: I groaned with jealousy. That fucking photo."
I wondered if people would not understand which photo he was referring to but neither of my betas asked about it so I left it like that. So that's one of the tweaks I will make when I go back over it. He means Jay's Citgo sign photo, which was published instead of his article.
I don't expect everybody to get every layer or symbol in this story. A few of them are so obscure, and there are so few readers, that I doubt they'll ever get picked up.
Leaving the straight shore, rowing (slowly) to the gay side?Well, moving away from the "normal family life" shore to something else. I didn't know that about the German expression. It's very apt. There's no real equivalent to ( ... )
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Intriguing story - interesting characterisations- lovely writing.
Cheers
Tui
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