(If you can't make the screening, you can check out one of their VHS copies)
You'll have until Thursday at noon to post for this one.
Reading:
--Carl Plantinga (1998) “Gender, Power, and a Cucumber: Satirizing Masculinity in This Is Spinal Tap,” Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video, ed. Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski
Artifact:
--The artifact for the posting in this case is the movie.
Also, I double-checked my 1970s body language books for the seated "male" pose we discussed, and yikes! A few examples below:
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Apparently, in the 1970s U.S., women manifested negative evaluation this way:
8 comments:
Question:
Which bands were the “founding fathers” of heavy metal? Can we consider heavy metal to be a direct extension of cockrock in terms of its loud and sexual performance style and the tendency of its bands to exhibit a similar form of sexual androgyne as that of, say, the rolling stones?
Artifact Discussion:
I think that it is very interesting, and not necessarily accurate that Plantinga (and others as well), would say that heavy metal promotes “a ‘hypermasculine’ mythology, an ethos which reduces sexuality to animal instincts, devalues feminine qualities, and excludes women.” This is Spinal Tap accurately depicts the types of clothing, styles, and stage presence that many heavy metal bands portrayed in that era. It is interesting that the style of these bands – their use of make-up, long hair, flashy and frankly odd clothing – makes them seem more androgynous, or even at times feminine than hypermasculine.
I would argue in fact that these bands push the limits of masculinity by adding a feminine aspect to it. Just as other bands that we’ve talked about this semester, such as Jimi Hendrix or the Rolling Stones, these bands are adding feminine qualities to their style. Their performances are sexual, yes, but taking into consideration styles of clothes, I couldn’t really consider them hypermasculine.
I had never connected the two, but I now find it hard, therefore, to separate the movements in rock-n-roll of ‘cockrock’ and heavy metal. Both pushed the limits of male sexuality by allowing for feminine qualities to penetrate.
One idea that This is Spinal Tap does embody, however, is the tendency in heavy metal to devalue and exclude women. Clearly women are of little value to most of the members of the band. However, I would say that the movie embraces that idea, likening the Jeanine character to Yoko Ono and ending on the idea that the band is better off without women.
Question:
The article and the movie seem to reference late 1970s bands like Van Halen. Yet there seems to be sounds and imagery relating to bands from the 1960s (the Who and the Beatles). Is this also a critique of 1960s rock culture?
Artifact discussion:
What interested me in the article was the discussion of Jeanine. The author argues that the ending of the movie is a failure in its critique of male and female relations. I agree that This Is Spinal Tap is a critique of gender relations and also a parody of the cock rocker lifestyle. I also agree that the ending is a failure because I believe that the band should not have succeeded. Yet, I believe that portraying Jeanine as a “bitch” is integral to the parody of the cock rocker and it does not detract from the film’s critique of gender relations. I think this because the film overblows stereotypes about rock groups. One major stereotype is the “bitch” like Yoko Ono who ruins the band’s chemistry. I think the film just makes a joke about this stereotype that does not relate to its argument about male and female relationships. The men in this movie are still sexist and the women are still treated poorly, regardless of Jeanine’s attitude.
What also interested me was the role of age in the film. The article does not discuss the fact that these men are way past their prime (and whether or not they actually had one). The film makes an interesting comment on life post rock-star. It is certainly bleak, sad and delusional. This seems to further demean masculinity and propose a question about manhood: how does a cock rocker tone down his hypermasculinity?
Discussion Question:
Was the importance of Jeanine in the demise of the band overemphasized? How sexist was her satirical role - meaning that how did sexism help/hurt her and how was she shaped by sexism?
Artifact Discussion:
In This is Spinal Tap, the band Spinal Tap depicted – and exaggerated – many stereotypical characteristics of rock bands of their age. Their performances were very critical in this characterization, for their various performances during the film exhibited several important traits, some of them recurring. First of all, Nigel wagged his tongue multiple times during the concerts, which reminded me of the band Kiss. The wagging of the tongue was also a sexual motion that emphasized the often transgressive sexuality of rock bands. Also, Nigel uses his guitar as a phallic symbol, which reminded me of the Jimi Hendrix articles and class discussions. Near the ends of songs, he would often accompany his tongue-wagging with the protruding of his guitar from his lower abdomen. This phallic symbolism, in conjunction with his tongue, made him like the typical rock guitarists of his day.
In addition, the “bisexualism” of the band is evident in the appearances of the Spinal Tap band members – reminiscent of what the Whitely article discussed from Tuesday’s class. The make up that Nigel wore in various performances, and the long hair sported by (especially) he and David are effeminate. Also, some of the outfits that the band members wear in performances have feminine tendencies – for example: the red, low-cut v-neck shirt and the plaid skirt-like bottom worn by the musicians are not typical masculine attire. This contrasts with the sexual masculinity of the performances, as described above.
I agree with many of the points of the Platinga article, including the “hypermasculine theater of heavy metal performers” (Platinga 325) and the centrality of the guitar to a rock band. However, I believe that Jeanine’s role in the film was quite exaggerated, as I implied in my discussion question above. I think that she was portrayed from a sexist point of view – the people who did not like her, notably Ian and Nigel, acted quite rudely and harshly towards her – and her influence on the band had virtually no positive effects, even on her boyfriend David. I think that although many women associated with rock musicians are not the best influences, Jeanine’s role should have included at least a few positive, loving moments.
Question:
The article brings up a distinction between comedy and satire. What would you categorize "This is Spinal Tap" as? Does is ridicule the genre of heavy metal music?
Artifact Discussion:
The article brings up a certain intriguing point that I did not consider while watching "This is Spinal Tap." Carl Plantinga classifies the film as a representation of hymermasculine heavy metal bands. There are certainly apparent examples that support this claim in the film. Many scenes of the film are phallocentric. For instance, the movie makes a joke about one of the band members getting caught going through security at the airport with a tinfoil-wrapped cucumber down his pants in order to accentuate himself. Another scene shows the band at one of their concerts with a camera angle at ground level looking up at the band members, focusing on their bulging genitals from their nylon pants. Hypermasculinity is also conveyed by contrasting it with women's undermined role in the film. For example, Ian, the manager of Spinal Tap, refused to have a band member's girlfriend co-manage with him. The idea itself was preposterous to him.
However, this claim of hypermasculinity can also be discredited, mainly by the performance style of Spinal Tap. They wore lots of make up and were very conscious about their image. This is not the normal masculine representation that we have come across thus far in the course. I relate this more to The Rolling Stones' image, that Whiteley describes as bisexual, or at least having an appeal to both sexes. Thus, I'm not sure if I can fully agree with Plantinga's claim of "This is Spinal Tap" as a hypermasculine, misogynistic representation of the heavy metal genre.
Discussion Question:
Other sources have mentioned that real-life musicians such Van Halen and Ozzy Osborne have identified with “This is Spinal Tap,” in that many of the unfortunate things that happened to Spinal Tap have happened to them. Though satirically directed, how accurately does this reflect heavy metal and the culture surrounding it?
Artifact discussion:
For the most part, “This is Spinal Tap” seemed to depict a real-life scenario of a dying band. The tensions between bandmates, the women they encounter with, and the people they deal with. I take issue, though, with the idea of hypermasculinity Plantinga introduces. I feel like there is a sense of masculinity to compensate for a sense of insecurity. We can see this best through tight clothes, long hair, and compensation with items like cucumbers. This overcompensation for their insecurity raises the question of whether many in the heavy metal genre acted like this because it is what the genre demanded or they were all just insecure about themselves. The idea of masculinity becomes somewhat contentious now because we are looking at the personality traits rather than gender traits now.
I also found it interesting how the bandmates had an affinity for classical music. For example, Tufnel’s inspiration from Bach and Mozart to create a “Mach” piece can be viewed as counterintuitive. From such a radically different genre than classical, heavy metal breaks convention and instrumentation typically seen in the classical genre. However, the idea of virtuosity pervades both genres and could be viewed as the link. Could one then argue that heavy metal is the 20th century’s version of 18th century Romanticism? Have we substituted the intricate arpeggios and harmonics for rapid guitar riffs and power chords? Though it may be a stretch to liken these two elements of music to one another, the relationship between them is evident in “This is Spinal Tap.”
Question:
Plantinga mentioned bands like Poison and Bon Jovi emergence and popularity with females. Since metal was traditionally known for excluding women and emphasizing male bonding,can Poison and Bon Jovi be considered as authentic metal groups with their popularity in the female community?
Discussion: After watching the movie I found that "Spinal Tap" didnt really live up to my expectations of a hard rock group. The whole band were kind of in their own world and they were the only ones that mattered. The scene in the limo where the driver references Frank Sinatra was a give away that this group was fictional. The band exemplified some aspects of metal but their performances for the most part were too laid back. I found the disagreement on the album cover interesting. After all with a band that plays this genre of music it can be expected that the bands would want to some explicit images because this is a big part of their music style (not sure if this makes sense). Another part of the movie that was interesting was Nigel's constant complaints about the for. Just by watching that scene I think that I could accurately say that I could see artists or even people that are just in high positions reacting the way Nigel did. I honestly couldn't do anything but laugh because I've seen people make a scene over the same type of situation for no reason. Plantinga was fairly accurate when he said heavy metal is not necessarily different from mainstream rock its just more extreme and explicit. Spinal Tab showed some explicit things in their performances.
The film showed both masculine and feminine qualities while following the band. I feel like the band was very clear about what they wanted and but not necessarily who they are. Performances seemed to oppose the image they were looking for. Some performances were "metal" like while others seemed more laid back. The band was very invested in their image almost to a point the seemed feminine. This in inaccurate when trying to relate Spinal Tab to a real metal band. The fact that they were in love with their instruments was one thing that stuck me as being an accurate representation of the hard rock world. All in all I felt that some parts in the film should be discredited when comparing it to hard rock.
Question:
Can The Spinal Tap truly be considered hypermasculine considering their odd clothing, make-up, long hair, and erotic “stage gymnastics” when performing for a mainly male audience?
Artifact Discussion:
I think Carl Platinga made an accurate claim in stating that the movie This is Spinal Tap displays the pretensions of heavy metal’s image of masculinity being a fabrication and an exaggeration. The Spinal Tap, and heavy metal music in general, claims to represent hypermasculinity, but there are many aspects that suggest more of a feminine nature instead. For instance, Nigel wears a considerable amount of make-up, and he fusses over the miniscule details of the food trays as a woman would usually be thought to do. All the members of the Spinal Tap wear eccentric clothing articles that do not exactly portray masculinity. The long hair of the band also seems a bit un-manly. However, Elvis Presley also had long hair for his day, and the women went crazy over it. Heavy metal tends to take to the extreme the trends of rock-and-roll, and The Spinal Tap does just that. They have very long hair, and it does not seem to draw female attention. Their hair is even a bit ridiculed at the military scene in the movie; the guiding officer jokes around about the band’s long hair. In these ways, heavy metal’s image of masculinity is a fabrication.
Masculinity should include confidence, independence, and assurance. This is Spinal Tap, satirizes the so-called hypermasculinity of heavy metal. Platinga asserts that the band demonstrates the insecurities of men, and this is not hypermasculine per se. For instance, the movie scene of Derek’s phallic cucumber and the band’s obsession with wearing Spandex pants to accentuate themselves lend credibility to the idea that many of the actions of The Spinal Tap stem not from masculinity, but from insecurity of their masculinity and the need to overcompensate for that. This is Spinal Tap also ridicules the intelligence of the band members. Notably, at the end of the movie, the band members are asked various questions, and they answer with extremely dumb and childish answers. They seem to lack the capacity for intelligent thought processing, and in my opinion, this decreases their appeal and possibly so-called masculinity if we are to latch onto the idea that men are intelligent beings. Thus, heavy metal’s image of masculinity is an exaggeration.
Finally, the movie displays the importance of male bonding and creates a distinctly misogynist atmosphere. The band’s manager, Ian, is absolutely opposed to the idea of co-managing the band with David’s girlfriend. This is in line with the traditional view of hypermasculinity, although I think society should question how having misogynistic views is truly a masculine trait anyways.
Question:
Though the film was satirical, what were the elements in the film that though perhaps exaggerated, were actual representations of heavy metal culture/ mentality? How true to life were these elements?
Discussion:
At first, I was unsure of the film, This is Spinal Tap and its relevance to reality. However, upon reading the article, I understood much better what the critical value may have been in such a film, and it certainly reflected much of what we’ve been talking about in class.
There were blurred lines of masculinity and femininity included the way they dressed: leopard outfits, very eccentric and other worldly, long hair, no shirts/ cut sleeves, tight pants, headbands; makeup—but all of this was done in the masculine context of heavy metal rock, of screaming wildly, of dominion, and of individuality.
The conversations about management and switching over to a woman were also reminiscent of class discussions where we’ve questioned the place of women in rock/ other genres of music—“I’m not going to manage with some girl”; “You can’t play right because of your wife”; Jeanine’s suggestions about fashion/ image were not taken seriously, and she posed a threat, driving a wedge between the male bonding aspects of the band. Girls being there for romantic/ sexual pleasure, however is not something that is discussed or contested among band members as a threat; certain elements of the film then almost seems to depict a limitation to the scope of acceptable female influence in the context of rock bands.
Even within the context of the discussion of masculinity portrayed in this video, there also seemed to be some commentary on the trials of musical life and of maintaining an image and a following. When Nigel left the band, David revealed that 37 people had been in that band over the years. Spinal Tap also endured various struggles during the film. They experienced rejection, interruption, mishaps , the catastrophe at the air force base, the poor reception of their trial at jazz, being listed as second after a puppet show (a blow to their morale), the mess ups on stage with opening the cocoon/ egg contraption and Stonehenge, etc. What was the key to longevity—was it a new sound? Or a new look? Or something else? Was it maintaining masculinity, and if it was, how much did masculinity mean to actual groups of the time in keeping the band alive and successful?
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