The Cure's Pornographic Cure: Bittersweet Relief
Jul 5, 2017 20:30:02 GMT 1
steve, gongoro73, and 2 more like this
Post by sang on Jul 5, 2017 20:30:02 GMT 1
Kinda late, so I hope I'm not repeating a post. Article from June 28, 2017 on Popmatters about Pornography.
A short excerpt for those interested:
"The idea of pornography is, of course, titillating for some, abhorrent to others. Still others exhibit muddled feelings about it, grudgingly acknowledging pornography’s ability to arouse while simultaneously harboring shame over it. The Cure’s Robert Smith gave the Pornography title to his dour 1982 masterwork in order to imbue new life into the notion of pornography. Typically, pornography is shocking to the senses; even those who like it are jolted from their mundane reveries into an at times violent, vulgar world. Of course, this is why people like it—it proffers a blunt antidote to bland reality.
Smith’s conceptual experiment in “didactic diction” was a success. By taking aword laden with overtly “perverse” sexual associations and audaciously affixing it to an assemblage of tunes that, surface-wise, anyway, have very little to do with the original concept, he transformed the word’s meaning, or at least infused it with daringly new dimensions. Whereas before the word “pornography” had a connotative atmosphere of (for some) disturbingly graphic eros, now it could take on an aura of existential terror."
A short excerpt for those interested:
"The idea of pornography is, of course, titillating for some, abhorrent to others. Still others exhibit muddled feelings about it, grudgingly acknowledging pornography’s ability to arouse while simultaneously harboring shame over it. The Cure’s Robert Smith gave the Pornography title to his dour 1982 masterwork in order to imbue new life into the notion of pornography. Typically, pornography is shocking to the senses; even those who like it are jolted from their mundane reveries into an at times violent, vulgar world. Of course, this is why people like it—it proffers a blunt antidote to bland reality.
Smith’s conceptual experiment in “didactic diction” was a success. By taking aword laden with overtly “perverse” sexual associations and audaciously affixing it to an assemblage of tunes that, surface-wise, anyway, have very little to do with the original concept, he transformed the word’s meaning, or at least infused it with daringly new dimensions. Whereas before the word “pornography” had a connotative atmosphere of (for some) disturbingly graphic eros, now it could take on an aura of existential terror."
