२८ मार्च, २०२४

"Modesty garments — multiple layers of underwear, flesh-colored shorts and fabric with genital-shaped silicone barriers..."

"... make contact without direct contact possible, and, along with having bathrobes on standby, help provide a modicum of security, further differentiating between character and actor.... Managing sweat and jiggly phallic simulacrums are all part of the grab bag of a body-centric show. A lake scene means water shooting into mouths and splashing into eyes; and fake blood often splatters onto faces and hair — and even onto the front row (choose your seats wisely!). That balance of levity and reverence lives at the heart of intimacy direction, a serious job with, at times, an absurdist bent. 'We’re still adults telling a story about vagina dentata... If it’s not making us laugh, we’ve somehow missed the boat.'"

From a NYT article called "Death by Genitalia? How an Intimacy Director Made Those ‘Teeth’ Work. Creating the sex scenes for the horror musical required close attention to detail, extra communication and some strategically placed silicone."

jiggly phallic simulacrums... "Simulacrums" is fine, but I prefer the plural form "simulacra." Simulacra feels more like genitalia, and I usually say "genitalia," even where "genitals" will do. I have tags for "genitalia" and "simulacra," and I didn't just create them for this post.

... makeup? A month or so ago, I couldn't listen to what they were saying because I was exclaiming that they looked like they were wearing rubber masks. It was freaky. The skin did not look like skin. How did I know these were human beings at all rather than simulacra?

I did the research, I mean, at the Wikipedia level: "Simulacrum":

Simulacra have long been of interest to philosophers. In his Sophist, Plato speaks of two kinds of image making. The first is a faithful reproduction, attempted to copy precisely the original. The second is intentionally distorted in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers. He gives the example of Greek statuary, which was crafted larger on the top than on the bottom so that viewers on the ground would see it correctly. If they could view it in scale, they would realize it was malformed....

Postmodernist French social theorist Jean Baudrillard argues that a simulacrum is not a copy of the real, but becomes truth in its own right: the hyperreal. According to Baudrillard, what the simulacrum copies either had no original or no longer has an original (think a copy of a copy without an original). Where Plato saw two types of representation—faithful and intentionally distorted (simulacrum)—Baudrillard sees four: (1) basic reflection of reality; (2) perversion of reality; (3) pretence [sic] of reality (where there is no model); and (4) simulacrum, which "bears no relation to any reality whatsoever."...

I declared it "A great topic! To be continued! New tag: 'simulacra.'" 

But I never used it again. Not until today. Not until I was prodded by "jiggly phallic simulacrums."

Oh, wait. I did use it one other time, the day after the first time: "A woman and her simulacrum — Whitney Cummings has a sex robot/doll made in her own image."

१६ टिप्पण्या:

Achilles म्हणाले...

In the army we were sent to a school to learn how to make silicon masks/rocks/plants etc. for surveillance work. After a couple days of classes we were able to build our own projects.

Mostly early 20's age males. Several shockingly realistic pieces of male and female genitalia were produced of course.

It is never far below the surface.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

Simulacra of genitalia, but simulacrums of scrotums.

Mr. O. Possum म्हणाले...

Interesting that the NYT article makes no mention that the play mocks Christians.

The play's website says, "Dawn O’Keefe is an evangelical Christian teen with a powerful secret not even she understands – when men violate her, her body bites back."

Just in time for Easter.

mikee म्हणाले...

The movie which preceded the play was filmed in and about Austin, and the "water" scenes were filed at Krause Springs, a local water hole which is very nice to visit in hot weather. If ever in the Austin area in August, go there for arefreshing dip, but get there early, due to crowds.

hombre म्हणाले...

What would lefties do without genitalia and all their implications? It's either Trump, climate or genitals. Not necessarily in that order.

Lilly, a dog म्हणाले...

It has teeth, but can it also talk and sing?

Chatterbox

The Vault Dweller म्हणाले...

Simulacra is shorter than Simulacrums. Once you attach the adjective phallic to either, it is only natural that many would prefer the longer version.

wildswan म्हणाले...

This post pulls together a real horror show in the theatre (post today) and the horror show that the news anchors have become (linked post.) Pretty funny. I'd only add that I particularly like the Newsmax anchors because they are young and fairly good-looking. They are also intelligent with relevant real world experience in the combat Army. When you go back to Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd you can "see" the problem which is that they are old and out of date. Being 80 myself I can say this. An older person can be relevant but not in competition with younger people. We're something other than competitors when we are real to the younger generation. We are adding another dimension? Time? We've experienced history? though what we've experienced is over. Or is it? The Sixties - are they gone or just arriving as a mass culture phenomenon?

William म्हणाले...

All those layers of silicone and underwear sound more like a chastity belt than a simulacrum. Not that it will work. I think if you put two young, attractive people in close proximity to each other and ask them to pretend that they're having sex, I think there's a fair chance that someone will eventually get turned on.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Stimulacra, a memorable tradename for a new "gender-affirming" snake oil.

Narr म्हणाले...

Baudrillard predicted the decay and demise of the West almost as soon as the Evil Empire gave up. Every once in a while French intellectuals hit the mark.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

If you like this kind of thing don't miss Pottymouth and Pottymouth II, The Ass-chewing.

Hassayamper म्हणाले...

My wife has lately sworn off the sewer that is modern Hollywood and decided that she will henceforth only watch movies from the black-and-white era of cinematography. I've watched a few with her, and they are remarkably well crafted and entertaining. They explore a wide range of the human experience, including some pretty dark subjects, without pandering to base instincts. It's so refreshing not to have to put up with the usual tiresome, banal, grotesque épater-la-bourgeoisie garbage from talentless hacks who think they were the first who ever dared to show gore and nudity.

Hassayamper म्हणाले...

I think if you put two young, attractive people in close proximity to each other and ask them to pretend that they're having sex, I think there's a fair chance that someone will eventually get turned on.

We're talking about actors here. I suspect that the odds are significantly better that the male half of the duo is thoroughly repelled by being in such close and intimate contact with a nearly naked female.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Ugh. No gelatin ring tonight.

Or any other night, though.

lonejustice म्हणाले...

Hassayamper said...

"I think if you put two young, attractive people in close proximity to each other and ask them to pretend that they're having sex, I think there's a fair chance that someone will eventually get turned on. We're talking about actors here. I suspect that the odds are significantly better that the male half of the duo is thoroughly repelled by being in such close and intimate contact with a nearly naked female."
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I understand where you're coming from. Not that there is anything wrong with it, of course.