levasseur@morgan.DEC (Ray EMD & S Admin 223-5027) (10/23/85)
Camp Humor and Dishing
Jason on Satire
A few people have sent me mail asking if I had any plans on posting an
article about Dishing and Camp humor. I did start and article but when I
tried filing it, the personal computer at my desk dished me with an error
message, "Really my dear! You must be kidding. File not saved!"
Let's see, the American Heritage Dictionary defines camp as - Artific-
iality of manner or style, appreciated for it's humor, triteness or vulgar-
ity. It defines satire as - An artistic work that attacks human vice or
foolishness with irony, deision or wit. Of course Dishing has nothing to do
with fine china but the act of "Dishing it out!" Dishing can be related to
camp and satire. My Jason's Helpful Hints article was taken by some as Campy,
by others as Vulgar and by some as Dishing. So there is a fine dividing line
between acceptability and vulgarity in this form of humor.
My introduction to camp and dishing came shortly after I first came out.
Gay men and women can pull off camp/dishing much more successfully than most
straight folks. Dishing can run the gamut of playfull putdowns which are ob-
viously meant in jest to vicious attacks that are meant to cut to the bone.
The vicious dishing often is the result of a slushfund of buried anger which
gets spewed out on anyone who's conveniently nearby. A lot of macho non-gay
men may take out their aggession with fists, cars, knives, etc; in general
physical violence. Gay men on the other hand, may tend to fight with their
minds and tongues; passive aggression. The dialogues in the movie, "Boys in
the Band" is a prime example of really nasty dishing. This is not to say that
gay men can't handle themselves in hand to hand combat as one old homophobic
straight roomate learned while in the Navy. He picked on the wrong boy who
happened to hold a 7th degree Black Belt in Karate. My roomate was hospit-
alized with a few broken bones. In a way this was pleasantly satiric where
the prey puts the hunter in his place.
Dishing can be fun when not used to excess. It can break the ice at par-
ties or when first meeting people. I know some guys who cannot get off of
the dishing kick; everything out of their mouths is a catty put down, no
matter what you say they have some sort of dishy comeback. When used in
excess dishing can be a form of self defense; a way of not letting anyone
get too close. Among friends it can start spontaneously in the course of a
conversation. It's not wise to start dishing total strangers since this form
of wit can be easily taken the wrong way. A hypothetical dish between two
friends (a) and (b) could go something like this, with (C) being the innoc-
ent bystander:
(a) B, I'de like you to meet C.
(c) Very nice to meet you. Hey do you work out? You really have a nice body.
(a) Oh here we go again. No he doesn't work out he bought the muscles at
at Bloomingdales.
(b) Well at least A I didn't get mine at K Mart.
(c) No! really you're really are well put together, nice ass too.
(a) Yes, isn't it! The Massport Authority wants X Rays of his ass to use as
blueprints for the new tunnel under Boston Harbor.
(b) I wouldn't talk B. I heard that the last person you were with had to tie
a board across his ass so he wouldn't fall in.
(a) Weeooowwrrr! Fsssssttttt! (arm extensed like a cat with it's claws out)
(c) ??????????????????????? (keeping his mouth shut).
(a) My My I think we've left C speechless!
It may go on and on to where the twio friends know each others limits. The
trio may end up laughing and relax more. Dishing can be aimed at a person's
clothes, belongings, apartment, skills or anything else. It can also be a subtle
way of one friend telling another that he doesn't approve of something, somebody
or some place. It can also signify approval in an underhanded way; a lefthanded
compliment.
>"Tsk Tsk Stuffing toilet paper in our 501's again, I'm not impressed!"
Can be taken to mean the friend approves of your display, is jealous, or thinks
that you look foolish.
>"It figures that you'de want to go to Chaps with all those tired old stand and
model queens".
Can mean he doesn't like Chaps, is just having fun dishing the bar, etc.
>"Ooh! my dear, I see you've been busy shopping at the Salvation Army rummage
sale".
He knows you've bought some new furniture and may not like the style when he
sees it. It could just be a playful left handed compliment. Some men feel un-
comfortable paying or recieving compliments. This is a way of offhandedly pay-
ing tribute to your tastes.
Dishing can be internalzed as well as externalized. Rodney Dangerfield's
"I can't get no respect!" routine is a prime example of self directed dishing.
Self directed dishing can be a person's way of gathering sympathy strokes from
others. Joan Rivers dishes out as well as in; hmmmm! Gays love to dish, it al-
most seems to come naturally. The key thing to remember is the spirit in which
the disher is dishing it out. There has to be some degree of respect for the
limits of the reciever's feelings. The reciever has to also trust that the dish-
ing party will not really get carried away and lay into his insecurities. If you
happen to be dishing someone and he seems to be getting annoyed or looks like
he's going to put your lights out, then lay off!
Camp is another form of catty, witty humor which must be recieved in the
proper frame of mind. It takes everyday reality and distorts it, sometimes to
bizarre proportions. Many campy performers have always had a huge gay following.
Some of this can be tied to the different ways in which gay men and women see
the world. Groups that have been segregated from mainstream society develope
a different view of the world. Growing up gay kind of put me out of phase with
mainstream society. I looked at things as a casual outside observer would.
Since I didn't fit and the other kids locked me out of their play, I looked at
the world from an angle most never saw. They were busy living it, I was busy
studying it and taking notes. Some of camp pokes fun at heterosexual habits;
like drag and gender fuck. As I grew up I poked fun at the world around me;
mostly to keep from crying. Camp can take a serious, threatening subject and
render it harmless. Consider what Saturday Night Live, NNTN on HBO, Monty
Python and others have done with serious current events. Shortly after the
Three Mile Island incident Saturday Night Live did a parody about Two Mile
Island with Garett Morris in drag as the Black cleaning woman who's sent into
the containment vessel to mop up. He emerges as the 50 foot woman. SNL has
done a lot of campy little skits, many with actors in drag. Quite a few camp
satire comedy troups have had gay writers or members. The old Firesign Theatre,
popular during the 60's had one or two gay members, Monty Python has one or
two gay members, and of course there's one of my favorites, Lilly Tomlin. In
The Incrediblwe Shrinking Woman she made commentary about the hazards of pol-
lution as well as making it a bizarely funny topic.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in San Francisco I find some of the
funniest camp performers. A lot of people find them distasteful and vulgar.
The dictionary does after all, warn that camp can be vulgar. I just find some-
thing very funny about about a macho looking guy in beard and hairy chest
dressed in Nun's Habits or an evening gown. A South End bar recently held
their "Gender Fuck Ball" It was a hoot seeing all these masculine men waltzing
around in evening gowns, dresses, etc. Everyone had a great time. The evening
was a sort of satire on reality. Gender fuck should not be mistaken as the same
as a serious female impersonator. Gender fuck is a campy "Halloween" state of
mind. I find camp humor lots of fun since I already have a pretty bizarre pic-
ture of the world as it is. Camp knows no bounds as far as subject matter goes;
there are camp Sci-Fi, adventure, spy, murder and other genres of movies. The
important thing to remember is that camp takes a playful look at people, places
situations, things, etc. It tells the audience, "Hey! I'm gonna play with your
heads and pull some things out of context. It might seem bizarre or vulgar but
try to see the humor in it...enjoy!" Below are some things I consider camp and
not camp.
Movies, People & Things
***********************
Camp Not Camp
---- --------
Buckaroo Banzai Alien
My Little Chickadee Citizen Kane
Lilly Tomlin My Mother
Devine in Polyester Three Faces of Eve
Mae West and W.C. Fields Nancy and Ronnie
Monty Python's Life of Brian The 10 Commandments
Anything with Monty Python Anything with John Wayne
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgance Mother Teresa
Rocky Horror Picture Show Friday the 13th
Wayland Flowers and Madame Ronnie and Nancy
Saturday Night Live 20/20
Not Necessarily the News NBC Evening News
Marx Brothers Movies Bruce Lee Movies
Panama Hats and Hawaiian Shirts Helmets and Flack Jackets
Halloween Parties Political Parties
Partners Cruising - Al Pacino
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Dawn of the Living Dead
Pink Flamingos Chrome Balls and Palm Trees The MX Missle, B1 Bomber, etc
La Cage Aux Folles Dirty Harry
The Wizard of Oz The Exorcist
Billy Crystal - You Look Marvelous Black Sabbath - Paranoid
The list goes on and on! Get my drift? One point is that camp movies
tend to also become cult movies. They seem to enjoy only a brief stay at
the local shopping mall theaters, if they get there at all. Urban Art
cinemas seem to be where they run forever. I've noticed very large gay
audiences at all the cult classic, camp movies I've been to. We seem to
appreciate the absurdity more then the mainstream moviegoing public. I
might be wrong but this is what I've noticed. Well in ending, Camp and
dishing may not be for everyone, since not everyone can find the humor
in the performance, situation, place, person, etc. one must be able to
see the connection between the real serious side and it's parody. After
coming out I learned to see the silliness in all of reality; including
war. If I didn't laugh, I'de cry!
Ray