A Mardi Gras Documentary (sort of)

The other day I watched Mardi Gras: Made In China. I knew it wouldn’t be a feel-good Carnival movie, as it’s about a Chinese bead factory. But I didn’t think I’d dislike it as much as I did, or that it would make me feel defensive about Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

I will start by saying that I used to have the Bourbon Street image of Mardi Gras, and that is why it didn’t interest me in the least. I ended up visiting on Mardi Gras one year by accident (really) and that is when I discovered that there are lots wonderful and creative aspects of the holiday. Walk down Royal Street instead, just one street towards the river, and you see tons of people in great costumes…I was going to say instead of the drunk throngs, but I should amend that to say drunk throngs of a different kind. A more fun kind, if you asked me.

Carnival is a time when everyone celebrates together. It’s a family thing, a partying thing, an open house thing, a meet-your-neighbors thing. I know some people just look to Mardi Gras as a time to get drunk and flash or be flashed, but for me, it’s so much more.

And while I sympathize with the issue of worker exploitation and hate the terrible reality of a Chinese factory worker making one cent for every twelve necklaces she makes, I felt the filmmaker went wrong with the narrow focus of the film. It really touches on so many complex issues like globalization and different economic systems and tries to make it all simplistic. And in doing so, I think he also does a disservice to the culture of carnival in New Orleans.

And, I mean, I do agree that beads and throws can be a bit silly. They are just cheap, plastic things. But I’ll confess that I forget myself when I’m at parades and I get into the thrill of it all. Heck, last year I almost climbed over a police barricade to get one of those giant toothbrushes. It’s fun, for goodness sake. And I defend fun with all my heart.

One thing struck me about the restrictive factory life, which is really life inside a factory compound for the people who work there. I had a thought that, in a way, Mardi Gras is part of what is right with our lives and what everyone deserves. Everyone deserves leisure time. Everyone deserves freedom of behavior and expression. You can denigrate Mardi Gras, and goodness knows there are elements begging for denigration, but there are elements that are just about the best things in life as well.

And so I will say with equal vigor, “Workers of the world unite!” and “Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!”

After Dark Magazine: not for the children

Racy times.

Check out the tan lines!

Mr. USA, your phone cord is all tangled up in your jean sh…oh, never mind.

After Dark Magazine: Men in Fur

No words are needed; I think the sheer volume speaks for itself.

 

After Dark Magazine: Crazy 70s

Don’t ask me. I merely bring these to you in the interest of sociology and history or whatever.

After Dark Magazine: Grace Jones

Grace Jones gets her own post. Oh yes.

The article talks about her singing the song I Need A Man, so here’s a TV performance version.

After Dark Magazine: Ads

Oh, the 70s, you were so weird and wild and stupid and free.

Sometimes you were kind of gross, too, but I forgive you.

After Dark Magazine: Fashion

Oh, the 70s, I love you. For all the jumpsuits and shiny faces and disco dresses and heavy blusher, I love you! For all the things that I thought were cool but I was too young to wear, I love you!

This song came out in 1980 but it’s what I hear when I look at these photos. Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion!

After Dark Magazine: Covers

At an estate sale years ago, I bought a small stack of After Dark magazines from the 1970s. The cover states it is “The National Magazine of Entertainment.” It’s pretty clear the intended audience was the swingin’-ist, clubin’-ist, pop-culture-lovin’-ist gay and straight people of the time. I’m glad I don’t remember if I bought all of them at that sale, because if I knew I had left any, I’d have to deal with the regret now.

I am declaring this my After Dark Week, with a new post every day. To get started, here are some cover scans:

An Art documentary and New Orleans preservation

I wanted to write about some movies that were about art and artists. This morning, I finished watching The Art of the Steal.

It “traces the history of the Barnes collection of Post-Impressionist paintings, which was worth billions and became the subject of a power struggle after the 1951 death of the owner. Dr. Albert Barnes collected 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos and many other valuable paintings. But the political wrangling over the collection eventually led to its division.”

Dr. Barnes meant for his collection to be used for education, and he had a non-museum-like way of displaying the work. Instead of dividing it up by country of origin, or by style, he hung things mixed together as a way of signifying the universality the human experience. So carved wooden African heads are next to Renoir paintings are next to Chinese furniture. It’s a pretty beautiful idea, and I never thought about the way museums are organized in an opposite way and what that might mean.

The political maneuverings related to the art collection are sad, and make me think about money and art in general. I’m not one of those people who think art should be pure of money, because artists need to make a living! But politics and money and art, that’s a difficult combination. And I hate the way politicians and foundations and corporations can exploit things without valuing anything except money.

We hurt ourselves and our society when we can only see the bottom line. The Barnes collection was so much more than the sum of the work. It had a whole philosophy and belief system behind it. It had uniqueness and individuality.

The movie got me thinking about what is happening in mid-city here in New Orleans, which I’ve been following on a blog called Inside the Footprint. There is a large swath of land being cleared for what is supposed to be a giant hospital complex. This project is not yet fully funded, and despite promises of preservation, both historic buildings and large oak trees have been destroyed at breakneck speed. If it’s already done, there isn’t much anyone can do to stop it, after all.

But the fabric of our neighborhoods is one of the things that make this city so special and so different. One little shotgun house or another granite curb might be a dime a dozen now, but it is this pervasiveness of historic elements that contribute to making our city worth living in and worth visiting. If you chip away at that historic specialness with grand ideas for brand-new developments, what do you have in 10 years or 20 years or 80 years? A bunch of crappy, used-to-be-new buildings surrounding the French Quarter? Count me out of that scene. I want people to see the bigger picture, to value things above money, to value ideas and differences. I want everyone to act right in an art and culture-loving utopia! Is that too much to ask?

ETA: I was wrong about no houses being moved. Some have, but not many and not enough.

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

This is one of my favorite books from childhood. My version was published in 1968, and I remember staring at the illustrations forever. I still adore them.