The Moon Garden Lounge

[Deleted]

Welcome to the Moon Garden and Adamtopia, minnie. I really appreciate coming here and finding your post. 

Not to drive anyone way with a poem, just can't resist sharing this one after reading today's thread. Scroll if not interested. 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

-- John Donne

[Deleted]

Son of the Sheik


The news about Adam’s photo shoot, coupled with the lingering thrill of his Ali Baba costume at the Life Ball, put me in mind of how Adam is heir to a tradition of androgynous male superstars that dates back to the beginning of mass entertainment.



The first male superstar was Rudolph Valentino, and it was “The Sheik” in 1921 that caused legions of female moviegoers to faint with his guyliner, sculpted eyebrows, Arab robes, and FYE-style sado-masochism. After he rose to fame, Valentino also posed in the notorious faun costume made famous by the avant-garde ballet dancer, Nijinsky, and was married to not one but two women who were themselves androgynous and rumored to be lesbians.


Valentino was also derided widely in the mainstream press as too smooth and seductive to be, in the words of the time, a “real man.” This culminated in a vicious editorial in the pages of the Chicago Tribune in 1926 entitled “Pink Powder Puffs.” The editorial said that powder for men was on sale at a new dance hall in the city, and suggested that “Rudy, the beautiful gardener’s boy,” be “quietly drowned.”


Valentino was so enraged by the editorial that he challenged the editorial writer to a boxing match (the writer never revealed his identity). Valentino died suddenly later that year at age 31 from a perforated ulcer, reportedly asking on his death bed, “Doctor, am I a pink puff?”

In the 50s, two different stars laid claim to Valentino’s legacy (remember, “the sheik” had been dead only about as long then as say, Kurt Cobain today). Those stars were Elvis Presley and Liberace. Elvis and Liberace had a friendly rivalry as the kings of show business, and even copied each other’s stage costumes. Elvis was fascinated by Valentino and his image and wore eye shadow and makeup for a look that was highly recognizable for people who had been around for Valentino’s heyday.



Elvis also incurred (and still incurs) the same scorn as Valentino from the male establishment. Many know the story of how Elvis was denied membership in the Grand Old Opry, but few remember famed country guitarist Chet Atkins’ remark that looking at Elvis was “like seeing a couple of guys kissin’ in Key West.”


Elvis left a much more lasting legacy than Valentino did, including lighting the spark that led to the explosion of theatrical rock that has so influenced Adam. That kind of rock died out in the 1980s and Adam faces much of the same scorn from the male establishment (including the gay male establishment) as Valentino and Elvis endured.



Adam is like Elvis and Valentino in his unwillingness to keep himself within bounds – his unwillingness to make music that promises nothing. Like them he burns with carnal energy, freedom and excitement, fun and unexpected bursts of feeling. But Valentino internalized the resentment directed against him, and Elvis put on his own slave bracelets … among the other things they embody is ruin and disaster.


It is interesting to see Adam embraced by the Presley estate to be part of this photo project. One of the things that has always drawn me to Adam is the chance for a “do over” – a chance to rewrite this story with a happy ending.

[Holst]

Juniemoon, what a fabulous essay. You are a wealth of knowledge. I had no idea about Valentino being scorned (or Elvis, as we discussed). Now I'm not as fond of Chet Atkins as I was--still a great guitarist, though.

[glamtealady]

Thanks for the essay I learn so much here at ATOP. Love you writing.

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Holst -- I was mad at Chet Atkins after I found that quote too. Then I realized ... who was the OTHER guy he envisioned in the "two guys kissin' in Key West" anyway? I think ol' Chet was pretty (unintentionally) self-revealing!

Seriously, I think the straight guys who freak out over the androgynous men are the ones who can't admit they feel some attraction to them, even if it wouldn't ever lead to anything physical.

Thanks, glamtealady! I appreciate your being so nice!

[HoppersSkippersMiners]

Wonderful essay junie!

[Deleted]

Thank you hoppers!

[Deleted]

I decided I would pose this question here, rather on main page.

I thought I liked "Blurred Lines" ( sound), then read lyrics, then thought I didn't like.

Then I thought, but I love FYE, sound and lyrics. Am I a hypocrite?

[Deleted]

I find them similar except for the rap part, which is very ugly. 

[Deleted]

Yay! a response . TY!

Would you say you liked FYE and "Blurred Lines " minus rap?

I am interested when I think Ithink one way and then . . . I'm not so sure. I am thinking aloud, interested in what others think.

I like FYEs lyrics. They don't offend me. The other song's lyrics do rankle me, though, and I can't quite seem to put my finger on why. Certainly the rap lyrics are more graphic, violent ("tear"). But, I ask myself, how far is that really from "hurt you real good"?

I'd be interested if someone who likes FYE lyrics and not "Blurred Lines" lyrics shared how they see them as "thematically" different.

(I know, though, they are just pop songs - it is interesting to me, but maybe not to too many others.)