To: THE ANT who wrote (54303 ) 8/31/2009 12:42:37 PM From: elmatador Read Replies (1) | Respond to Elroy approach is kitsch. Elmat approach is camp. Here the explanation of both: Kitsch, the German word for 'trash', was originally applied in the late 19th century to the then-new commercial art for a mass audience, as opposed to 'high art' and 'folk art'. Since then, many of us have reluctantly had to admit that not all mass commercial art is necessarily trash. And besides, the meaning of kitsch has moved on; it now clearly refers to a particular kind of worthless art, and not worthless art in general. So we need a finer-grained definition. I borrow and simplify mine from someone called Dahlhaus [add citation later]. Kitsch, by this definition, is art which aims to evoke some particular emotion, or communicate some message, but doesn't have the resources to do it. It aims high, but its means are too crude and transparent and vulgar. Perhaps the most obvious examples of kitsch are the movies of Ed Wood, which aimed to be thoughtful sci-fi pieces, but were made carelessly on the cheap by a man with no talent. Other examples of kitsch include Forrest Gump, The Matrix, Britpop, certain performances of Liszt, and numerous bad film scores (recent shocking examples include A History of Violence, Crash and Capote). Needless to say, kitsch is always bad. plover.net
