AM2407 Hanrahan blog

Monday, February 20, 2012

For this week I have chosen firstly a video of Guns’n Roses – Sweet Child o’ mine from 1987. Guns n’Roses were credited with bringing about a revival of the popularity of rock music at a time when dance music and pop dominated the music scene. They sold over 28 million copies of their debut album Appetite for Destruction and were dubbed “The most dangerous band in the world” following incidents during concerts. At one gig, Axl Rose was arrested for assaulting a security guard and at another two fans were killed in a crush during the performance. Rose was considered controversial – accused of racism and homophobia in relation to song lyrics he had written. The hard rock image of the band was thecomplete antithesis of the mainstream music of the time with its sugary pop music and dance tracks and Axl Rose’s signature headband was an image of rebellion against the pop world.

The contemporary video I have chosen is will.i.am –T.H.E (The hardest ever). I have chosen this video as I think it is representative of a lot of music of today, in particular for the requirement to
always have another artist (or in this case artists – Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger) appear on the track. This seems to be a common theme in the charts with plenty of records “featuring” someone else. One thing that doesn’t change with time is the need to have something controversial about the artist or the song in order to appeal to the youth market.
Where Guns N’Roses shocked the establishment with their behaviour,
artists like will.i.am use bad language and half naked dancers to show their
rebellion.

It is certainly true that the music that you grow up with becomes part of you and always seems to be the most authentic as it is so personal to you. It also provides a cultural identity and a sense of belonging to a specific group. It can provide an identifier for a specific era although many types of music transcend the generations. Interestingly, Guns N'Roses are touring again in America, along with many other 80's bands, some of whom have revived their music on a wave of nostalgia and others who keep on performing all the while their now middle aged fans still want to see them.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Blog for this week closed

Hulkamania and Gender in Professional Wrestling

The 1980's saw an explosion in the popularity of professional wrestling in America. Previously it had been a regional business, but in a move that could have ruined him, Vince McMahon decided to try to take his small company - WWF/WWE - national. Appearing on national television, and on networks such as MTV, wrestling was becoming an ubiquitous commodity and as a result, it was becoming an influence on American culture and it's perception of identity. In particular, wrestling became an ifluence on men's pereception of gender and how they should portray themselves as an American male. A wrestling audience is 90% male, and wrestlers are characters used to tell stories. As a result, wrestlers become aspirational figures for men. WWF's most popular wrestler at the time was Hulk Hogan, and with only a small analysis it becomes clear that Hogan had a great influence on men, and what it was to be a man.

Hogan was a tall man with huge muscles and a great handlebar moustache. As Hogan is cheered all over the country men in the 1980's are already getting an idea of what it is to be popular, and pehaps this is the way to acheive it, to look like Hogan. In almost every match Hogan would also 'hulk up', in which is would tear off his shirt, revealing his muscles and flex his muscles on the way to an unstoppable victory, something that gave men the idea that perhaps if they were a little more like Hogan, they could become seemingly superhuman - a 'hulk' almost - like him too. As well as his typically masculine traits though, Hogan also fed men the idea of expression. Hogan wore bright red and yellow colours, bandanas and was a showman that did pretty much as he pleased. The message given to men? That it was okay to be a man and express yourself in any way you like. There is no need for repression. In wrestling, Hogan was a 'face'. In other words a good guy that beats bad guys - a superhero even. Traditionally, what men do not want to be a superhero? Additionally, Hogan's entrance video and music - as seen above - tell a story of their own. As Hogan performs, flexes his muscles and beats bad guys the music proclaims 'I am a real American'. What men do not want to be a 'real' American? Hogan's influence transcending gender to national identity.

Finally, not only Hogan but all wrestlers at the time portrayed aspirational values and gender ideals to men. For example, WWF also had Andre the Giant, A hulking man who was 7 feet tall and over 500 pounds with almost unstoppable power and someone that portrayed masculine ideas of power to men. As well as that 'Macho Man' Randy Savage - clue is in the nickname - was a wild character, almost always seen with women, that portrayed values of expression and rising above repression to men. However, Hogan seemingly embodied all male aspirational qualities. Hulkamania - as it was dubbed - ran wild. In short, was there ever a man that didn't want to be a superhero cheered by millions, while flexing his muscles after body slamming a 500 pound giant? Didn't think so.

Gender Ambiguity is Music and 'Hair Metal'

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

1980's American TV & Women.

http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=genderandte

This link takes you to an article on The Museum of Broadcast Communications, an American Museum in Chicago, Illinois who's aim is 'to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content.' The article looks at changing gender roles and the representation of men and women in American television programmes ranging from the 1950's to the 1990's, but it also looks at the 1980's in detail.

The articles starts off by looking at what was suggested by the journalist; Susan Faludi, that there was an attempt by television in the 1980's to go back to earlier representations and stereotypes of women during the 1960's which was that women were 'stupid, unattractive, insecure, little household drudge who spends her martyred mindless boring days dreaming of love, and plotting nasty revenge against her husband.' This was suggested as an attempt to counter the effects and any development that was made to the role and representation of women during the 1960's and 70's.

The article also suggests that an increase in women being featured in central roles, especially in prime time television programmes, in the 70's and 80's filled an apparent void of women in central roles in theatrical films. This would suggest an improvement for women on television but also more widely, in the media, however, the article's suggestion that there was a void of women in film suggests the improvement may be less prominent in the media as a whole.

This article also talks about a cable television channel set up in the 1980's which was created for women. It originally showed re-runs of programmes from other networks but a few years into it, the channel began making tv films and television programmes with the aim to appeal to women because of central female characters as well as women being behind the camera in all sorts of roles, such as female directors. Although the channel refused to identify itself as being feminist, it said it's aim was to avoid programmes that victimised women.

I have looked at the website for the channel which is still around and it seems to still aim to show programmes that celebrate, entertain and support women. The programmes that they offer now do include some dramas and sitcoms such as Greys Anatomy, a programme which focuses on a young female doctor, but there also seems to be wider range of reality programmes, many of which focus on the woman as the wife and the mother, for example Army Wives and Dance Moms, but also some that focus on typically female jobs such as fashion designer and nanny. Although these shows celebrate women, there does not seem to be many programmes that show women as as something other than a mother or a wife, or doing jobs other than stereotypically female jobs.

Working Girl

Working Girl is a 1988 rom-com starring Melanie Griffith and every one's favourite Star Trek alum Harrison Ford. Aside from being a very satisfying romantic comedy, it is also a very useful example of the type of depiction of women in 80s films.

The lead character, Tess, is a headstrong, intelligent and go getting kind of girl - a female yuppie in in the most basic sense. She is a New York City native, but instead of being raised above the glittering lights of Manhattan, she is from Staten Island, a far more working class area. Because of her class and also her gender, she finds herself typecast as a secretary for a busy stockbroker, a role that leaves her unfulfilled. After a serious of delightful mishaps, she finds herself in a position of power, however its at the expense of another female colleague - the alien busting Sigourney Weaver. Tess enjoys her new position as an ass-kicking, take no parishioners financial executive and excels in the business world, showing that not only that her history does not matter but neither does her gender. Plus, she gets her man. Yay.

That is the simple version. However, scratch the veneer and it becomes obvious that this tale of female empowerment is in reality a little flawed.

Article one; the name of the film, Working Girl.'Working girl' is slang for a prostitute, and like 'lady of the night' is not exactly an empowering job title. I would imagine that this was done in order to inject some sex appeal in to the film, maybe to get the public's notice.

Secondly, Tess' character. Tess is street smart and tough but only gains access to the business world at the expense of another female colleague, perhaps implying that roles for woman were few and far between. Signourney Weaver's bitchy and ice cold executive character is presented as what happens when women get too much power; in other words they become calculating, using their sexuality to gain favour and get work. Of course, that's exactly what Tess does. In the beginning of the film she is accosted by a stockbroker, and outraged she refuses, but later in the film she is seen delivering what is quite possibly the most cringey line in the film 'I've got a mind for business, and a body for sin' showing that even she is not above using her feminine wiles as a way of manipulating those around her.

All in all, I think Working Girl is an excellent 80s film, and in particular a great 80s film that highlights contemporary attitudes towards women in the work place. I personally love the film, but have always found the title and the way that women are depicted in positions of power to be troubling. Men backstab and blackmail each other all the time in films, but because in this film its a woman it seems more shocking and sensational.

The Power, the Glitter, the Muscles: Movie Masculinities

The portrayal of men in 1980s cinema exiled the emotional and vulnerable male persona of the 1970s popular films. Due to the second wave feminism stage this triggered social ideas of masculinity to be thrown into flux by the 80s and this misperception was also illustrated in the media. Through various types of the media there was a contradictory idea of positive masculinity. The ‘New Man’ were vulnerable and appeared to be challenged with a loss of identity echoing the experiences of the everyday man. Contrasting with this there seemed to be the punitive man; throbbing biceps, powerful and aggressive. The epitome films of the 80s that embodied this ultra-masculine type were films such as: Rambo, The Terminator and Die Hard.

The males depicted in these action films, flocked society with pictures that were considered to have the right attributed possessed by a man. Because of the backlash to the feminisation of society, films wanted to break away from the romantic and fashion conscious representation of a somewhat feminized form of masculinity. To do this, the action films depended on the snappy catch phrases that came with the authoritative male as opposed to the lengthy monologues of 70s Woody Allen films. The most memorable quotes of the blockbuster action films were Bruce Willis’s “Yippie Kayee Motherfucker” and Schwarzenegger’s, “I’ll be back.” To counteract the somewhat dense statements from the hero’s the films depended heavily on physical action and of course the macho man that was almost “god-like”.

1980s films also stressed the hero’s relationship to other man and therefore the genre often crossed over into the “buddy” film genre. Whilst the majority of Hollywood films reinforced the relationship between hero and a love interest, the cop action film reinstated the woman with another man for a deliberation of male bonding at the face of danger. The notion of romance was practically dropped from films and masculine worries underlined. As buddy narratives, these films absorbed the relationship between two men and the exciting contrast of their often differing types of masculinity.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/features/article_1407586.php/Rambo_Terminator_Die_Hard_%E2%80%93_The_glory_days_of_the_80_s_are_back

The Cosby Show.

For this week, I chose to look at the black identity of The Cosby Show, which was an extremely popular sitcom starring Bill Cosby and aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992. I found an interesting essay with the title "White Racism and The Cosby Show" which can be found here.

The essay writes that the Cosby show obviously starred an African American family, and that it had to deal with the fact that America at this time was still befouled by racism, which made marketing this show quite difficult. The show had to represent race as a positive thing, that made the audience members feel good about themselves, allowing them to continue to tune in each week. The essay says that by the end of the first year of the show starting, it had won its admission into segregated European American's homes.

It continues to write, that the show didn't overtly tackle the issues on racism, as it would have alienated the white audience as well as being a huge commercial failure. In a way, it gave a rather positive representation of Black identity, with the family being quite well off, allowing black audiences to feel good about their racial indentity with this positive black family aired across the nation.

However as the essay suggests "For many white viewers, however, this "positive message" may fortify racism at least as much as it dilutes it. As economic conditions worsen for most blacks in the United States even more than for most whites, more prosperous Americans no doubt find it comforting to imagine the Huxtables as viable role-models for the poor." This goes back on the positive images set off as Cosby wanted when creating the television show.

Overall The Cosby Show allowed a black family into the homes of Americans across the nation, showing them the positive side of African Americans, as well as being a role model, not only for black families but white families as well. With no ulterior motive of attacking racism and the people behind it, it chose to ignore it and focus on family values rather than racial values.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Identity in baseball

Despite there being a lot of progress made in America by the 1980s, there were still problems with racism. That was certainly true in baseball, in particular with a team called the Boston Red Sox, due to the owners not wanting to sign black players.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black baseball player to play in the Major Leagues, which was the starting point for the integration of baseball, with 1960 being the year in which all teams had integrated, with the Red Sox being the last. Despite this during the early 1980s the Red Sox had very few black Americans in their team, with their 1983 team only having one black player. The team also had links to a racist group called the Elk club, who had contact with many red sox employees. In his 2002 book shutout: a story of race and baseball in Boston Howard Bryant talks about the racist culture which occupied the Red Sox at this time. One issue he focuses on is when black baseball coach Tommy Harper was fired from the Red Sox because he said in an interview that the club were taking part in racial practices such as the Elk club. On the topic of Tommy Harper Bryant writes “He had always thought of himself as a part of the game, but in truth he was an outsider, a figure foreign and distant to the men who have always run Major League Baseball.” This quote shows that because of the racial problems in Boston at the time, employees of the club, as well as fans would not have felt part of their baseball team, due to the racist nature of the club.

At the time this was a big issue, as the Red Sox were bringing down the reputation of not only the club, but baseball in general, during a decade in which there had been much change and progress made regarding equality.

The legacy of this situation is interesting as since the late 1990s under new ownership, the club has completely changed its image in regards equality with Tommy Harper being re-hired as a coach in 2000. However what I found interesting is Tom Yawkey, who was owner of the club from the 1933-1976 and was the reason why Boston did not hire black players, was inducted to the baseball hall of fame and is still a member, which seems strange considering that, although he was part of baseball for most of his life, his contribution and effect he had on his club and the sport as a whole was extremely negative.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-rlBYGzsdXoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

'Diff'rent Strokes'

http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/diffrent.htm

The link above is to a website called Television Heaven and specifically deals with American television. The section I read was about the sitcom 'Diff'rent Strokes', the series starred Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson as two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white park avenue businessman, Phillip Drummond(Conrad Bain) and his daughter Kimberly(Dana Plato). The boys mother previously worked for Drummond as his housekeeper and he had made a promise to her that he would take care of the boys after she passed on, as the boys father had died years earlier. The sitcom became a top- twenty five series for NBC and the network's first sitcom hit since 'Sanford & Son' and 'Chico and the man'.

I chose to look at this sitcom because it was a popular American series of the 1980's and dealt with major issues of the time, such as drugs, alcohol and race. The most obvious issue the sitcom dealt with was of course race, with two young African American boys living with a rich white businessman. With the website stating that "Each episode had the usual sitcom moral and got its laughs from the racial and economic differences between the Drummonds and the Jacksons.". You can clearly see this when you watch an episode, how it shows the characters interacting and learning to live with each others different lifestyles and backgrounds, including different accents and way of talking, a lot of the time using this for laughs. However, this isn't meant in a hurtful way, as the article states, "'Diff'rent Strokes' was never mean or nasty.", it simply was representing the differences of people and the different ways people live their lives. But the sitcom dealt with a lot of heavy issues at the time and was known for it's "very special episodes", whereby the characters, usually Arnold, would be put in the middle of something bad. One example being, one episode featuring a lecture on the dangers of drugs.

This sitcom is a good example of an identity issue, that being race. As I have explained the characters story, it was unusual to see that family break down, with a family dealing with the difference of race, as well as economic background. With the two boys coming from a low income background, with their mum working as a housekeeper and then they are adopted by a rich white guy, which their mum used to work for. And to look at a picture at the time of the family it would look maybe strange and an unconventional family, the stories involved in the sitcom helped bridge this oddity. Further more, I think some of the story lines and issues are still relevant today, but what I think is most poignant about it today is the economic differences. With money, wealth and status being so important in todays lifestyle.

Black Comedy

A black sitcom is an American term meaning a sitcom that features a primarily black cast or an African-American in the lead role. Although sitcoms with primarily black casts had been present since the earliest days of network television this genre rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s.

The favorite programmes of television audiences tend to reflect their different ethnic origins/affinities. The exposure of the black community on US TV has been greater than that of other minorities but continues to reflect racial divisions within American society. A series of popular black sitcoms appeared in the 1970s, including That's My Mama, Good Times, Sanford and Son, What's Happening?, and The Jeffersons. In the 1980s sitcoms such as The Cosby Show, A Different World and Frank's Place, challenged stereotypical portrayals of blacks but were nevertheless seen as "black" (segregated) despite appearances by white actors.

http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=cosbyshowt

The Cosby Show, one of the biggest surprise hits in American television history, dominated Thursday evenings from 1984 to 1992. Focusing on the everyday adventures of an upper-middle-class black family, the series revived a television genre, which saved a struggling network (NBC), and sparked controversy about race and class in America. I have to admit I have never watched The Cosby Show as I was a bit too young for it but even after 20 years I am still fully aware of the popularity of the show.

However the show did not go on without criticism "One audience study suggests that the show "strikes a deal" with white viewers, that it absolves them of responsibility for racial inequality in the United States in exchange for inviting the Huxtables into their living room". "Meanwhile, the same study found that black viewers tend to embrace the show for its positive portrayals of blackness, but express misgivings about the Huxtables' failure to regularly interact with less affluent blacks". These quotes show that there were still tensions between different races and it is also worth noting that the Cosby Show is based on an upper-middle-class family and is completely disregarding poor black Americans.

However in 1992 when The Cosby Show ended the popularity of black sitcoms started to fizzle out as new sitcoms such as Friends came to light which had a predominately white cast. The only black sitcom that I can personally remember is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air which began in 1990.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Third Wave Feminism

http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/fem.htm

Third Wave Feminism began in the 1980s, and is something that continues to progress today. It is arguably, feminism revived or modernised and brought up to date to make relevancy in today's world. Not that feminism was ever irrelevant, it is just something that needs to become modernised and updated like many social issues. In basic terms gender was a biological and psychological difference, but it is no longer that straightforward. In modern day, Feminism must account for modern relationships, along with representational politics and the role of women in the home and in the workplace.

The role of the woman has changed dramatically over the past century, this has much to do with social and political events, beginning with the right to vote and how the role of the woman was greatly altered by demand during WW1 when women were needed to strengthen the workforce. During the 1950s things arguably went backwards, the role of the woman, and predominantly the stay at home mother or the housewife was hugely common and also a sign of wealth, that the husband earned enough money to support his family. Social norms and expectations have changed and modernised throughout the past century, but they have also gone in cycles and play to what is the popular ideology of the day.

The 1980s saw the turning of the modern world and the realities we know today. More families cannot afford to have one parent at home, women in the workplace has grown to a normality and despite an obvious pay gap, even today, women are becoming more professional and more powerful at work. There has also been an increase of single mothers or one parent families. Mothers who are on their own, particularly in America, have no choice but to work to keep their children. We have watched the role of women changed dramatically through necessity in the past 30 years. Third Wave Feminism is therefore the modernising of a social, identity issue, and a necessary change in looking at Feminism and the roles and expectations of women.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Blank

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27742160.pdf

I decided to read an article using the Jstor Libraries that deals with James Annesley's 'Blank Fiction'. The article is written by Maria T Pao and she sees blank fiction (according to Annesley) as having

'a set of dominant characteristics present in certain contem porary American novels. Drawing from narratives by authors

such as Dennis Cooper, Douglas Coupland, Bret Easton Ellis and Evelyn Lau, Annesley describes their protagonists' preoccupation with violence, sex, drug use, and popular culture,
mediums, and styles. These novels, set in the urban environments of New York City or Los Angeles, depict characters whose
rejection both of the traditional constraints of job and family
and of political or social ideals dovetails with a sense of living at
a remove from reality, produced in part by the ubiquitous presence of television, film, and video. The characters that emerge from these conditions exude an air of indifference, ennui, indo
lence, and indulgence. They project a splintered, nihilistic view of the world as they increasingly withdraw from society and reality.'

the blank fiction of this era has been questioned for its use of such extreme themes and examples of explicit acts, yet Annesley argues that

'these novels present violence as "a reflection on the relationships that connect violence, commodification and the body"

and may be seen as a

"metaphor for the deadening impact of commercialisation in the late twentieth century"'

the article continues to compare blank fiction with that of world literature that holds in the same characteristics, its claims that the American style of Writing has crossed the atlantic to such shores as Great Britain and Spain in more recent years.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Blank fiction

According to the book American Consumer Culture and it's Society: From F Scott Fitzgerald's 1920s Modernism to Bret Easton Ellis' 1980's Blank Fiction. By Johannes Malkmes, the term ‘blank fiction’ along with other terms such as ‘the blank generation’ is used to describe the style of writing by a group of writers during the 1980’s which included the author of our set novel; Bret Easton Ellis. Their style focuses on the consumer society in America at the time, a time of MTV, the yuppie and where greed is good.

Malkmes states that the content of blank fiction texts ‘must be interpreted as reflection and metaphors of the material consumer culture of the late 20th century American society.’ The writers dealt with all aspects of urban life at the time, crime, drugs, sexual excess, media overload, consumer culture and it's madness, inner-city decay and fashion crazed night-life. All of these aspects are present in Easton Ellis' novel Less Than Zero, including sexual excess, drugs and media overload.

Malkmes' book helps us to understand the representation of the 1980's as a society of excess of drug use, sex, media consumption and fashionable night-life in Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero as a reflection of consumer society in America and what was going on at the time.

Blank Fiction

As with other people in the group I also found 'Blank Fiction' as a term very hard to define, there seems to be no clear definition aside from how Blank Fiction is a term that describes the writing of a generation of contempory US writers whose influence started in the 1980's.

Unfortunately I couldn't seem to find anything new to what had already been located by other students so I also looked at a book called Blank Fictions: Consumerism, Culture and the Contemporary American Novel by James Annesley. The writers of Blank Fiction tend to value superficiality over complexity, mass culture over high culture and youth over experience. James Annesley assess a wide range of recent American writing and identifies their principle unifying characterisitcs.

Overall, Blank Fiction, as the title suggests seems to be blank in how there is no clear definition. Unlike other genre's Blank Fiction is one that is hard to put your finger on.

Disappear Here

I will admit now, I found this week's subject quite challenging.
Luckily, I am rather familiar with Less Than Zero, I read it in the summer of 2009, finished it in a few days and I've read it maybe four or five times since then. I'm also a huge fan of Bret Easton Ellis, I've read all of his books, and a I'm a fan of 'blank fiction' as my blog last week on Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City will show. So, instead of focus sing on the style of writing, I'm going to instead talk about the book's cultural significance, and the role it had in creating an image of what it was like to be a rich kid in 80s America.

Less Than Zero is a novel primarily about the effects of wealth.
Every one of Bret Easton Ellis' books is concerned with wealth, its effects and the ability it has to change people. Clay, the lead character, has a father working in Century City, a huge mansion, a fast car, and access to all the drugs, booze and fun a college aged boy could want. He attends Camden College, a liberal arts school on the East coast (that would later be explored through Ellis' second book, Rules of Attraction) but feels lost, apathetic, lonely. Returning home for Christmas vacation, Clay really see's what his friends, loved ones and family are like, and he in turn becomes more withdrawn, and feels more and more alienated from his home. Hauntingly, one solitary figure seems to understand him; a lonely poster, a billboard, reading 'DISAPPEAR HERE'.

Now, the billboard is in many ways more famous than Clay. It is of the most oddly moving, troubling and memorable passages of the book deals, totally unsettling and a total mystery - we are never told where this billboard is from, or what it advertises, or even its purpose, but it does perfectly sum up 'blank fiction' and Ellis' literary style.

Dismissed by many as being a writer who writes about nothing, Ellis, while popular in the 80s, did not achieve world wide critical acclaim/infamy until 1991's American Psycho. For me, his real talent lies in his ability to depict boredom and apathy in a heavy, very atmospheric sense. When reading Less Than Zero there is a distinctly empty feeling that grows and grows until the climactic scene with Clay, Julian and Julian's client.

While perhaps critics and other authors are not so kind to Ellis as I am, there is a sense that his cultural impact and lasting importance is still felt through the works of younger, equally nihilistic and empty authors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/feb/11/easton-ellis-generation

Blank Fiction.

This week, was pretty hard to find anything that defines Blank fiction, but in the end I went to Google books and looked at a book called Blank Fiction: Consumerism, Culture And The Contemporary American Novel by James Annesley. (Here).

It defines Blank Fiction as a novel that focuses on the experiences of the American youth, with an urban setting, and with themes of the relationship between the individual and the consumer culture. These novels do not have long overly complex plots, but rather go for a "loose" approach. It says in the book " They prefer blank, atonal perspectives and fragile, glassy visions."

A feature that defines Blank Fiction is that the characters and even the writers/readers of the texts are "slackers, whose indifference is reflected in the atomised, nihilistic worldview articulated in these texts." The book ties in these views of the world and the generation with the post-modern culture that was appearing throughout the 80s. Blank Fiction can be seen as a product of the post-modern culture, with the twists and turns in the novels representing the material structures of the 20th century.

Many of the novels mentioned in the book such as Less Than Zero, American Psycho, Bright Lights Big City and more each deal with themes of of the excess. Dealing with the glamorous life of cocaine, Wall Street, exotic eateries and major label suits. These narratives go hand in hand with the social, cultural and political dynamics of the 80s.

Overall Blank Fiction seems to be a direct commentary on the times that they were written, in this case the 80s. It deals with the how we, as a person, react to the consumer culture that surrounds us everyday.

Decade of Drug Use - The 80's

http://www.gallup.com/poll/6352/decades-drug-use-80s-90s.aspx

At first I thought this week was going to be a huge challenge as I had never even heard of "Blank Fiction". When typing into this phrase into google i quickly realised that there is not a concrete definition. I found the following definition on the U.S. Literature website that I think best describes "Blank Fiction".

"Blank fiction is a term that describes the writing of a generation of contemporary US writers whose influence started in the 1980 and is still alive at present in the voice of authors like Dennis Cooper, Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk. Through a flat, affectless, atonal prose and non-committed narrative voices, these writers deal with contemporary urban life, violence, sex, drugs and consumerism."

The link above is to an article written by Jennifer Robison of Gallup website which is a website of current issues and news. The title of the article is "Decades of Drug Use: The 80's and 90's. The article is about public opinion polls on illegal drug use. The article begins with a story of young basketball player who was drafted by the NBA and sadly died of a cocaine overdose.

The article continues by saying by the mid-80s, the introduction of crack cocaine turned youth drug use into a truly terrifying issue. Crack was cheap, plentiful and hideously addictive. Its effects including gang warfare and crack babies were quickly becoming common. A 1986 Gallup poll asked Americans, "Which one of the following do you think is the MOST serious problem for society today: Marijuana, alcohol abuse, heroin, crack, other forms of cocaine or other drugs?" At 42%, "crack" and "other forms of cocaine" beat "alcohol abuse" by eight percentage points even though there are far more alcoholics than crack addicts. Bret Easton Ellis managed to pinpoint all that was wrong with the over privileged youth of Los Angeles and channel it into the form of Clay, Blair, Julian and the rest of the characters in "Less Than Zero". This shows that the continuing partying and drug taking were constant in young adolescents lives.

The article then explains how the went about tackling the problems of drug use such as programs, refusal strategies and emotional coping skills. These skills became apparent in classrooms of schools.

Bret Easton Ellis personifies the problems of the 80's such as sex, drugs and violence and by in large many of these issues still carry on today even though these problems emerged thirty years earlier.

Blank Fiction: paying homage to a consumer culture

Brett Easton Ellis introduces us to Clay and his journey through a non-stop montage of monotonous partying, sex, drugs and drinking and his descent into decadence. Clay and his friends pay homage to a consumer culture confine them whilst instantaneously selling them notions of escape. Ellis’s thoroughly descriptive writing is a crucial key in Less Than Zero, as Clay describes his ability to work relentlessly, overtime, forever recognising every little detail, down to the fashion labels of a character’s clothing, until these semantics cease to sustain any real value to the reader. Clay is not unique amongst his friends, as they also appear obsessed with status and perception; lazy, rich, bored, self-interested to the point of obliviousness. Their self-involving personalities along with the precise detail, reach a point where a scene description of a welcome home party, to the seemingly never ending bed-hopping, is no different to the reader and our protagonist, than a snuff film, or a heroin addiction or sex trafficking. The nihilistic nature of Clay’s persona lacks any kind of moral compass or ethical values; frequently reminding the reader to question the direction of the next generation is headed.

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Having enjoyed the book immensely, I came across a paper submitted from a female student entitled, From theory to practice: blank fiction, ethics and hybridism in Palahniuk’s Stranger than Fiction and Invisible Monsters. She highlights the representation of Blank Fiction shifting away from post-war obsession with obscure plots and political affairs. She brings other authors into the equation, stating that writers like James Annesley and Brett Easton Ellis seems to value shallowness over complexity and youth over experience. She considers Annesley’s extensive range of new American writing and identifies their main combining characteristics. Of course, Annesley show the challenging side to blank writing to be linked to the domineering economic strengths of modern capitalism. She discusses Ellis’s, Less Than Zero and his other popular book, American Psycho, stating that violence is equated with power, cosmetic surgery and brand labels become identity.

The topics discussed both by the student and in Less Than Zero provide a reflection on the frightening aspects of life in consumer culture and the way it’s accounted for by the characters mirror a continuous deterioration. There is a dark under-belly to Less Than Zero and there is no doubt in my mind, that the attitude of the world described became increasingly like the one we live in today which appears bleak at best.