From: Fred Davidson (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Mar 26 2009 - 08:49:33 PDT
History remembers Barbara Rubin's, only famous, and to my
knowledge, only critically acclaimed, film, as CHRISTMAS ON EARTH.
Rubin died of postnatal infection in France at the age of thirty-five
in 1980 2 Jack not in 1968 or 1969 as you had formally thought.
However, as many of you know, that film originally had quite a
different title. Originally it was called COCKS AND CUNTS. No shit. I
shit you not.
Though I think it is time for us to collectively move beyond
Freud, and anyone, notwithstanding Ernie Gehr, who has ever seen
Hollis Frampton's Zorn's Lemma is sure to agree with me, 3 let's not
forget what Freud said. Freud said that man is the only animal that is
not offended by the smell of his own shit. I think that is what he
said. It was something like that. Are there any Freudian scholars out
there in this limited audience of about seven-hundred that know? Do a
fella a favor and correct me if I'm wrong. Please. Anyway, it went all
the way from COCKS AND CUNTS to CHRISTMAS ON EARTH in one fell swoop.
I was wondering if my fellow frameworkers would like to cast their
vote for which title they like best. I cast mine unequivocally for
COCKS AND CUNTS, as this title is the title that the artist, Barbara
Rubin, originally intended. 4
Although I admit I have never actually seen the film, and
probably never will, furthermore, notwithstanding the basic tenet that
I hold dear that says it is impossible to discuss a film that one has
never seen, from the description of the work I've heard, while
CHRISTMAS ON EARTH may be the more saleable title and thus appeals to
large audiences, I would argue that the original title COCKS AND CUNTS
better describes the film and is therefore the more fitting. What is
your opinion? Vote your mind! Vote your conscious! But whatever you
do. Please. Vote! If I can provide the necessary documents that show
that we have an unanimous consensus then maybe I can take this to the
Library of Congress or the National Film Board of Canada or whoever it
is, Ms. Kate D. Levin perhaps at the mayors office?, that is in charge
of such things and make the change official.
Fred (Stamper! Stamper! it rhymes with... with... ???. That's right!
Right you are! You got it! You got it 'cause round things are boring.
O.K. "All together now, one, two, three. Keep your mind on your
drivin'..." 5 ) Davidson
Boca Raton
1 NEVER GIVE AN INCH, prod. John Foreman, Frank Caffey, Paul Newman,
dir. Paul Newman, 1971, 35mm, 113 min.
2 Daniel Belasco, "Barbara Rubin: The Vanished Prodigy", Art Signal
Contemporary Art Magazine, http://magazine.art-signal.com/en/barbara-rubin-the-vanished-prodigy/
(accessed March 18, 2009)
3 Various Authors, "Zorns Lemma (film)", Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorns_Lemma_(film)
(accessed March 18, 2009)
4 Ms. Holly Smith, "Comments written by registered user
purplehayes76", The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), http://www.imdb.com/user/ur1945140/comments
(accessed March 18, 2009)
5 "Dee doody doom doom, dee doody doom doom, dee doody doom doom,
DOOM."
P.S. Jay and/or Joel over there on Bush St. west of Van Ness, And who
else? Who else? There is one more name not accounted for. You have
twelve names: Paul America, Susan Bottomly, Ann Buchanan, Freddy
Herko, Jane Holzer, Dennis Hopper, Billy Name, Nico, Richard Rheem,
Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar and ... and who is the last
one? Would it be Barbara Rubin by any strange twist of fate?
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