From: David Tetzlaff (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Mar 27 2009 - 08:30:00 PDT
Chuck snipped:
> On Mar 27, 2009, at 12:39 AM, David Tetzlaff wrote:
>> partaking in the intentional fallacy may be SOP for experimental
>> film enthusiasts, but films always speak for themselves outside of
>> their maker(s) intent.
> snip
>> Jsck Smith did not intend Flaming Creatures to be shocking. he just
>> wanted to celebrate glamor in his own way.
>
I'm guessing Chuck posted this w/o comment as evidence I was engaging
in the same intentional fallacy i decried. To clarify, I meant the
opposite. We have a good idea what _Jack Smith's_ intent was since he
voiced it rather passionately. However, the evidence of the text and
its reception strongly indicate that it speaks things Smith did not
intend, at least not consciously. FWIW, I don't think artists' intent
should be banned from the discussion, just not fetishized as 'what
the film REALYY means.' For example, I think appreciation of Jack
Smith is greatly enhanced by being aware of what he wanted his work
to do and be, and placing that up against all the other wild stuff
crawling around in there.
Fred D. wrote:
> Yes I do need to see it David. Perhaps I do not have a legitimate
> right to comment on it.
Again to clarify, I wasn't trying to police the commentary. My line
about preservation being more worthy than messing with the name came
off too snooty. I'm sorry. I was glad to read in Andrew Lampert's
post that the film has been preserved. I didn't actually take your
apparently light-hearted campaign as a comment on the film itself,
but as a comment on the continuing social stigmas about sexuality and
an attempt to retrieve some good-natured sixties rebelliousness. Cool
wit dat. Can we have another column in the tally for the
acceptability of "Christmas on Earth, formerly Cocks and Cunts" as an
alternate billing, if not actual title. [Here I'm thinking of the
Stooges track: "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (originally titled
Hard To Beat)"]
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.