SETTING UP CAMP: IDENTIFYING CAMP THROUGH THEME AND STRUCTURE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Michael T. Schuyler January, 2011 Examining Committee Members: Cornelius B. Pratt, Advisory Chair, Strategic Communication John A. Lent, Broadcasting, Telecommunications & Mass Media Paul Swann, Film & Media Arts Roberta Sloan, External Member, Theater i © Copyright 2010 by Michael T. Schuyler All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT Camp scholarship remains vague. While academics don’t shy away from writing about this form, most exemplify it more than define it. Some even refuse to define it altogether, arguing that any such attempt causes more problems than it solves. So, I ask the question, can we define camp via its structure, theme and character types? After all, we can do so for most other genres, such as the slasher film, the situation comedy or even the country song; therefore, if camp relies upon identifiable character types and proliferates the same theme repeatedly, then, it exists as a narrative system. In exploring this, I find that, as a narrative system, though, camp doesn’t add to the dominant discursive system. Rather, it exists in opposition to it, for camp disseminates the theme that those outside of heteronormativity and acceptability triumph not in spite of but because of what makes them “different,” “othered” or “marginalized.” Camp takes many forms. So, to demonstrate its reliance upon a certain structure, stock character types and a specific theme, I look at the overlaps between seemingly disperate examples of this phenomenon. These include a documentary film (Grey Gardens), a one-woman show (Elaine Stritch: At Liberty), a pop concert (Cher: The Farewell Tour), a diva (Vanessa Williams), a horror film (Carrie), a biopic (Ed Wood), an episodic television procedural (Charlie’s Angels), and a serialized television dramedy (Desperate Housewives). Then, I take what I find in those chapters and apply it to a non- canonical camp text when I look at theatrical and novelistic depictions of a sport: baseball. This reading suggests that baseball can actually serve as a form of camp. iii Throughout, by employing structural analysis, queer theory and postmodernism, I uncover camp’s mythological potential. In addition to demonstrating something which no critic has done previously, namely, that we can, indeed, identify camp via structure, character and – particularly – theme, this investigation results in several other discoveries. For instance, it reveals that most academics incorrectly label or dismiss camp as a “gay-only” discipline. As becomes evident here, its theme has built into it widespread appeal, as opposed to appeal solely the domain of gay males. Also, it demonstrates camp’s continued relevance and vitality. Some scholarship in the last two decades or so has proclaimed camp dead, dying or insignificant. By showing our continued need for this form, by using up-to-the-minute examples and by illustrating that critics often wholly misunderstand and misidentify this phenomenon, this dissertation challenges those assertions head-on. History demonstrates a longstanding tradition of and a continued need for people to camp. Yet, the scholarship surrounding this form limits, dismisses or misidentifies it, its audience, its relevance, its appeal, its history, its power, and so forth. By asking if we can identify a timeless and necessary theme, one illustrated via character and structure, and in finding that we can, I hope to lay these problems and misconceptions to rest once and for all. In the end, camp exists. And, it exists as a narrative system – as a genre, if you will. Sometimes, genres exist cyclically, lying dormant for a period, only to reemerge, refreshed and once-again popular, at a later time. (We’ve seen this in cinematic westerns or Broadway musicals, for example.) So, genres seemingly never die. This addition to scholarship on camp, then, demonstrates that the myth-producing system investigated here has an identity, a purpose, a history, a relevance, a widespread iv audience, a great deal of both power and potential, and a likelihood that it will always exist, And, since, as I find, camp again and again offers the theme that others regularly find success due to their alterity (as opposed to in spite of it), these findings make sense, for the form serves its own function. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without Cornelius Pratt, this never would’ve happened. He fought for me like a mama bear protecting her cubs. John Lent and Paul Swann made me want to write for them. They provided inspiration and embarrassed me with their generosity. Roberta Sloan stepped in at the last minute and saved the day. She has become my academic knight-in-shining armor. Steve Kluger embraced his inclusion in this work, which means the world to me, considering how much his books have moved this reader. Janet Ng Dudley, Tim Gray, Eugene Richie, and Ruth Johnston urged me to go to graduate school and ensured my acceptance. Over the years, many teachers inspired me: my high school English teacher, Teresa Iacovetti; my undergrad role models, Evelyn Barish, Richard Currie and Dave Falk; my grad school guru, Charles Persky. At every turn, Chiaoning Su, Alina Hogea and Angela Carter kept in constant contact, cheering me on like my own Laker Girls. Satarupa Dasgupta, Michelle Amazeen, Tina Peterson, Sam Srauy, Skip Lane, and Siobahn Stiles provided the support, interest and understanding that only peers can. Denise Lannon had all of the right answers and never lost enthusiasm. Larisa Litvinova saved my life – literally and figuratively. vi The members of the support staff of the English Department at The College of Staten Island – both past and present – have provided comfort to me, as I’ve always known that I can rely on their unwavering generosity and assistance (and a healthy dose of gossip when needed). So many former students have transitioned into trusted friends. No one illustrates this more in my life than Jarret Verga does. For various reasons, I remain indebted to Adrienne Onofri, Stanley Eugene Tannen, Ann Thomas Moore, Julia Perkel, Susan Chapman, and Leigh M. Meaders- Robinson. Nancy Correra, Barbara Frascelli and Amy Kadlub probably don’t realize how much they challenge me, lift me up and keep me going. My parents may finally have convinced me that I can make them proud, something that I always felt from my much-loved and always-missed brother, T.J. Finally, someone once told me that a lucky person has one best friend throughout his lifetime. I have had the great good fortune to have five: Biz Burns, Maria Romeo, Vera Saverino, Sandy Scragg, and Roseanne Weiss. To all of these people, I say that, considering all that you’ve done for me, “thank you” seems so anemic. The lexicon just hasn’t the right words yet to express how I feel. So, please know that my seemingly meager “thank you” indicates the overwhelming gratitude that I have for what you’ve given me year after year. vii In the motion picture Broadcast News, Albert Brooks’ character tells Holly Hunter’s, “I’ll meet you at the place near the thing where we went that time.” If I said these words to Sandy Scragg, she’d know exactly where to show up. I dedicate this work to her, my most cherished friend. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ vii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: SETTING UP SETTING UP CAMP .......................................1 2. “BECAUSE THEY WERE REJECTED, THEY WANTED TO BE ACCEPTED”: CAMP RECEPTION AND THE POLITICS OF (IN)VISIBILITY IN GREY GARDENS AND PARIS IS BURNING .....................40 3. ELAINE STRITCH: THE OTHER AT LIBERTY TO CAMP ..............................76 4. “FOLLOW THIS, YOU BITCHES!” IN CONCERT WITH CAMP – CHER: THE FAREWELL TOUR ...........................................................................98 5. RACE-ING TO CAMP: VANESSA WILLIAMS AND THE BLACK DIVA NARRATIVE ...........................................................................................120 6. CAMPING WITH CARRIE: THE STRUCTURE OF SPECTACLE .................148 7. CAMP IRONY: WHEN ED WOOD BECAME ED WOOD ..............................170 8. “AND THEY WERE EACH ASSIGNED VERY HAZARDOUS DUTIES”: CHARLIE’S ANGELS, STRUCTURE, GENDER, AND CAMP ..................................................................................................................195 9. CAMPING SEASON: DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES AND THE SERIALIZED CAMP NARRATIVE ..................................................................228 10. HOME RUN KINGS AND THEATRE QUEENS GO CAMPING: THE BASEBALL NARRATIVE .................................................................................274 ix 11. CONCLUSION: BREAKING DOWN CAMP ...................................................300 REFERENCES CITED ....................................................................................................316 x LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Comparative Examples of Camp and Non-Camp Texts ...........................................34 xi 1