Celebrity, Gender, Desire and the World of Morrissey
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" ... ONLY IF YOU'RE REALLY INTERESTED": CELEBRITY, GENDER, DESIRE AND THE WORLD OF MORRISSEY Nicholas P. Greco, B.A., M.A. Department of Art History & Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal March 2007 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Copyright © Nicholas P. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada ABSTRACT Steven Patrick Morrissey was the lead singer of the 1980s British band The Smiths. Since the band's demi se in 1987, Morrissey has had a successful career as a solo performer. Morrissey is a rich case study for the analysis of mediated celebrities. This dissertation examines the ways in which Morrissey's public persona has shifted throughout his career. These changes have to do with the nature of popular cultural mediation, the status of celebrity, and Morrissey's engagement with issues of gender and desire. Morrissey's celebrity persona, or star image, takes shape within the ongoing production of what Roland Barthes refers to as enigma, and its incompleteness is thus one of its consistent features. This star image is constructed from-and within-"streams" of information which are produced and circulate over time. The unending character of this "stream" is such that Morrissey's star image is perpetually produced and continues to evolve. The sense of the celebrity's image as incomplete leads, in tum, to an ongoing impulse, on the part of fans and observers, to find resolution. Throughout his career, Morrissey has maintained mystery around key aspects of his identity, in particular his sexuality, his feelings about England, and his relationship to pop stardom. This dissertation explores the various elements which contribute to Morrissey's enigmatic star image: cri tic al press; music videos; live performance; musical 111 ~ .. syntax; and interviews. This dissertation explores the interaction of these various elements, and how they have given rise to ongoing speculation within fan and critical discourse, and it explores the particular kinds of mystery and gender roles which arise to accompany these sorts of enigmas. As a celebrity, Morrissey is subject to the gaze of an audience in a way that has historically been construed as objectifying, and theorized within important works as feminizing. Morrissey's princip le response to this objectification has been the maintenance of a constant sense of enigma. While other performers might seek clarification of their images as a means of controlling them, Morrissey's response to ongoing objectification is the ongoing production of enigma. His active control of his image is manifest through his constant transformation of that image . .~. IV ABRÉGÉ Steven Patrick Morrissey a été le chanteur du groupe anglais The Smiths durant les années 1980. Depuis la séparation du groupe en 1987, Morrissey a entrepris avec succès une carrière solo. Morrissey présente un cas riche pour l'analyse de vedettes médiatisées. Cette thèse examine les manières dont la personnalité publique de Morrissey s'est modifiée tout au long de sa carrière. Ces changements entretiennent un rapport avec la nature de la médiation populaire et culturelle, le statut de célébrité et les manières dont Morrissey s'engage avec les thèmes de genre et de désir. L'image de la célébrité (star image) de Morrissey se forme dans la production continuelle de ce que Roland Barthes appelle l'énigme, et l'incomplétude est ainsi un de ses traits saillants. Cette star image est formée par-et à l'intérieur-des « courants» d'information qui se produisent et circulent à travers le temps. La caractéristique sans fin de ce « courant» est telle que la star image de Morrissey est constamment produite et continue à évoluer. Le sentiment de l'incomplétude de l'image de cette vedette mène, à son tour, à une poussée continuelle, de la part des fans et des observateurs, afin de trouver une résolution. Tout au long de sa carrière, Morrissey a maintenu le mystère autour de certains aspects-clés de son identité, en particulier sa sexualité, ses sentiments envers l'Angleterre, et sa relation par rapport au vedettariat pop. Cette thèse explore de v multiples éléments contribuant à la star image énigmatique de Morrissey: des critiques journalistiques; des vidéoclips; des performances live; de la syntaxe musicale; des entrevues. Cette thèse explore l'interaction de tous ces éléments et les manières dont ils ont produit une spéculation continuelle dans le dialogue entre les discours des fans et ceux de la critique; elle explore aussi les types particuliers de mystère et de rôles de genre qui ont surgi pour accompagner ces types d'énigmes. Comme célébrité, Morrissey est porté à être observé par le public d'une manière historiquement façonnée comme objectivante et souvent théorisée comme féminine. La réponse de principe de Morrissey à cette objectivation a été de maintenir un sens constant de l'énigme. Tandis que d'autres artistes peuvent chercher à clarifier leurs images afin de les contrôler, Morrissey répond à l'objectivation par la poursuite continuelle d'une énigme. Le contrôle actif qu'il porte envers son image se manifeste à travers la transformation constante de cette Image. VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS l would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Will Straw, without whom this thesis would not have been possible. His support and advice have been invaluable. l would also like to acknowledge the professors that took part in my proposaI defense committee and dissertation defense committee. My thanks also go to my colleagues in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies. Their companionship and insight have been helpful during my time at McGill. l would like to thank my father-in-Iaw, Mario Bilich, for assistance in translating. My love goes to the Bilich clan for their love and prayers. Many thanks to my sister Anna Maria and my brother-in-Iaw Chris, whose support have helped me throughout this process. l must acknowledge my beautiful niece Giulietta, who has yet to hear about Morrissey. My utmost love goes to Antonella, my wife and best friend-as well as a "friend of the department"-without whose support, or Italian translations, l could not continue. Along with the support of my parents, Nick and Mary Greco, her sacrifices have allowed me to continue my studies. It is to Antonella that this work is dedicated. Finally, this work would not be possible without Steven Patrick Morrissey. "In my own strange way ... 1'11 always stay true to you." vu CONTENTS ABSTRACT m ABRÉGÉ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................... vii LIST OF FIGURES xm INTRODUCTION 1 Themes in this Dissertation ......................... 4 Chapter Outlines 14 1. "THAT'S THE STORY OF MY LIFE": MORRISSEY'S CAREER, CONTROVERSIES AND COMEBACK . 23 Critical Reception 26 Ambiguity in Gender and Sexuality ................... 41 The Enigma 47 Racism 50 Nationality, or Britishness 55 Concluding Remarks ............................... 64 2. "LET ME KISS YOU": CELEBRITY, GENDER AND DESIRE 65 Gender and Music 66 Gender and Western Tonality . 73 ~, f The Gendered Character of Music as a Discipline 77 IX The Voice and Desire .............................. 82 The "Grain of the Voice" 84 The Incomplete Celebrity 91 Celebrity and Star Image 93 The Gendered Character of Celebrity and Desire 98 Various Masculinities . 101 Conc1uding Remarks ............................... 111 3. "THE BOY RACER": MORRISSEY'S CHANGING GENDER IDENTITY IN MUSIC VIDEO 115 Morrissey's "Asexuality" 119 Video Survey ..................................... 121 Lack ........................................... 126 The Video for "The Boy Racer"