UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles City of Magic
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles City of Magic: Aesthetic Value in the Los Angeles Magic Scene A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Dalila Isoke Ozier 2020 © Copyright by Dalila Isoke Ozier 2020 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION City of Magic: Aesthetic Value in the Los Angeles Magic Scene by Dalila Isoke Ozier Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 Professor Sherry B. Ortner, Chair In the vast Los Angeles entertainment complex, magic is often deemed one of the lowest forms of performance art, unworthy of respect or critical evaluation. In response to mainstream aesthetic evaluations that routinely devalue magical performance, Los Angeles magicians engage in a variety of strategies designed to re-legitimize the world of magic. Chief among these strategies is the construction of a competing aesthetic value system, one that allows magicians to reject mainstream assumptions about magic’s artlessness and instead reassert magic as a form of genuine artistic expression. However, this new aesthetic system comes with its own brand of hierarchization, one that aligns the concept of “good magic” with the white, heteromasculine subject. Because of this, female magicians and magicians of color can often find it difficult to penetrate the upper echelons of the magic community. By exploring the roots and consequences of magic’s devaluation, this dissertation uses participant observation and in-depth interviews to interrogate the ways in which Los Angeles magicians navigate the aesthetic value systems that undergird magical performance. In this way, we can investigate the broader impact that aesthetic devaluation has had on how magicians ii are debased, derided, and disregarded within the modern entertainment machine—not just by laymen, but by each other. iii The dissertation of Dalila Isoke Ozier is approved. Jessica R. Cattelino Graham M. Jones Christopher M. Kelty Sherry B. Ortner, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2020 iv Table of Contents List of Figures and Illustrations ............................................................................................................ vi Biographical Sketch ................................................................................................................................. vii Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Castles ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Part I: The Imaginary City ................................................................................................................ 25 Part II: Enter the Dream Factory .................................................................................................... 33 Part III: The Most Magical Place on Earth .................................................................................... 39 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 2: Bad Magicians ...................................................................................................................... 51 Part I: Good Taste ............................................................................................................................. 54 Part II: The Magician and the Fool ................................................................................................. 59 Part III: The Art of Making Art ....................................................................................................... 66 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 3: Black Magic ........................................................................................................................... 76 Part I: Savage Minds .......................................................................................................................... 80 Part II: The Magical Negro ............................................................................................................... 87 Part III: How to be Black ................................................................................................................. 91 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 4: Women in Boxes ............................................................................................................... 100 Part I: Keepers of the Gate ............................................................................................................ 103 Part II: No Girls Allowed .............................................................................................................. 109 Part III: The Woman Problem ...................................................................................................... 114 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 126 Chapter 5: The Real Work ................................................................................................................... 129 Part I: Creative Capitalism ............................................................................................................. 132 Part II: Invisible Hands .................................................................................................................. 141 Part III: Now You See It ................................................................................................................ 147 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 154 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 156 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................................. 163 v List of Figures and Illustrations Figure 1: Screenshot taken by author 77 vi Biographical Sketch Education University of California, Los Angeles Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (degree pending) University of California, Los Angeles Master of Art in Anthropology University of West Georgia Bachelor of Science in Anthropology with Philosophy minor, cum laude Professional Experience Research Experience 2017 – 2019 Graduate Student Researcher, UCLA 2011 – 2013 Student Researcher, University of West Georgia Teaching Experience 2013 – 2019 Teaching Apprentice, UCLA 2012 – 2013 Reader, UCLA 2011 – 2012 Tutor, University of West Georgia Grants and Awards 2015; 2016 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship 2015 Student Research Grant 2013 - 2017 Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship 2012 Antonio J. Waring, Jr. Academic Scholarship 2012 Francis Wood Wilson Scholarship 2011; 2012 Antonio J. Waring, Jr. Research Scholarship vii Selected Scholarly Presentations Oct 2017 “Now You See Us: Fighting Queer Invisibility in Theatrical Magic.” Oral presentation at UCLA Queer Graduate Conference, Los Angeles, CA. Sep 2017 “The Honest Liar: Magicians, Spectators, and the Participatory Performance of Power.” Oral presentation at CLASP V, Boulder, CO. Apr 2016 “Competing Discussions of Gendered Violence in the YouTube Community.” Panel presentation at Thinking Gender 2016, Los Angeles, CA. Dec 2014 “Dark Enough to See the Stars: YouTube Celebrity and the Cycle of Abuse.” Poster presentation at the 113th American Anthropological Association Meeting, Washington, D.C. Apr 2013 “Talk Nerdy to Me: ‘Geeky’ Language as a Mechanism of Social Cohesion and Identity Formation in a Digitized World.” Oral presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, La Crosse, WI. Mar 2012 “Becoming American? International Student Perspectives on Identity and Culture.” Oral presentation at the Southern Anthropological Society Conference, Birmingham, AL. Leadership and Community Service Conference Planning and Coordination 2016 Racialized State Violence in Global Perspective, Volunteer 2014 - 2016 CLIC-GSA Conference, Vice Chair Other Volunteer Experience 2014 - 2016 Crossroads, Editor 2014 - 2015 AGSA 8-Year Review Committee, Research Coordinator viii Introduction The magician—let’s call him Jonathon—was dressed all in black: oversized black vest embroidered with carrion birds, black T-shirt screen-printed with the name of some local band, ratty black jeans with frayed threads at the cuffs. Thick silver rings decorated each finger, wedged tightly beneath his hairy knuckles, and his eyes were keen and observant under the shadow of his bushy white eyebrows. Even if you didn’t notice the faint, square-shaped bulge in his pocket (courtesy of a well-worn pack of Bicycle-branded playing cards), or the double-sided dollar bill that he kept folded neatly in his wallet, you probably wouldn’t have had much trouble guessing his profession. If we’d met at the quiet, hipster-friendly coffeehouse that we’d originally planned to visit, Jonathon might not have looked so out of place. However,