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The content of this essay was first presented at the Camp/Anti-Camp
Conference at the Hau Theater in Berlin in March 2012, curated by
Susanne Sachsse and Marc Siegel. The presentation of the paper was
itself intended to be somewhat camp, both in the outdated academic
ESSAY
Notes on Camp—and Anti-Camp
B
RUCE
L
A
B
RUCE
style of the writing and in its mode of performance: The speaker wore
black tails and glasses while writing lists of camp categories in chalk
on a large blackboard. Whether or not the actual content of the paper
was or is designed to be camp is entirely up to the reader to decide.
10
The Gay & Lesbian Review
/
WORLDWIDE
C
LASSIC
G
AY
C
AMP
:
Carmen Miranda
Mae West
Joan Crawford
Bette Davis
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
Art Nouveau
Art Deco
The Catholic Church
George Kuchar
Franklyn Pangborn
Edward Everett Horton
Paul Lynde
Charles Nelson Reilly
The Boys in the Band
The Killing of Sister George
John Waters movies
Divine
Mario Montez
Holly Woodlawn
Candy Darling
Jackie Curtis
Liberace
B
AD
G
AY
C
AMP
:
Will & Grace
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Misogynist Drag Queens
Neil Patrick Harris
Contemporary Broadway Musicals
Certain Ken Russell Films (The Boy Friend)
Perez Hilton
Adam Lambert
Liberace
Beyoncé
Lady Gaga
G
OOD
S
TRAIGHT
C
AMP
:
Woody Allen’s dramatic films (Interiors,
September)
Certain Robert Altman films (That Cold
Day in the Park, Images, 3 Women)
Certain John Cassavetes films
(The Killing of a Chinese Bookie,
Minnie and Moscowitz)
B
AD
S
TRAIGHT
C
AMP
:
Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada
and The Hunger Games
Twilight
Black Swan
Il Divo
Star Wars
Adam Sandler movies
Che Guevara
Damien Hirst
Tim Burton movies (except Pee Wee’s
Big Adventure and Ed Wood)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jeff Koons
Tropic Thunder
Benny Hill
Beyoncé
Lady Gaga
Baz Luhrmann
H
IGH
C
AMP
:
Oscar Wilde
Jean Cocteau
L
OW
C
AMP
:
Vaudeville
Burlesque
Bawdy humor
Moms Mabley
Sophie Tucker
Bette Midler’s bathhouse routines
U
LTRA
C
AMP
:
Mae West performing “Love Will Keep
Us Together” in Sextet
Elizabeth Taylor & Noel Coward in Boom!
Myra Breckenridge
Valley of the Dolls
B
AD
U
LTRA
C
AMP
:
Liza Minnelli performing “Put A Ring
On It” in Sex and the City 2
Q
UASI
-C
AMP
:
Jerry Lewis’ 60s movies (The Ladies’
Man, The Patsy, The Big Mouth)
Midnight Cowboy
Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Bertolucci’s Luna
Cruising
S
UBVERSIVE
C
AMP
:
Rock Hudson / Doris Day movies
Roddy McDowell’s Tam Lin
Brett Anderson of Suede
Pee Wee Herman
R
EACTIONARY
C
AMP
:
Tyler Perry
Eddie Murphy
Heavy Metal
L
IBERAL
C
AMP
:
Dr. Ruth
Rev. Al Sharpton
Shepard Fairey’s Obama “Hope” poster
C
ONSERVATIVE
C
AMP
:
Kirk Cameron
Sarah Palin
Newt Gingrich
Mitt Romney
Ann Coulter
Fox News
The Iron Lady
I
NTENTIONAL
C
AMP
:
The Shining
Casino Royale with Daniel Craig
Green Acres (TV Show)
U
NINTENTIONAL
C
AMP
:
Lost in Space (TV Show)
Eyes Wide Shut
J. Edgar
Valley of the Dolls
The Iron Lady
G
OOD
I
NTENTIONAL
S
TRAIGHT
C
AMP
:
Russ Meyer movies
Carry On movies