However, if you have never read Lolita you might think that the novel is instead about a seductive “nymphet” (a term Nabokov’s Humbert created) that seduces an older man. This interpretation is certainly not the story, but you would be forgiven for thinking it is, as popular culture has perpetrated this misreading since its creation in 1955. The most often-used review to accompany the novel’s cover is a line from Gregor von Rezzori’s Vanity Fair piece that calls Lolita “The only convincing love story of our Century.” What the? A more honest review might be “The only convincing story of a smug and disgusting child molester.”
It was while listening to this podcast that I came face-to-face with this week's record: Serge Gainsbourg’s Historie de Melody Nelson. Gainsbourg courted sexual controversy throughout his career. In 1969 he and his girlfriend Jane Birkin released “Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus” a song banned by The Vatican and in the United States because of its simulated orgasm sounds between the 41-year-old Gainsbourg and the 23-year-old Birkin. His icky-factor jumps through the proverbial roof on his 1984 duet “Lemon Incest,” which he recorded with his 13-year-old daughter Charlotte. He is also famously remembered for telling a 23-year-old Whitney Houston that he wanted to “fuck her” on TV. He was 58 at the time. Released in 1973, Historie de Melody Nelson shows Gainsbourg’s continuous fascination with young girls. A fascination that biographer, Jeremy Allen notes, was evident throughout Gainsbourg’s work. He states that “There’s no doubt he [Gainsbourg] had a Lolita fixation.” Further stating that Gainsbourg “was obsessed by Nabokov’s book, wanted to make the movie, and made all his female co-singers use a high-pitched, child-like voice.” The AV Club notes that the idea of Lolita-adaption fueled Gainsbourg and that the “creepy, sad man’s objectification of a girl would stay with him” and lead “him to create Melody Nelson.” The album tells the story of an older rich man who rapes (I'm sure Gainsbourg would not use this term, but I will) a girl “Fourteen autumns, And fifteen summers.” When released, the album was considered "steamy". A term that seems a 70s & 80s catch-all for any number of sexual taboos. However, now, in the long dark shadows of the #metoo movement and as we gain a further understanding to reassess popular culture, it seems a worthy time to re-examine Serge Gainsbourg pinnacle record. I should note, I'm not here to cancel Serge Gainsbourg. I'm not here to say that we should throw Melody Nelson into the trash heap. However, I think we need to identify tropes from our musical past and acknowledge their existence and potential harm. What listeners decide to do with that information is ultimately up to them. As our guest, Patrick Krief, Dave, and I noted in this week’s episode, the sonic quality of Historie de Melody Nelson is stunning. Jean-Claude Vannier’s string arrangements dance over David Richmond’s groovy bass. Sparse clean guitar leads splash colour through every song. It is sonically a gorgeous record. Yet, the Lolita effect hangs heavily over this record. But then again, the Lolita effect hangs heavily over popular music in general. Like Humbert Humbert in Lolita, Serge’s narrative presents the young lady through the male gaze. This is, of course, nothing new in classic rock. From The Knack’s “My Sharona” to Neil Diamond’s “Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon” the genre is drenched in creepy songs about older men gawking at young girls. I recall myself at six years old singing along to the KISS’ “Christine Sixteen” in my basement. I am now struck by the predatory nature of lyrics like “But when I saw you coming, Out of the school that day, That day I knew, I knew I've got to have you, I've got to have you”. This is doubly gross when you know it is being sung by Gene “I slept with 4800 women” Simmons. And this is where the problem of separating the artist from the art becomes problematic. In 2018, I wrote about this dilemma in a piece entitled When will the #MeToo Movement Catch Up to the Music Industry. In that piece, I noted the a slew of offenders like R. Kelly, Jimmy Page, Anthony Kiedis, Steven Tyler (this piece of shit adopted a 16-year-old so that he could legally take her across state lines), Bill “I am dating a 14-year-old” Wyman, and - the offender no one wants to hear me include in this group - David Bowie. In each case, these men groomed and abused girls. Not women. Girls. And this makes the very idea of separating the art and artist difficult. So often, art is saturated in the male gaze of the artist and therefore, the art as a direct representation of the artist is creepy and disgusting. When reading through chat rooms, many people noted these very connections and highlighted the dangers that stem from these messages. One comment read rock music is “always emphasizing how the girl was just 17...and the singers were like in their 30s. Fucking creepy”. To that, another person responds with “because they all fucked underage girls.” Someone else adds, “back then people knew but they thought it was cool...it’s why boomers are still so against things like MeToo. They admired people for it.” At first, I was skeptical of such comments, but there is certainly some truth to them. And, that male gaze would extend even further and ultimately bleed into the production of pop culture in the 1990s. The most obvious example is that of R. Kelly and his grooming and production of Aaliyah. As the primary songwriter and producer of his debut album Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number Kelly helped to create Aaliyah’s image and sound. Yet, when she parted ways with Kelly, Jomo Hankerson claims that Aaliyah - the victim of a sexual predator - was “blacklisted by industry insiders behind the scandal” and ultimately “villainized.” The same can be said of Britney Spears. (Again, I will note The Lolita Podcast, as Loftus does a terrific job at highlighting the Lolita effect on the marketing of female singers in the 90s.) The famous Rolling Stone cover from 1999 depicted the then 17-year-old Spears as a modern-day Lolita archetype. What Meenakshi Gigi Durham, in her book The Lolita Effect has called a “metaphor for the sexy girl in contemporary society” whose “vulnerability” and “alluring sexuality” can be “fabricated” and “exploited.” Those features are on full display on the cover. And, when the magazine was released it was Spears who had to address the “prostitot” image that appeared on the cover. Not Spear’s manager. Not Rolling Stone. And not photographer Dave LaChapelle. The fact is that there is a direct correlation between the dehumanizing of young girls in the music industry and the response by today’s young people. They are tired and disgusted. In 2018, I wrote that “the narrative of rock stardom outweighs the sexual exploitation of a minor. We as a society have chosen musical greatness and a great guitar solo over even the most basic of humanity”. For me and my generation, I wrestle with an internal struggle between art and artistry. But, today’s young people do not. Jeremy Allen, author of Relax Baby Be Cool: The artistry and audacity of Serge Gainsbourg, has said that Gainsbourg’s music “definitely crossed lines” and is a “guilty pleasure.” Such a comment makes us rethink the idea of what is a guilty pleasure. It is no longer about the embarrassment of the music’s sound. It is not about the personal character of the artist. It seems more challenging to listen to music without finding something that offends our sensibilities and elicits guilt. Music wasn't supposed to be this difficult. And, perhaps it doesn’t need to be. But, sadly for me, it is. Music fascinates us and brings us joy. When I hear Jerry Lee Lewis play the piano, the golden voice of Sam Cooke, or any number of other greats, I still hear the beauty and am still utterly fascinated. But, with every "disgusting old parasite," it is harder and harder to love the art.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |