The witterings of various F-list slebs at the Met Gala in New York earlier this week have attracted much scorn. But to be honest, wasn’t the event itself just asking for trouble, with the theme ‘Punk: From Chaos To Couture’? There was no point asking the red carpet crew about punk because the whole shebang was about the end of punk, the death of punk, the absorption of punk into the belly of the money beast. In Situationist terms it was about recuperation, the act of taking something revolutionary and making it safe for capitalism. And it’s not as if the gala itself represents any kind of major movement in that process; punk as a potent visual genre was already mortally gored in 1977 when Zandra Rhodes tarted up an evening frock with safety pins. The likes of Madonna and Sarah Jessica Parker had been invited not to celebrate punk but to dance badly on its grave; surely they can be forgiven if they couldn’t get it together to improvise a coherent funeral hymn at the same time.
PS: And here are three things that are more punk.
PS: And here are three things that are more punk.
1 comment:
My jaundiced opinion is that punk was "safe for capitalism" after about 5 minutes and Malcolm Mclaren wouldn't have looked out of place on "The Apprentice". As revolutionary as the Stones "Street Fighting Man".
True revolution was in the hands of Chumbawumba.
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