Because I am scum, I have still not written the Eddie Murphy post. I just can’t seem to get it together to work on it, and put the appropriate amount of energy and fun into it. But I shall persevere! Probably next week, as this week is going to be busy between work deadlines and writing stuff.
In the meantime, I would like to throw this out there. I am SURE someone has already talked about the connection between Oscar Wilde and Janelle Monae, but in case not…
First off, here is Janelle Monae’s video for Tightrope, from 2010. If you don’t know who she is, it’s because the media is too busy ignoring her genius to introduce you. In that case, good news! Meet Janelle Monae! She’s wonderful.
Note the gentleman at 4:24, giving her a very pronounced tip of the hat.
Perhaps other people have already identified the meaning behind this hat tip and I just missed it. Googling has found nothing about it, and so maybe it’s just my imagination, but I’d like to think that the hat tip is referencing another famous hat tip.
Please, indulge me!
When Oscar Wilde lost his court case and was prosecuted for sodomy in 1895, he was ruined (aside: he was really being persecuted for being gay, as Victorian mores didn’t permit people such, or at least not people being out). He lost all his friends, and society turned its back on him. As he made the long walk from courthouse to prison, one person stepped out of the jeering crowd and made a point of tipping his hat at Wilde: Robert Ross, an artist and longtime friend. It was a gesture of solidarity, a reminder to Wilde that he was not alone, that he still had friends. When Wilde died penniless a few years later, Ross was with him, a true friend to the end.
The scene was dramatized here in the 1997 film Wilde, which starred Stephen Fry as Wilde, Jude Law as Lord Alfred Douglas (whose wealthy father instigates the trial against Wilde), and Michael Sheen as Robert Ross. The hat tip is at :58.
When I saw that scene in Monae’s video I recognized it immediately as being a nod to the movie; or perhaps it’s just a lovely case of concurrent invention: a person who is degraded by others is reminded by a friend that they do not suffer alone, to keep hope alive. It doesn’t matter the situation, or what someone is being persecuted for – being gay, being black, being an iconoclast, being the ‘wrong’ religion – things change, and battles are hard. But remembering one isn’t fighting alone helps keep us fighting on.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramble. And please, have a great week! Remember, no matter who you are or what you’re going through, things change. They get better.
I must say that I did enjoy this ramble immensely! I now feel educated and I have discovered a new artist. Big thanks all round!
Those are all successes! Yay! 😀
Thanks for reading and letting me know!
Check out Dance Apocalyptic:
https://youtu.be/eaMBagakSdM
Thanks, I will! 🙂
Not to be childish but OMG how did I not about this woman. Janelle Monae is fantastic. I love her androgyne and style. Thank you for educating me.
Nothing childish about saying thank you or showing appreciation!
And you’re welcome, I’m glad you stopped in and a comment! 😀
Fantastic! Decided to research a lyric from her latest project ‘Dirty Computer’ — on the track “Screwed” she says “Everything is sex, ‘cept sex, which is power.” Come to find out it originated with Oscar Wilde, which brought me to this post of yours, in which you note her connection to him even years earlier! Awesome! And thanks for the cool read.
Oh wow, thank you! I never even made that connection and I’ve listened to Dirty Computer – thanks for pointing it out and thanks most of all for checking out the blog! 😀