Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,612
edits
Camp: Difference between revisions
not to be confused with, markup, spelling, when?, replaced redirects, word choice, grammar, moved fan works example out of web original
m (→Live-Action TV) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (not to be confused with, markup, spelling, when?, replaced redirects, word choice, grammar, moved fan works example out of web original) |
||
Line 6:
The main debates concerning the term are twofold: 1. How such an aesthetic relates to intentionality: whether '''camp''' deliberately cultivated ("high" camp) is the same to that of the unintentional kind ("low" camp), and 2. Whether the term relies too much on the elitist notion that popular culture cannot also be enjoyed by a sophisticated sensibility, except through a condescending or distancing label.
See also [[Camp Gay]], [[Macho Camp]] and [[Camp Straight]]. Compare [[So Bad It's Good]] and [[Narm Charm]]. Not to be confused with the movie ''[[Camp (film)|Camp]]'' or the [[Rooster Teeth]] [[Animated Series]] ''[[Camp Camp]]''.
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* A relatively-recent incarnation of the ''[[Cutey Honey]]'' anime, ''[[Re Cutey Honey]]'', is deliberately rendered in a psychedelic, humorous 1970s-style exaggeration of the franchise's infamous violence and [[Fan Service]]. The live-action movie is similar.
* ''[[G Gundam]]'' arguably falls under this trope. Giant robots that look like cossacks. Giant robots that look like Sailor Moon. Giant robots that look like ''windmills.'' Giant robots that run entirely on the power of burning red willpower and defeat the [[Big Bad]] through [[The Power of Love]] manifesting a giant pissed-off {{spoiler|''King of Hearts.''}} Some say [[So Bad It's Good|it's good precisely because of all that]], others say it's just good.
Line 15:
* ''[[MADOX-01]]'' is ''[[Megazone 23]]'' as seen through the "camp" filter. (Both were written by [[Shinji Aramaki]].)
== [[Fan
* "Pegasus is ruthless. Camp, yet ruthless". ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series]]'' '''lives''' off this.▼
* Tommy Wisseau's ''[[The Room]]'' is one of the more popular examples of low camp. Althought Wisseau made the smart marketing decision to now push it as an ironic comedy, it's clear to everyone that he originally meant it to be completely serious.▼
* The infamous ''The Wild Wild World Of Batwoman'' may well qualify as one of the worst movies ever, owing to its having been a ''failed'' attempt at camp. It is a rip-off of the Adam West TV series, right down to the ludicrous villains and the 60s go-go dancing. The producers of ''Batman'' took Jerry Warren to court, which is why he threw in that tacked-on opening about the "synthetic vampire" Batgirls.▼
== [[Film]] ==
▲* Tommy Wisseau's ''[[The Room]]'' is one of the more popular examples of low camp.
▲* The infamous ''The Wild Wild World Of Batwoman'' may well qualify as one of the worst movies ever, owing to its having been a ''failed'' attempt at camp. It is a rip-off of the Adam West [[Batman (TV series)|''Batman'' TV series]], right down to the ludicrous villains and the 60s go-go dancing. The producers of ''Batman'' took Jerry Warren to court, which is why he threw in that tacked-on opening about the "synthetic vampire" Batgirls.
* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''.
* ''[[Flash Gordon (film)|Flash Gordon]]''. The movie's script was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., script consultant and sometimes episode writer for the Adam West-era ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''. The theme song is done by ''Queen''. Of course it's going to be camp as hell.
Line 43 ⟶ 46:
* How could ''[[Temptation Island]]'' not be this? Consider this line by [[Rich Bitch|Suzanne/Serafina]] to [[Con Man|Azenith/Cristina]]: "Good morning. What did you have for breakfast, Eggs Benedict? Did [[Service Sector Stereotypes|Umberto]] serve you?"
* Pretty much every film made by cult B-movie producers Troma Film has loads of camp value.
* Clearly based on the 1960s-era TV series mentioned below, the upcoming{{when}} (expected in November 2016) ''Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders'' promises high camp from the very first teaser trailer.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* Probably no TV show had as much intentional camp as its central focus than did the live-action ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' from the 1960s. Notorious for [[To the Bat Noun|putting the prefix "bat-"]] in front of everything Batman did or used, and for Adam West's portrayal of Batman as a constantly
:In his essay [https://web.archive.org/web/20101224025219/http://media.opencultures.net/queer/data/international/batman-medhurst.pdf ''Batman, Deviancy and Camp''], Andy Medhurst goes so far as to say the best definition of camp could be "sort of like the Batman TV show." Adam West has apparently [[Adam Westing|made a career]] out of playing campy superheroes. Occasionally he even plays himself ''as if he
▲* Probably no TV show had as much intentional camp as its central focus than did the live-action ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' from the 1960s. Notorious for [[To the Bat Noun|putting the prefix "bat-"]] in front of everything Batman did or used, and for Adam West's portrayal of Batman as a constantly emoting expositionist who had but one tone of voice no matter the situation. However, many of the people involved with the production debate the label as needlessly denigrating to the hard work they put into the show's elements of farce.
:West mentioned during interviews that he deliberately played up some
▲:In his essay [https://web.archive.org/web/20101224025219/http://media.opencultures.net/queer/data/international/batman-medhurst.pdf Batman, Deviancy and Camp], Andy Medhurst goes so far as to say the best definition of camp could be "sort of like the Batman TV show." Adam West has apparently [[Adam Westing|made a career]] out of playing campy superheroes. Occasionally he even plays himself ''as if he thought he was a superhero''.
:The animated ''[[Batman: The Brave
▲:West mentioned during interviews that he deliberately played up some 'campy' aspects of the show—it was, apparently, a necessity, as only part of his face was visible, and he had to find another way to express emotion.
* The video for Sweden's 2007 [[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision]] entry, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urCLhm_VBsk "The Worrying Kind"] by The Ark, is three minutes of pure, distilled camp. And who could forget 2006 winners [[Lordi]] - a Finnish heavy metal group, adorned in full-body monster costumes,
▲:The animated ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold]]'' series and its video game adoption has picked up the camp role. Besides its surprising emphasis on more obscure, cheesier villains, the show also gave us the Music Meister, a villain who controls the will of others by singing like [[Neil Patrick Harris]].
▲* The video for Sweden's 2007 [[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision]] entry, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urCLhm_VBsk "The Worrying Kind"] by The Ark, is three minutes of pure, distilled camp. And who could forget 2006 winners [[Lordi]] - a Finnish heavy metal group, adorned in full-body monster costumes, which sings about the "Day of Rockening"? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Uc8F8_c1M&feature=related Combine for maximum powah!]
** Camp has been a mainstay of Eurovision for [[Older Than They Think|a very, very long time]], dating at least back to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwGVd7Cj1sw Germany’s entry from 1958].
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' is a presentation of campy movies lampooned for your enjoyment. The sketches between movie segments tended toward the delightfully campy as well.
Line 57 ⟶ 59:
* [[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|The original ''Battlestar Galactica'']] series was supposed to be serious, but quickly became low camp.
* ''[[Tales of the Gold Monkey]]'' had more than its share.
* ''[[Special Unit 2]]'', an original series on UPN.
* The live-action [[Toku]] version of ''[[Giant Robo]]'' (better known in the US as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot''). Look at the costumes!!
* ''[[Doctor Who]]''! Albeit, most of it's in the JNT era. However, the show still manages to put out an occasional dose of camp.
* Both ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' delved into this with gusto.
Line 64 ⟶ 66:
** Heck, ''[[Power Rangers]]'' as a whole. "To pose in an exaggerated fashion" [[Super Sentai Stance|describes the franchise perfectly]]. In fact, the biggest reason the 2017 movie failed was due to their attempt to make it darker and more realistic; fans didn't want that.
* ''[[Blake's 7]]''. Especially the villains.
* ''[[Pee-wee's Playhouse]]''.
== [[Music]] ==
* The German recording artist Gunther embodies camp, mullet and all. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbYtqAWDF2U&feature=related Witness the glory that is the "Ding Dong Song"].
* [[Queen]]. Their sound was essentially this combined with the [[Epic Riff]]/[[Epic Rocking]] and [[Mundane Made Awesome]]. ''[[We Will Rock You]]'' cranks it up to eleven, naturally. Lead singer Freddie Mercury was [[Camp Gay]].<ref>[[Bi the Way|bisexual]], actually.</ref> This should come as no surprise that his songs and videos were extremely camp as well. He loved to dress in fur and leather. Later in his career, he had a mustache. FLASH! AH-ah! Savior of the universe!
* [[Rob Zombie]]. His stage act self-consciously uses every bad
* [[David Bowie]], especially Ziggy Stardust.
* Everything [[Doctor Steel]] - or his fans - do is done consciously and conspicuously over the top.
Line 76 ⟶ 78:
* [[Steps]], even by [[The Nineties]] pop standard. The three mains traits of the band were exaggerated dance moves, cheesey, happy music and bright colours and costume worn by the members. Like the ''Batman'' television series, it was intentionally camp.
==
* ''Titanes en el Ring'', from Argentina. Every bit of it.{{context}}
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Most Richard Strauss [[opera]]s—especially ''Salome''.
* The musical of ''[[Little Women]]'' takes the short and melodramatic play that Jo and her sisters stage in the early chapters, and turns it into a musical number spanning the entire cast (all... six of them), stuffed chock-full of wholesome, affectionate camp.
* The entire output of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] is high camp. As ridiculously
* Most Broadway musicals, especially those adapted from movies.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Devil May Cry]]''. In the second game the developers forgot this, but the third game made up for it in spades.
* ''[[Bayonetta]]'', spiritual successor to ''Devil May Cry'', begins with the main character, disguised as a nun, presiding over a funeral that is subsequently visited by heavenly beings who rip off her clothes, allowing her to use her suit of magical hair and the handguns (which she wields four at a time, one to each limb) that were hidden in a coffin to beat, shoot, and rip the angels apart gruesomely, all to a cover of Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon." It's as over the top as it sounds.
Line 92 ⟶ 94:
* The ''Tiberium'' series of ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' games is mildly campy. ''[[Red Alert]]'' pushes it [[Up to Eleven]].
* The ''[[Wolfenstein (2009 video game)|Wolfenstein]]'' series, especially ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]''. It's hard to get much campier than [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Mecha Hitler]] with quadruple [[Gatling Good]] yelling in [[Gratuitous German|bastardized German/English]] and exploding into [[Ludicrous Gibs]].
* ''[[Contra (video game series)|Contra: Rebirth]]'' seems to be this with the hero dropped into space station from helicopter, robotic llamas, upside-down midboss, a pyramid of running enemies, over-the-top [[Excuse Plot]] and generally lighthearted presentation.
* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. The characters have exaggerated Rockwell-esque designs, each of them have a different, very much played up accent and traits stereotypically associated with each's respective nationality. Furthermore, it's filled with [[Ludicrous Gibs]] (after you get killed, during a freezecam of your murderer the game will gleefully point out where "your pancreas!", "your foot!", "your kidney!" etc. lies, if the body parts appear on the shot). It is largely thanks to that factor that the game was received so well.
* ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'': All three tribes that run the casinos in New Vegas are camp to some degree (The Omertas representing the [[The Mafia|seamy underbelly]] and the White Glove Society representing the elegance {{spoiler|[[I'm a Humanitarian|well, on the surface, anyway]]}} of the old Las Vegas, respectively), but the Chairmen crank it up to 11. All of them dress like [[Rat Pack]] rejects and say things like "Ring-a-ding, baby" and "What can I do to make your stay the tops?" with completely straight faces. It's hilarious.
Line 98 ⟶ 100:
* ''[[Deep Fear]]'': Although the game itself is hardly camp, the campiness cranks [[Up to Eleven]] whenever the sub designer, Dubois Amalric opens his mouth to deliver his lines at a volume as loud as his purple turtleneck sweater.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025045459/http://www.eviltrailmix.com/animutation/ Animutations.]
* ''[[Commentary! The Musical]]''.
▲* "Pegasus is ruthless. Camp, yet ruthless". ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series]]'' '''lives''' off this.
* ''[[Robot Unicorn Attack]]''. Beloved for its campiness and extremely gay synthpop theme song (''Always'' by Erasure). When they tried to make a Halloween version with a [[Slayer]] soundtrack, it wasn't received well.
** [[Robot Unicorn Attack (Darth Wiki)|The version with a soundtrack by]] [[Heavy Mithril]] band [[Blind Guardian]], however, was.
* Most of the comics commented upon by ''[[The Comics Curmudgeon]]'' are delightfully campy. ''Apartment 3 G'' stands out as one that Josh loves for the camp.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Schoolhouse Rock]]'' is so camp that it often gets in the way of being educational. Maybe that's why [[Completely Missing the Point|students like them so much]].
* ''[[The Return of the King (animation)|The Return of the King]]'': "Where there's a whip *whipcrack!* there's a way!"
* M. Bison, in the animated ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0j0lO7uQBo This is delicious!]
* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]''. So much so, that even in the 80s, many were suspicious that it was actually gay propaganda. (Especially with names like Ram-Man, Man-at-Arms, Extendar, and last but not least, Fisto. Yes, these were real).
** ''[[She
* ''[[Batman: The Brave
== [[Real Life]] ==
* [[John Waters]] (whose guest appearance on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' provides one of the quotes above) has made a career out of it.
* Many of the past and present resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Let's see; [http://www.venetian.com/ Fake Venice], [http://www.parislasvegas.com/casinos/paris-las-vegas/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml Fake Paris], [https://web.archive.org/web/20130614042500/http://newyorknewyorklasvegas.com/ Fake New York], [http://www.caesarspalace.com/casinos/caesars-palace/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml Fake Ancient Rome], [http://www.excalibur.com/ Fake Camelot], [http://www.luxor.com/ Fake Ancient Egypt], [http://www.treasureisland.com/ Pirates on the Vegas Strip]... if "camp" is defined as ''deliberate bad taste'' then the Las Vegas Strip is practically the best example out there. It is all ''incredibly'' over the top and tacky but it done ''so incredibly well'' that one cannot help think it is [[So Bad It's Good]].
** [http://www.venetian.com The Venetian] is the clearest case of Camp on the Strip. Most of the resorts do indeed have an exaggerated and theatrical presentation. However, not all of the resorts have the required [[Cliché Storm|derivative substance]] or [[So Bad It's Good|hilarious badness]] or monumental tackiness. For instance, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130817101704/http://www.bellagiolasvegas.com/ the Bellagio] is certainly exaggerated in its theatricality, and presented very well. However, the resort takes itself very seriously and the vast majority of visitors to it consider it [[So Cool Its Awesome]] rather than [[So Bad It's Good]].
** And let's not forget [https://web.archive.org/web/20111003011319/http://www.venetianmacao.com/en/ Macau's own Fake Venice] which is not only three times the size of it's Vegas counterpart, [[Up to Eleven|but even campier]]. Picture sitting in a Japanese restaurant, overlooking a fake indoor replica of the Grand Canal, with the gondolier rowing past and singing a (very good) rendition of Sarah Brightman's part in "Time To Say Goodbye." Oh, and the
** With regards to the Treasure Island resort, their famous streetside "pirate battle" was originally a straightforward, theme-park like spectacle: pirates vs. the British navy, and the pirates win. When the resort was overhauled to appeal more to adults, this show became ''The Sirens of TI'' and became sirens (re: sexy, scantily-clad sea witches) vs. pirates; the sirens win and the pirates join them for a [[Dance Party Ending]]. Now
** The bulk of Las Vegas shows qualified as mostly unintentional camp for decades. But then [[Cirque Du Soleil]] arrived in [[The Nineties]] and presented high theatricality and fun ''alongside'' elegance, subtlety, and artistic ambition. Audiences found it refreshing, and this triggered a sea change in Vegas entertainment. Nowadays, when you see a campy Vegas show, it's either partially intentional or an older show. For the latter, see this review of the last of the Vegas showgirl shows, ''[http://www.lvrj.com/neon/-jubilee---100103454.html Jubilee!]''
* 19th century dandies, including [[Oscar Wilde]] and [[Lord Byron]]. Not all of them were necessarily gay, [[Camp Straight|but they were all extremely camp]], which is required for being a dandy.
| |||