Abstract
In Martin Scorsese’s 2010 documentary film Public Speaking, writer and humourist Fran Lebowitz offers up a rather pointed assessment of the cultural legacy of Andy Warhol:
There’s such a general desire for fame. Within the last twenty-five, thirty years fame itself became an extremely valuable thing to people, divorced from anything else. That is basically the fault of Andy Warhol. One of the things Andy did is he made fame more famous because Andy was using the word fame all the time. It was a joke. Let me assure you this was a joke. You take these drag queens – who are actually criminals ’cause it’s against the law to wear a dress if you were a man at the time – and you say this drag queen, of course, they wanna be a movie star, they wanna be an exact movie star. In other words, Candy Darling wants to be exactly Marilyn Monroe OK? This is a drag queen fantasy at the time. No one takes it seriously – except Candy does. And then Andy says, ‘You’re not just a movie star like Marilyn Monroe, you’re a superstar!’ He makes it up. It’s a joke. It’s a joke! [pause] This is what ruined the world. This is what happens when an inside joke gets into the water supply. ...
There’s such a general desire for fame. Within the last twenty-five, thirty years fame itself became an extremely valuable thing to people, divorced from anything else. That is basically the fault of Andy Warhol. One of the things Andy did is he made fame more famous because Andy was using the word fame all the time. It was a joke. Let me assure you this was a joke. You take these drag queens – who are actually criminals ’cause it’s against the law to wear a dress if you were a man at the time – and you say this drag queen, of course, they wanna be a movie star, they wanna be an exact movie star. In other words, Candy Darling wants to be exactly Marilyn Monroe OK? This is a drag queen fantasy at the time. No one takes it seriously – except Candy does. And then Andy says, ‘You’re not just a movie star like Marilyn Monroe, you’re a superstar!’ He makes it up. It’s a joke. It’s a joke! [pause] This is what ruined the world. This is what happens when an inside joke gets into the water supply. ...
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Warhol in Ten Takes |
Editors | Glyn Davis, Gary Needham |
Place of Publication | London |
Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
Chapter | 10 |
Pages | 180-194 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Edition | 1st |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781839021138 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781844574018, 9781844574025 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |