Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/12/29

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Susan Sontag
From: douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas M. Sharp)
Date: Wed Dec 29 03:54:32 2004
References: <1104264930.41d1bee22fbf3@webmail.mit.edu> <ba95132804122814524a2d1a01@mail.gmail.com> <41D20D59.70104@gmx.de> <018201c4ed52$6cde0f90$87d86c18@ted> <41D23BB7.8060806@adrenaline.com>

Scott,

Most of the so-called prominence, VIPs, stars, or whatever, have been heaved
into the the public light by the rest of us - what for may I ask.?
To cover for our shortcomings? as a role model? as a safety valve? as a form 
of 
escapism?
Just how many of these people can really you look up to?

Particularly then when they've got into a position where they actually look 
down 
on the people who put them where they are.

My great heroes and role models were the great engineers and artists, 
I.K.Brunel, Turner, Barnes-Wallis, Bucky Fuller, Frank Lloyd Wright and 
others, 
too many to be numbered.(choose your country - they all have had really 
great 
men and women)
They left a cultural base on which our civilisation is founded.

A sporting hero? who still talks about Mark Spitz or Cassius "Muhammed Ali" 
Clay? World class - definitely - but did they change the world for all time?
To some extent I might be prepared to admit that Clay did manage to increase 
the 
acceptance of Afro-Americans in US society, but no more than that.

Ms Sontag - is she going to be remembered along with Charles Dickens, Karl 
Marx 
or even H.G. Wells ? - each with a social conscience. Is her criticism of 
the 
USA going to be remembered in the same way as John Steinbeck? who definitely 
packed his message so that not only the intelligentsia could understand it.
Her books were aimed at the people who were close to the top of the 
intellectual 
ladder anyway.
Lange's pictures, Paul Whiteman's collection of Blues and "ethnic" American 
music for the L of C are better examples of the "Conscience of America", the 
tag 
with which Ms Sontag was, IMO wrongly, labeled.
You mention "make good" in the world, I may be misunderstanding this but 
isn't 
it more envy than admiration when we say that someone has "made good"? The 
"intellectual" spoutings of Ms Sontag are a perfect example of the 
"literature"
that one had to read to be able to keep up appearances at the typical 70's 
and 
80's parties, to be "in" or "where it's at", ephemera at it's best.Are 
people 
still discussing Ginsberg or Burroughs ? Does anyone still read Jack Kerouac?
Creativity, writers, talkers, thinkers and doers are , of course, necessary 
to 
the way of the world, this has been proved in the past and is just as valid 
for 
the future. I find it just agreat pity and shame that pseudo intellectual 
upper 
class "philosophy" (a sub-species of bullshit) can be given so much 
importance
in a world where the cost of one of Ms Sontag's books can feed an Eritrean 
family for 3 weeks.
Sorry for going on so long but I always hated pretentious "Tinten-Pisser" 
(the 
excellent German expression for the likes of Ms S. Tinte = ink).
Douglas

If my memory serves me well I think I actually met Ms Sontag in an artists 
group 
in London in the early or mid 70's, at the Acme Gallery in Covent Garden, 
which 
was run by my brother in law.It may have been some other truly annoying 
person 
but I think it was she (her?).
More memorable was setting up a performance with the "Kipper Kids", one of 
whom, 
Martin von Hasselberg, later became Bette Midler's husband. It took ages to 
set 
up the exploding pig's head.It worked perfectly in rehearsals, but on the 
night 
it didn't go BANG!! It went pht and smoke came out of the ears and nostrils. 
At 
which the show broke down in waves of laughter (on-stage).We tried to work 
out 
what charge of gunpowder to use to get the same effect again but it was 
never 
the same again.
The itching powder concealed in the ceiling construction above the audience 
didn't work either, I'm sure, if they had known, they would have been very 
pleased at that.



Scott McLoughlin wrote:
> Look, these things are hardly comparable. A great
> baseball player can die on the same day as a mine
> shaft disaster in WV, and they are both sad events
> in their own way.
> 
> Sheesh.  Yes, there are critics and there are makers,
> talkers and doers - but the two are both highly creative
> and highly challenging.  The woman or man of letters
> who manages to make good in this world is as rare as
> the photographer who happens to gain some degree of
> recognition or notoriety for their work.  I would hope
> we could all appreciate this level of life accomplishment
> and contribution even if we aren't individually partial
> to the work - books or photographs - they happen to
> leave behind.
> 
> Scott
> 
> 
> Ted Grant wrote:
> 
>> Douglas M. Sharp offered:
>>
>>> So, Susan Sontag has passed away - sad for her family and friends.
>>>
>>> There are people from many countries out in SE-Asia showing humanity 
>>> with their voluntary aid work and selfless dedication to helping 
>>> people in a tragic, catastrophic situation.
>>> A lot more important than anything that Ms Sontag may have 
>>> contributed to the well-being of the world - and she got money for it 
>>> too.
>>> They, however, will remain nameless heroes.<,,,,
>>
>>
>>
>> Douglas mon ami,
>> How true! And as I finished my drivel on this Susan Sontag topic, this 
>> crossed my mind.
>>
>> At this moment approximately 60,000 human beings have died in a few 
>> moments of horror! How stupid can we be bothering with drivelling 
>> discussions on some nothing situation!
>>
>> My goodness wouldn't it be great at this time of human disaster we 
>> might just concern ourselves with something far more important? Like?  
>> Is there anyone on list who might have family or friends in this 
>> disaster area?  Or know of any LUG family member living near by whom 
>> we may help in some way? Not sure what?
>>
>> This is hard to understand because it's on the other side of the 
>> planet, but a few moments of new TV coverage by discovered amateur 
>> video is absolutely amazing what happened with such devastating force 
>> in minutes!.
>>
>> I realize there isn't much we can do physically, a donation possibly 
>> through our own Red Cross or Red Crescent organizations. But it's 
>> incredible what "Mother Nature" can do within a few moments of time.  
>> It also points up all the controls of security in the world for our so 
>> called survival are quite meaningless, if she, Mother Nature gives a 
>> twitch!
>>
>> ted
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 


Replies: Reply from bladman99 at yahoo.ca (Dan C) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)
In reply to: Message from bdcolen at MIT.EDU (B D Colen) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)
Message from alaxsxaq at gmail.com (Glenn Stauffer) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)
Message from douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas M. Sharp) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)
Message from tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)
Message from scott at adrenaline.com (Scott McLoughlin) ([Leica] Susan Sontag)