Below is Lana Del Rey's 2012 Official Music Video "National Anthem." The music video
depicts del Rey in a contemporary reinterpretation of the John F. Kennedy era, particularly focused on the tragedy of 1963. I am interested in the reproduction of the national tragedy of the mid-twentieth century, as it exists within the lexicon of twenty-first century desire.
In "National Anthem" Lana del Rey begins with a rendition of Marylyn Monroe's iconic "Happy Birthday Mr. President" performance.
Within the seven minute film, Lana del Rey plays the role of both Jackie Kennedy and also Maryln Monroe, interacting with the figure of "JKF" in a somewhat interchangable manner. The final scenes of the film depict a reproduction of the presidential assasination. (Below the images of the Lana del Rey version I have included still from the Zapruder film of the actual assasination).
My focus on Lana del Rey's contemporary reinterpretation of the JFK scandle is driven by four main points of interest: the actual national tragedy of 1963, along with the public response it provoked; the public interest in the personal relations caused by the triad of President Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and Maryln Monroe; the function of a contemporary reinterpretation of the respective issues in a pop-culture setting; and the implicit narrative of titling this interpretation "National Anthem."
My final paper will look at these points as the relate to Lauren Berlant's "Critical Optimism," Sarah Ahmed's "The Politics of Emotion," and Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Networks."
Within the scope of these three authors, I hope to explore the relationship between desire and identity, translated from the political body to the indivual. I am curious how the wound of a nation translates to the sorrow of an individual, and vice-versa. Furthermore, I am interested in the fascination with the romanticism of the mid-twentieth century national wound, as it exists in a discoure of nastalgia apart from such a wound today. I believe this nastalgia is related to the idea of an "American Dream," as discussed by Berlant -- as it exists within a national identity (Anderson). This romantic nastalgia suggests that similar crises today could not offer the same affective logic to a viewer-- for example, the Monica Lewinski scandle with President Clinton, or otherwise the the national tragedy of September 11, 2001. Moreover, what is at stake in linking lust (by way of the JFK-Monroe scandle; with desire, perhaps even fantasy) and pain (the national wound; a scar, perhaps as a disruption to the habitual)? Ahmed writes about the power of the scar, as it marks the existence of history in the quotidinal present; however, aside from the gun shot and the concern on del Rey's face, the music video "National Anthem" is devoid of the violece inherent in the reference to the assasination. Furthermore, in synthesizing the characters of Monroe and Kennedy into a single person, an individual within the historical narrative, the music video similarly eradicated the pain inherent in the duplicity of these relationships to JFK.
My paper thus demands an answer regarding the function-- perhaps the utitlity (or its inverse)-- of the over 10.5 million views of the official youtube video of Lana del Rey since it was posted five months ago, 27 June 2012.
The structure of the paper, as I envision it, should go as follows:
Introduction
Presentation of the main idea:
Earlier this year, Lana Del Rey produced a widely received single titled "National Anthem," with a music video that depicts a representation of the Kennedy presidency through the eyes of a single woman (Del Rey), here designed to embody both Jackie Kennedy and Maryln Monroe.
The prominent themes to be discussed:
(answering the general question-- why this, why now?)
-violence & a national wound -- why JFK's assasination, and not 9/11
-nastalgia & the american dream -- why has this national obsession held up through the test of time
-fantasy & desire -- what is at stake in Del Rey's embodiement of these two women; what is the meaning of their conflation to the identity of the contemporary woman
Main question(s):
Does the re-presentation of the Kennedy era in "National Anthem," devoid of pain or trauma, function as an incorporation of the memory of pain in the body politic, as a "scar" to mark the memory of a wound; or conversely, does the apathetic incorporation of trauma into the pop-culture dialectic further divorce the event from its place in the political consciousness, thereby allowing the original disruption to flow more smoothly into the neoliberal capitalist agenda that determines the contemporary democratic body?
Working Thesis:
an answer to the question or perahaps simply the question itself.
Conclusion
In MTV's interview with Anthony Mandler, the director of "National Anthem," Mandler is described as feeling that, "the video is less about reinterpreting history and as it is about examining loss, historical or otherwise." Mandler says,"The whole movie kind of hedges on the gunshot, it hedges on that close-up of the hand when the gunshot happens, and you don't see anything violent. What you're used to seeing with the Zapruder film, is this very kind of violent, destructive act; I didn't want to go anywhere near that."
---
What is at stake in the reappropriation of a national anthem within the context of contemporary popular culture's dialectic of erotic desire? In a recent article in Artforum titled "This Year in Pop," Christopher Glazek ends by saying:
"Del Rey is not a political singer, whatever that could mean in 2012, but her songs and videos trade on, or perhaps consume, the great issues of our day. Del Rey is a fantasist, too, but her fantasies are worldly and ambitious. Her vision, while affirmative, is also unblinkered; through it, she brings a rare candor to an escapist enterprise. She allows us to escape, but to escape into reality, and thereby perhaps to remake it."
Glazek's article focuses primarily on Lana Del Rey's 2012 hit song "National Anthem" (Born to Die, Interscope), as the song, and its accompanying video, reinterpret the scandle and tragedy of the John F. Kennedy presidency in the context of the contemporary post-modern dialectic of desire. Lana del Rey's contemporary reinterpretation of the Kennedy era enacts the relationship between desire and identity, translated from the political body to the indivual. There is a certain gravity to the video re-presentation of the Kennedy assasination, as it manifests devoid of any of the violence of the murder. In an MTV interview with Anthony Mandler, the director of "National Anthem," Mandler is described as feeling that, "the video is less about reinterpreting history and as it is about examining loss, historical or otherwise." Mandler goes on to say:
"The whole movie kind of hedges on the gunshot, it hedges on that close-up of the hand when the gunshot happens, and you don't see anything violent. What you're used to seeing with the Zapruder film, is this very kind of violent, destructive act; I didn't want to go anywhere near that."
This interest in loss apart from violence also seems to manifest in the decision to renarrativise the history of the triadic relations between President Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and Maryln Monroe. The depiction of the Kennedy presidency through the eyes of a single woman (Del Rey), here designed to embody both Jackie Kennedy and Maryln Monroe. This synthesis of the sovergneity of Monroe and Jackie Kennedy into a single person, an individual within the historical narrative, eradicates the inherent pain present in the duplicity of these relationships to the president. Here there is, on the one hand, a confusion of lust (by way of the JFK-Monroe scandle) and pain (the national wound); while simultaneously a conflation of the lust and pain that manifests on a more general register, in the relation of the reinterpretation to the original events. It finally seems relevent that this reappropriation of historical events exists under the title "National Anthem." The title itself thereby presents an argument regarding the content of the music video as it relates to the production of national identity. The function of this production, however, is less clear: does the re-presentation of the Kennedy era in "National Anthem," devoid of pain or trauma, function as an incorporation of the memory of pain in the body politic, as a "scar" to mark the memory of a wound?; or conversely, does the apathetic incorporation of trauma into the pop-culture dialectic further divorce the event from its place in the political consciousness, thereby allowing the original disruption to flow more smoothly into the neoliberal capitalist agenda that determines the contemporary democratic body?
Ahmed writes about the power of the scar, as it marks the existence of history in the quotidinal present; however, aside from the gun shot and the concern on del Rey's face, the music video "National Anthem" is devoid of the violece inherent in the reference to the assasination. Furthermore, in
; a scar, perhaps as a disruption to the habitual
the function of a contemporary reinterpretation of the respective issues in a pop-culture setting; and the implicit narrative of titling this interpretation "National Anthem."
My final paper will look at these points as the relate to Lauren Berlant's "Critical Optimism," Sarah Ahmed's "The Politics of Emotion," and Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Networks."
Within the scope of these three authors, I hope to explore I am curious how the wound of a nation translates to the sorrow of an individual, and vice-versa. Furthermore, I am interested in the fascination with the romanticism of the mid-twentieth century national wound, as it exists in a discoure of nastalgia apart from such a wound today. I believe this nastalgia is related to the idea of an "American Dream," as discussed by Berlant -- as it exists within a national identity (Anderson). This romantic nastalgia suggests that similar crises today could not offer the same affective logic to a viewer-- for example, the Monica Lewinski scandle with President Clinton, or otherwise the the national tragedy of September 11, 2001. Moreover,
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