Judging from this little snippet, those unfamiliar with Secret Histories, Leonora Sansay's thinly veiled fictional reconstruction of her first hand experience of the Haitian revolution, might think it another gay romp revolving around the follies of rich people. Although that might actually be true in some respects, interspersed between scenes full of frivolity and decadence are bone chilling anecdotes about women cutting their husband's slave mistress's heads' off and serving them on platters and gut wrenching accounts of brutal domestic violence. Still, as this scene clearly demonstrates, that even though their world is virtually collapsing around them, the aristocracy are making sure that they are going out in style. Truth to be told, this passage really reminds me of Britney Spear's new music video for "Till the World Ends."
Indeed, going by Leonora's Sansay's descriptions of the numerous balls and droll soirees she attended amidst the bloodshed of the Haitian revolution, perhaps this video isn't so far off from the truth: maybe when the world really does come to an end there will be a awesome party full of sexy people, with a vapid and scantily clad pop star thrusting her hips provocatively at the center of it all. I mean that is the post modern equivalent of the social gathering where the main point of interest is Napoleon's vapid sister provocatively slipping her shoe on and off, right? Furthermore, I think that the flatness of Britney Spear's auto-tuned voice corresponds quite nicely with Sansay's description of Madame Le Clerc's facial features as sweet but "without spirit." Arguably, both women express themselves in a manner that is blandly and perniciously appealing but lacks real soul...there is nothing beneath the surface but a dark void that will lead to your DOOM. Remember that when you are getting "jiggy" with the honeys on December 21st 2012 and it suddenly occurs to you that all the frivolity around you is a cheap and desperate facade because the end of the world is coming and no matter how "hyphy" you get, nothing is going to change that or make it not suck. In any event, I do hope you'll be able to find solace in the fact that you ended up at a Britney Spears type shindig rather than watching some rich lady toy with her shoe for the entire night like poor Leonora Sansay!
But, to return a more serious tone for a moment, I do think Leonora Sansay's writing is brilliant in it's ability to tear away the veil that shrouds over and pacifies people to systems of oppression. Just as the luxuries and lifestyle warranted by slavery blinds those in power to it's true horrors, by focusing in on the seemingly meaningless act of Madame Le Clerc taking her shoe on and off, Sansay distracts the reader's interest away from the violence that is taking place just outside the confines of her safe house. In both instances, it is apparent that the line between the benign and the violent becomes blurred because overemphasis of the banal is the very means through which violence is able to continue unchecked. The connection between the two is deepened when one considers that the seemingly benign (shoes, the safe house etc) that are taken for granted through out the novel wouldn't be possible without a deeply rooted system of oppression to support it. In many ways Sansay is the flip side of the argument I made about Sedgewick and Magawisca; although an appreciation for fashion can possibly lead to identification with those who are supposedly different from you, it's can be employed to disguise the ugliness of reality. Certainly this point is very true of the modern day fashion industry and pop culture in general, that overlays tired stereotypes and oppression with a slick veneer. Just look at the eating disorders and the plastic surgery that pop starlets subject themselves to. Just like the shoe they are the gloss that distracts us away from oppression on one hand, and the symptom and cause of it on the other.
And, I mean, who cares that Britney Spears can't actually sing if autotune can fix everything? Besides that, there's the whole issue of Britney's father conservatorship and the rumors that she forced to remain in show business because of all the cash that is to made of it. Yep, a patriarchal authority figure exerting control over his daughter's life in order to make more money...sounds like a allegory for the colonial annexation of Haiti. But a she's not "fat" and bald anymore so everything must be okay, right? When she starts letting herself go again i.e. letting herself be a normal person, we'll know that she is really in trouble and that the world as we know it is finally coming to an end. Until then we can watch her prance around in her short shorts some kind of marionette and listen to her sing in her dead voice about how she's "never felt like this before."
I also think this behind the scenes video of a Terry Richardson fashion photo shoot with Lady Gaga is a particularly prescient example of the idea that Sansay was trying to convey with Madame Le Clerc's shoe back in 1808. When I watch Richardson and the half naked Gaga doing jumping jacks together, it really drives home the point that fashion industry isn't as fierce and inspired as Tyra Banks and her Top Model franchise would have you believe, but insipid, idiotic and a bit pathetic. Just like the soldier repeatedly picking up the shoe over and over again. Yeah, we're all part of the blank generation... hit me over the head with a hammer already. This feeling of disgust is heightened in light of the fact that Richardson is in actuality, a huge perv who has been accused of sexually assaulting models on photo shoots...but that's okay because his photography is really popular and it's part of his act or whatever. Yeah, right. Clearly, these aren't just matters of shoes falling off and spastic jumping jacks, people have gotten hurt and will continue get to hurt we let this kind of stupidity continue. We must recognize the gravity of the situation: the shoe will drop, the jumper will jack...or whatever. Or we can just sit back and settle into complacency. Always a good option
On lighter note, here are some pictures of an outfit inspired by the Madame Le Clerc scene. In truth, I really shouldn't be bashing Richardson and Gaga because this photo shoot went down in similar fashion to theirs- Richard Hell was blaring in the background and photographer Phoebe did her best to make feel completely debased and exploited through out. Here are the fruits of our labor:
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