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The Politics of Boredom
or Why is Boredom Political?
Malcolm McLaren talks about politics, culture, and the growing
world media.
McLaren is best known as the manager and creator of the Punk movement, through the Sex
Pistols. He feels that "The Sex Pistols were a combination of accident and design,
that caused a disease in the global machine. They spread like wildfire - like a computer
virus. No one has yet been brave enough to cry out "Why?""
Popular culture has been influenced in ways other than punk by Malcolm McLaren. He
produced and performed the first commercial hip-hop, and commercialised
"Vogueing" - both of which have been absorbed into mainstream culture. As he
says, "Pop culture has been centred around America since the Berlin Wall fell. It's
created one point of view. This doesn't leave much room for artists BUT it provides a need
for change. A culture only has worth if it produces change."
He sees the election of the Liberal Party as a step backwards for Australia - part of a
global step backwards. "John Howard is living in the past - that's what the world's
trying to do. We're all trying to go back to the safety of the past - which is why Clinton
will be re-elected, and Tony Blair (John Howard in a different suit) will take over in
Britain. The world without Paul Keating is like a world without Aborigines - all
possibilities for change is gone. Australia's heading back to the 50's"
McLaren was in town following his five hour slide show at the Her Majesty's Theatre for
the Festival. But he wasn't entirely sure why he'd been invited to attend. "The
meaning's gone from the Adelaide Festival. Barrie Kosky is a sad man. He's the best in a
corporate world, who can't honestly believe in the Adelaide Festival. But he's made a
valiant effort. He's a smart guy trying to breathe life - not fake life - into the
festival. But at the end of the day he can't make anyone think any deeper."
He feels that the media is destroying any attempts to change culture. "We've got to
try and fight the media world that tries to make the world available. It's just one damn
Disneyland after another. If you put your head above the parapet with a point of view,
it's immediately becomes an address to the global media. That's why there's no
sub-cultures. Fuck me, that's why there's no sub text! Everyone sells fake dreams and
desires. 'Cause it's easy - there's never been a generation so young, and so old at the
same time. They're jaded by the time they're 21. They're overfed and undernourished. It's
the problem we have. It all comes down to the notion of beauty - lovely and naked. Now we
have an industry that continues to exploit that naivety."
Perhaps one of the few subcultures remaining is that of the "Drag Queen".
Malcolm McLaren ran into a gaggle of them at Red Square after his Sunday night show.
"I quite like Drag Queens, but I'm frightened they'll become cliche. There were some
very good ones there, and this one tedious one calling herself "Rebel" - but
they were far more real than ordinary people. They're not afraid to show their emotions.
I've not met a non-radical Drag Queen - tedious yes, radical, no. They use their
personalities as a reaction against reality. They know adventure's not for sale - it's
more pure. And that's why I like them"
Special thanks must go to The Eros Café (Rundle Street), The Adelaide Hilton, and Jodie
Davis.