Final Project for Lgbt Class
December 3rd 2016
Pathompat Tejapaibul
LGBT Final Paper
When we think about failure, first things that would come to our minds would be, for example, disappointment, shame, remorse and so on. What would potentially follow would be, seek of solution or blame, depending on situations. However, The Queer Art of Failure, written by Jack Halberstam, encourages us to think again about our mistakes and reassess whether they really are mistakes or not.
In a world of hetero-capitalism, there are individuals who succeed by being able to, for example, make a living out of their career, maintain high rank job position, marry or be in relationships with people of their opposite sex who share similar qualities and have children with them. On the other hand, there are also individuals who, despite what monogamous society considers them as failing as they are not staying on that path, are still able to live their lives to their fullest and maintain their positive attitude. These are the people that Halberstam thinks that are actually succeeding even more than those who stick to a monogamous path. In Queer Art of Failure, Halberstam explores on the ability to embrace the failure, reconsider it as a part of your identity and celebrate upon it, by utilizing the elements of camp. Like Quentin Crisp’s words, “If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your own style.” (Halberstam 96) In my own understanding, camp is the idea of not taking your sexual identity (L, G, B, T, Q, etc.) seriously and ability to bring to light celebratory and nonchalant aspects of such identity. (for example, through dressing up or putting on makeups. Think “Halloween party”) Halberstam points out that within the consumerism society, various films such as Madagascar, Shrek and Finding Nemo contain queer elements which are useful to our everyday life. Though these films have different plots, they share the same goals: make the most of what you have and come up with your own definition of success. Take “monstrosity in Shrek, disability in Finding Nemo” (Halberstam, 120) as examples. Shrek ends up marrying Fiona and yet she is stuck in a monstrous form, he tells her that she is beautiful. The main characters from Madagascar (for example, Alex the lion) that escaped from the zoo did not go back. These characters are aware of and accept the fact that they went astray from the “normal” path and are meant to “get lost, stay lost”(Halberstam, 24)
Apart from the films, Halberstam also uses the Olympic games to explain her points. Tracy Moffat, a photographer says that if she gets a chance to be an official photographer for 2000 Olympics in Sydney, she would “photograph the losers.”(Halberstam, 93) To me, it goes to show that there is a side that people want to keep seeing as well as one that they want to keep turning their heads away and this has to do with giving the latter a chance. However, Moffat has given this a chance by deciding to photograph people who finish at fourth place. These athletes missed the medal, the honor and the celebration of success just by one position. For instance, at fourth place, “you are almost good. Not the worst, but almost. Almost a star!”(Halberstam, 93) Nevertheless, I disagree with the following statement and would like to correct that to the following: At fourth place, you are not only almost good. You are good in your own way. You are a star! Camp is a great element that reminds us that when we are failing, we are not actually failing. I am very happy to see such elements in films such as Madagascar. Upon writing our own stories, there are no restrictions that we should end them in certain ways. I believe that although the athletes missed the medals and the titles, if we look at this situation carefully, they are not losers and they are not undeserving athletes to not be celebrated. Just by missing something, it does not mean that something is being taken away. At least, I want to believe that they have already succeeded since the moment they are put into this Olympic game. I want to believe that finishing fourth should still be a great reason for them to still celebrate. If not, at least, they should celebrate the fact that they have come far and an alternative ending to their Olympic games should be, “We have made our attempt and it was our best shot. Our outcomes differ from the triumphant fairytales but we are still great in our own ways”