Writing Oscar Wilde, Twisted Sister, and Animal House

[Brasil]

Quick, 10-minute, 2-pager.


[center]"Getting Wilde with Animals and Sisters"[/center]


I find that the most important aspect of the English Decadent Movement is their desire to change their society. Their dedication to the cause, while misguided from misinformation, is commendable. They stick to their guns, so to speak, even when threatened with castration, or publicly humiliated. While their movement may have only lasted for ten years, this attitude of ?we?re here and we?re not going to take it? lives on.

It?s very interesting to read about Oscar Wilde?s exploits and look at current celebrities. By ?current,? I mean in the last thirty years, of course. When I read of the Decadents disregard for morality, Animal House comes to mind. Likewise, when I read of Wilde dressing in drag, I imagine D. Snider of Twisted Sister, an 80s hair/heavy metal band. Snider certainly fits into the motif of Wilde and his Decadence cronies. The Decadents essentially said to the Romantics of the time, ?we?re not going to take it.? Twister Sister?s most famous song, ?We?re Not Gonna Take it,? is a modern-day translation of the ideals and values?or lack thereof?of the Decadent Movement. Wilde used make-up, and adopting Snider?s ?look? meant being caked in women?s rouge, eyeliner, and lipstick. I would further say that Snider is the modern-day Wilde.

This comparison with D. Snider is strengthened when we examine how dedicated the Decadents were to creating a new form of art. One cannot deny the shock value of what the Decadents were creating. They were writing poetry that was grotesque and obsessed with matters of the flesh.

When we look at what Twisted Sister was writing during their days, we find lyrics filled with innuendo and disturbing obsessive motifs. The video to ?We?re Not Gonna Take It? features a son transforming into D. Snider and sending his father down the stairs. It is the ultimate act of rebellion; to overthrow the overbearing father. Interestingly enough, Animal House works back into this idea, as the actor who played the overbearing father in Twisted Sister?s video is Mark Metcalf, who played a similarly overbearing ROTC drill instructor in Animal House. Surely, Wilde and the Decadents viewed the Romantics as overbearing drill instructors. It was a rigid structure, never allowing for deviation while one stayed ?within the system.?
In Animal House, this idea is exercised. Flounder is only able to challenge the maniacal ROTC instructor when he is removed from the situation. He fights the system from the outside, which is very similar to the Decadent Movement.

Through independent publications like The Yellow Book, the Decadents spread their ideals throughout England. The Romantics refused to give them a platform and also refused to acknowledge their ideas, so the Decadents took it upon themselves to wreak havoc with what the Romantics knew.
This has a striking similarity to the finale of Animal House. Bluto and his Delta brothers are going to be expelled, and the majority of them are content to sit there and feel sorry for themselves. They have no idea of what to do, of how to fight back against Dean Wormer?s militaristic empire. However, Bluto refuses to sit around, eager to get revenge on those forcing them into an undesirable situation. Chaos ensues as the Deltas disrupt the school?s homecoming parade and because of their actions, public morality is degraded, which was the primary criticism of proponents of the Decadent Movement, ?perversity, unwholesomeness, and morbidity.?

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue]I think I will go off and read a little more William Blake.. .....who is considered a Romantic poet even though he technically isn't.

While I found your ten minute two page paper fascinating, I walked away feeling rather drained and disturbed. Perhaps it was the image of the transvestite Lord Cornbury on page 89 of [u]The Great Republic[/u] that threw me off.

Either way you kept the flow of your paper good, wrote it in a lovely circular manner and I was pleased to discover that I was able to understand what you were writting about.[/color]