This power-cut interrupted episode picks up where last week’s episode left off – with no clothes on! Dara wraps up his thoughts on nudity by addressing some omissions from last time. He briefly looks at a couple of male movie nudes before talking about his life modelling experience while in acting school in England in the mid-nineties. An article on a new photo exhibition that replaces Helmut Newton’s chilly women with male models raises questions of conditioning, objectification, and the dominance of the male gaze.
Switching to the notion of shame around nudity, Dara recalls the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The idea of being sullied with original sin enrages him and he rails against its perversity. He reflects on childhood shame and the impulse children have to seek approval and affirmation. Yet again, he examines his own parenting patterns and hopes he is being sufficiently vigilant to ensure shame is not in the equation.
A recent protest at the Burning Man festival gets Dara onto the subject of the wealthiest stratum of society having a disproportionate influence on the cost of major events in the cultural and sporting domain. He argues that too many ‘normal’ people are getting shut out of collective experiences because they keep getting more expensive. Should events like these be for the rich alone? Lifestyle culture as endlessly presented on social and popular media has a lot to answer for in this area.
The episode finishes with a review of John Boorman’s lovely movie memoir, ‘Conclusions’.
Hani Hape’s Helmut Newton treatment: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/28/pornographic-chic-helmut-newtons-sexist-nudes-gender-switching-hani-hape
Burning Man protest: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/28/burning-man-protest-climate-change-environment