Blonde Venus

Blonde Venus treats all of these cultural dynamics thematiccally and in the mise-en-scène by way of a narrative structure that has been described as an aesthetic of camp (Martin citing Sontag 285). The idea of Blonde Venus as camp doubtless owes something to the juxtaposition of elements of sentimental melodrama (good wife Helen falls into prostitution to finance her husband Ned's life-saving operation only to have him banish her) and over-the-top comic episodes (Helen stripping out of a gorilla suit, donning an out-to-here platinum 'fro, and famously singing "Hot Voodoo"--the hot-jazz title alone explains a lot). Also consistent with camp is the fact that the film was made during "the so-called pre-Code era" (Doherty 2).

Unlike all studio system feature films released after July 1934, pre-Code Hollywood did not adhere to the strict regulations on matters of sex, vice, violence, and moral meaning. . . . For four years, the Code commandments wer

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Helen leave her apartment building courtesy of Nick's limousine and immediately starting to gossip over the fence. That Helen is about to take Nick as a lover is explained by a closeup glance in his direction, her eyes glistening in the light. Ned's harbor departure for Europe (German ambient music) is balanced by a similar scene when he returns (music "Bicycle Built for Two"). Nightclub visuals are packed with plot information on which no one comments but which amounts to a minicourse in American sociology and aesthetic symmetry. The New York club must be in Harlem, for the band is integrated and the chorus girls black; the outrageous gorilla suit distracts from what otherwise might have been a censorship issue. The Paris number, different as it may seem, is actually close to a mirror image of the Harlem number. In the first there is the bestially comic gorilla supported by a troupe of African-American chorines in goofy "jungle" costumes and out-to-there black 'fros jiggling and shaking to a decisive drumbeat. In the second there is the boldly androgynous Helen singing in French and English and costumed in a man's top hat and tails (monkey suit--get it?), supported by a troupe of très chic (white) chorines in black gowns, the '
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Blonde Venus, Hot Voodoo, Built Nightclub, South Depression, Hot Voodoo--the, French English, Roaring Twenties, Distributors Association, Helen Johnny, Helen Nick, blonde venus, von sternberg, pre-code hollywood, doherty 2, sentimental melodrama, von sternberg's, supported troupe, chorus girls, gorilla suit,
Approximate Word count = 1251
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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