How to Become a Camp Icon in Five Easy Lessons: Fetishism – and Tallulah Bankhead’s Phallus - Edward O'Neill

Edward O’Neill
This essay is dedicated to the memory of Richard Iosti.

Quote from Stephen Sondheim: "First, you’re another sloe-eyed vamp, Then someone’s mother— then you’re camp."
The significance of Tallulah Bankhead is nuanced; combines factual recounting with anecdotal fabrications, emphasizing the challenges in discussing the deceased.

The complexity of speaking about the deceased; discussing the absent cannot guarantee truthfulness.
Discusses personal connection to Tallulah Bankhead (deceased in 1968) through the lens of gay identity and the role of storytelling in queer culture.
The speaker outlines their engagement with anecdotes surrounding Bankhead through the narratives of friends who have recounted stories of her.
- Mentions Leonard Dietz’s, Richard Iosti’s, and Phillip Mendelsohn’s contributions to these stories, noting their respective contexts and fates (including deaths due to AIDS).

References Truman Capote's unfinished novel Answered Prayers as a primary documentary source for anecdotes about Tallulah.
Discusses the nature of truth and fiction in Capote's portrayal of his relationships, expressing reluctance to label deceased individuals’ stories as factual or fictional.
Captures the tension between “truth” and “believability” in literature, using Capote's work to illustrate this.

Focus on an anecdote involving Dorothy Parker, Montgomery Clift, and Bankhead which highlights the perception of male homosexuality in a humorous frame.
Parker’s humorous quote about Clift's sexuality serves as a springboard for deeper discussion on the epistemology of sexuality and visibility.
Bankhead's dismissal of Parker’s assumption about Clift’s sexuality as a vehicle to explore the nature of truth and queer identity.

Discusses the “literal” quest for truth in determining sexual identities (e.g., Clift’s sexuality).
Comparison of this to the desire for straightforward representations in cultural criticism, referencing critics like Dyer and Miller who aim for transparent representations.

Analysis of how discourse surrounding sexual identity involves an inherent opacity and urges greater nuance in understanding homosexuality through narrative.

Examines the metaphor of male gender impersonation, where “truth” is not fixed but constantly redefined through performance.

Bankhead represents the complexities of camp through her ambiguous gender identity, her persona entwined with the epistemological dilemmas presented in the anecdote.
Appeals to marginalized identities seeking representation and freedom from homophobia.
Bankhead as an object of fetishism, enabling a camp reading that offers insights into gay culture's experiences with identity and sexuality.
Discusses the comedic and pointed ripostes of Bankhead as central aspects of her public persona and camp appeal.

Proposes rethinking fetishism not merely as an attachment to objects but as a component of identity and narrative construction in gay culture.
Connects the understanding of camp to themes in queer studies, questioning traditional assessments of both sexuality and aesthetic appreciation.
Bankhead becomes a signifier within gay identity, reflecting broader historical and cultural themes.

The ambiguity around Bankhead’s sexuality catalyzed greater investment in her mystique, with rumors about her love life enhancing her camp status.

Collaborations and associations with noted gay figures solidified Bankhead's place in queer culture, linking her persona to essential artistic identities.

Bankhead's history of roles and positioning in fading cultural institutions mirrors broader trends within camp and nostalgia.

Identity linked with artistic mediums that symbolize cultural decline, such as radio and theater, associated with her fading star power in a cinematic world.

The distinctiveness of Bankhead's voice informs the texture of camp through the transmission of her anecdotes and encounters, reinforcing an aesthetic focus on individual expression.

Camp figures like Bankhead personify cultural dialogues of absence and presence, driving home the complexities of visibility and identity in queer narratives.
Reflects on the nature of memory and loss in relation to both personal and collective experiences of grief, especially in connection to AIDS within the gay community.
Suggests that the enduring significance of figures like Bankhead lies in their ability to articulate nuanced, queer identities and experiences of longing.