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AIDS, the Problem of Representation, and Plurality in Derek Jarman's Blue

1997; Duke University Press; Issue: 52/53 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/466743

1527-1951

Tim Lawrence,

Cinema and Media Studies

Blue did not explode onto the cinematic world in the full glory of Hollywood hype.When the film was premiered at the Venice Biennale in June 1993, McDonald's didn't organize a special promotion of blue hamburgers, and Coca-Cola stuck to its red-colored cans and browncolored drink.Nor were there dozens of photographers hustling for the best shot of the sexiest star as the audience gathered at the Palazzo de Cinema.No, the screening of Jarman's film passed quietly-just Jarman himself, a single reporter, a small audience, and seventy-six minutes of unchanging blue celluloid backed by a soundtrack about the director's experience of living and dying with AIDS.The same night, at another Biennale event, Elizabeth Taylor presided over an "Art against AIDS" gala in a sixteenth-century palazzo on the Grand Canal.1Here there were only sponsors, with the price of admission depending on what type of patron you were: artists could contribute an item to the "Drawing the Line against AIDS" exhibition, whereas nonartists had to pay $2,500 for their place at the table."Artists have always been, and always continue to be, the living conscience and unbowed spirit of every generation," Taylor told Chaka Khan, Yoko Ono, Valentino, and the rest of the guests."I take comfort, for you have proved we have not lost our way."Press reports focused on the glamorous excess of the occasion-marble foyers, water taxis, brocade walls, and Taylor's chic chiffon outfit adorned with a diamond necklace.The organizers of the Biennale were less confident than Taylor that the art world had not lost its way and accordingly named the aperto (experimental) section "Emergency."Pride of place was given to an Oliviero Toscani United Colours of Benetton advertisement, which consisted of floor-to-ceiling crotch shots of men, women, and children.The image created a furor, especially around the issue of child exploitationa charge that Toscani denied on the grounds that the children were his own.Such allegations had become familiar to Toscani, who a year earlier had been accused of exploiting human suffering in a Benetton ad that showed a man dying with AIDS, surrounded by his grief-stricken family.