Thursday, June 30, 2011

Disability, Gender, and Janelle Monae’s "Tightrope"

Image of Janelle Monae's Album Coer for "Metropolis"
Not sure why the android she is depicted as is missing limbs...
Disability, Gender, and Janelle Monae’s "Tightrope"

The video for the song “Tightrope” takes place in a real-life (and famous) asylum, The Palace of Dogs.  While Monae and all of the people in this video wear black, glamorous clothes, the setting is an old style, typical institutional setting.  There are scenes including a matronly, African American nurse, very antiquated in her manner, dress, and is reminiscent of Nurse Ratchet from the movie version of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” a dated and stereotypical image of nurses in institutions and mental hospitals.

“whether you’re high or low
t-t-t-tip on the tightrope”

I had to look at the lyrics as well to gain any meaning of the setting.  Do the lyrics speak of having to conform to normalcy or perhaps it’s okay to “rock the boat” and be yourself?  How many people, indeed women, have been criticized, ostracized, and indeed institutionalized for being female, or perhaps less than ideal as not being feminine, not conformist, or being called “disabled” because they are simply female?  As Rosemarie Garland-Thomson discusses in her works that femininity in and of itself has the potential to be disabling.  Perhaps Monae has been institutionalized because she is so extreme in her gender bending appearance?  Or is it that her fame has disabled her?  There should definitely be a discussion of race within all of this as well, and is being African American itself disabling?  I see more intersections and multiple identities at play.  (As Rosemarie has said, too, there is no way to be just a woman).
What does it mean to have this set in an institution?  She mentions in the video about the inspiration for the video that the song was for “the people” (her people?)—and talks about whether or not the people at the asylum (she uses a very antiquated phrase—sanitarium) are mentally ill.  Well, sometimes people who are incarcerated in institutions aren’t ill at all.  She talks about the significance of filming the video in this practical institution (see http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00031659.html & http://www.chacha.com/question/is-there-a-real-%22palace-of-the-dogs,%22-or-is-it-just-fiction).
I see a large streak of non-conformity, especially from a gender perspective.  In almost every image I've seen of Monae, she almost always wears an exaggerated pompadour hairstyle, a tuxedo of one kind or another, short black pants and oxford shoes.  She is her own stylist, and it would be interesting to find out more about her inspiration for her “mannish” attire.  Seems part James Brown, Little Richard, and maybe even Buddy Holly, very reminiscent of the 40s and 50s.  Even at the end of this video she sits in what appears to be her room and there is an older model manual typewriter, an old radio and a Victrola record player.
It is interesting to note that all of the people in the video that I noticed are African American, but if you really think about it, why wouldn’t they be?  How many videos and other media that feature white people have all white people?  Isn’t this normal for her, to have a community and be surrounded by African Americans?  Or is this ultimately racist?  In all reality a huge part of a society segregates people by race, whether by choice or not.  Is being a different race disabling in our world?  Interesting thought.
It’s helpful to find this video where Monae talks about her inspiration for the song:
"'Tightrope' was made for the people," says Janelle Monae of the lead single from her forthcoming new album, The Arch Android. Featuring Big Boi from Outkast, the 'Tightrope' video depicts dance as rebellious freedom.

"Every time you step outside you're dealing with life and you're trying to stay sane, for a lack of better words. Balance, to me, is the key; not getting too high, not getting too low - that's what 'Tightrope' represents. It's like life's tutorial on how to actually make it through life without becoming insane and driving yourself to a life full of hatred and just not wanting to be here."
She also mentions something about she couldn’t really say whether or not the people at the Palace of the Dogs are mentally ill or not, but something about due to her contract to film there, she couldn’t talk about it.

Again, I would have to say my interest in Janelle Monae began because I saw her in the end of the year issue of People magazine and saw she was a science fiction fan like myself; thus, I identify with her, as I've long ago "christened" myself as a nerd/geek, because I too am a big sci-fi fan, but this is in no way (at least in my eyes) related to any disability identity.  I did write a very brief paper on Janelle that I'll be sharing with some others, but don't know if I'll necessarily do anything with it other than posting it to my blog.  Since I'm not as familiar with a lot of theories, it will only be my beginning thoughts on the subject, as I'm only at the beginning of any academics, let alone Disability Studies!  If anyone has thoughts about nerds/geeks and disability, I'd love to read about it!
Sources used and other resources related to Janelle Monae and Disability:
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