Humor in Money

In Money, Amis writes with a sarcastic and exaggerated voice, which is comedic because the characters and situations he describes are both unbelievable and completely plausible. The people that Self encounters are the most absurd individuals and their beliefs are unfamiliar to what I, personally, am used to. At the same time, though, it is not hard to believe that people like this would exist in the world, not just a fictional setting. Lorne Guyland believes himself to be a master of his craft and the entire passage where he describes his expectations for his character in Good Money is really humorous. Lorne has been hired to do this acting job, yet he behaves as if his presence is an honor and a privilege for everyone - as if the movie is being graced with his skills. On page 171, He refers to the character Gary as "Garfield", and rather than being an average Joe bar owner, Lorne envisions Garfield as a suave Renaissance man. Lorne, as well as all of the actor's taking part in Good Money, are very demanding about what they want their characters to be like. Lorne, however, is the most outrageous because he goes on these tangents about Garfield's money, foreign homes, and cultural treasures. Self's reaction to Lorne's rants are great because he sees the absurdity of this situation, but speaks about it as if this were to be expected from an actor. He does not fight with Lorne, but agrees with him like an adult would an imaginative child. Amis employs a great deal of Cicero's practice of humor because Self constantly points out flaws in himself as well as others. Self is an extreme self-loather but he still indulges himself like a playboy. Like the Quintillian definition to "refresh" the audience with commentary, Self interjects throughout his narrations. He has sly remarks about the people he encounters, yet he insults himself in the process, almost like saying that he does not expect anyone around him to be normal because he himself is far from it. Having Self's descriptions of the people he interacts with are helpful because although he is reckless and self-destructive, he maintains a sort of level-headed unbiasedness when he is referring to someone. Everything occurs the way it is, and Self's commentary provides a similar message to that of a glance in our direction or a shrug of the shoulders. 

Mo Money Mo Problems

A specific passage that struck me was Self's description of his London flat at the bottom of page 64. He says he likes to think of it as a "playboy pad" - a place where beautiful women congregate and lavish parties are thrown. His wishes for his flat are in no way representative of the actual appearance of his home, though, and its smell of "batch, of bachelordom" connotes a sense of loneliness. He warns the reader to not let "batch into your life" because it leaves the victim feeling rather pathetic and unsatisfied. Self's flat is a metaphor for his own emotions, and Amis expresses this when he attaches the word "poor" to Self's flat, compares it to an "adolescent", and writes that it "pines for a female presence". Self is heartbroken without Selina and her departure ruined his self-esteem, so Self's descriptions of his flat are actually representative of his own shortcomings. "Her dressing-gown, her moisturizing creams, the treasure-chest of her knicker drawer" are small details of Selina that symbolize her presence as a whole - a presence that has caused Self both happiness and sorrow. As the passage goes on, Self describes how everything in his flat is "hired". If something is "hired" it is generally temporary because it has the potential to be fired later on. Money gives Self all of the material items he needs, but the fact that they are "hired" makes it very impersonal and incapable of dependency. "I've lived here for ten years now and nothing is mine". Self travels frequently and the fact that "nothing" feels like it's his shows how unstable he is, even in his own home. Everything Self owns can vanish if he loses his money. Compared to the rest of the novel thus far, this excerpt is more depressing because it shows Self with his guard down, speaking less confidently and self-assured than he usual.  

Money

Although John Self is supposed to be an exaggerated self-indulger, I actually feel some type of relation to him. Self is rather harsh, but his sarcasm is a language I can understand. Self is extremely opinionated and much of what he says resonates some truth. Since the first 50 or so pages take place in New York City, most of the locations he describes are places I have been to myself. When he mentions how "Broadway always contrives to be just that little bit shittier than the zones through which it bends" (32), I can't help but chuckle because I can see where he's coming from. I'm sure Broadway was much different in the 1980's, but, even now, it still has traces of "shitty". Since the story is written in first person narrative, the separation between Amis and John Self is a bit blurred. Third person narrative is sometimes not opinionated, and because Amis seems to be speaking through Self, he does not allow himself a chance to be a nonpartisan. Amis' style is also domineering. Self has strong opinions on things and speaks in very matter-of-fact tone. When he acknowledges the reader, he speaks as if he knows their thoughts. When describing the types of people Self hates, Amis writes, "...And you hate me, don't you. Yes you do." (59) Amis and Self are generalizing and stereotyping the type of people who use money for charity as opposed to means of self-gratification. His sentences are short and simple, not leaving any room for interpretation. Since Self, "as a rule, hate[s] people who are the beneficiaries of a university education"(59), Amis is implying that Self's views are not prone to change. Self is judgmental, which is a quality that many people can possess. Amis writes what other people are thinking, and even if it is not actually how they feel, Amis will say it is.         

Crash: Film vs. Novel

It is very rare that I like a movie adaptation more, or even equal to, the original novel, so I may be a bit biased in my opinion of Cronenberg's Crash. While I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, I felt that the film fell short in conveying Ballard's message about technology. It's understandable that the movie would leave out certain details from the book, but one of the more noticeable absences is the reference to Elizabeth Taylor. Vaughan's dream was to die with her in a car crash, yet the movie did not explain this at all. It was important to note the connection between cultural figures and technology because Ballard was explicit in his mentioning of the era's culture. Also, I felt like the movie followed less of a story line than the novel. In Ballard's written version, we are able to get inside James' head and follow his progression of machine obsession and his feelings toward the other characters. Where in the book the relationship between Vaughan and James goes in depth and we see James' transformation from an admirer to a dominator, the movie fails to show this change. In Cronenberg's film, James' thoughts were less obvious and his actions were therefore unexplained and confusing. This is similar to Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. In Burgess' novel, the language that Alex and his "droogs" use is so prominent that you are transported into this world and begin to think like him. In the movie, this unique vocabulary is not used as much because a lot of the explanations can just rely on imagery as opposed to text. This makes it difficult to place yourself in the mind of Alex and somehow understand how he behaves. In the book version of Crash, we can visualize Ballard's descriptions and incorporate our own imagination to envision a warped scene of man and machine interacting. In the film, the images are laid out too literally, so it visually does not make any sense in the context of what message Cronenberg is trying to adapt. 

The Conclusion of Crash

           "The body itself is only a medium" (Baudrillard 313). Particular motifs that I had previously mentioned are the constant references to scars and other bodily imperfections. Each character is scarred due to some, no pun intended, run-in with an automobile. Gabrielle loses sensation in her legs due to an accident and is therefore confined to a wheelchair; this handicap attracts James and he associates the hand pedals in Gabrielle's car with her actual body. After James gets in his first car crash and is sent to the hospital, he revels in the sight of his car's imprints in his chest and abdomen. Ballard is showing James' excitement for metaphorically turning into a car himself. Vaughan has the most surface impurites, and this conjoins him to cars - this is also possibly why James adores Vaughan so much. The closer James gets to Vaughan, the closer he gets to symbolically having sex with a machine. He is incredibly attracted to Vaughan's scars and licks them when they copulate in the car. After the two have sex, they "showed [their] wounds to each other, exposing the scars on [their] chests and hands to the beckoning injury sites in the interior of the car" (203). When James looks back on their sexual encounter, he realizes that the "sex act between [them] had been devoid of all sexuality" (212). James has a true love for what Vaughan represents; this sex is not comparable to the sex he has with random women, it is a union between James and his technologic love. Vaughan is the metaphoric embodiment of a car crash; he has a strong physique and is intense and destructive, yet damaged.
            It is comforting for each character to be around someone who is, in their own way, damaged. Helen's scar was left on her heart when her husband died, but she found "happiness in Gabrielle's scars and injuries" (224). Ballard uses the word "perverse" (223) when he describes Helen's attraction to Gabrielle, perhaps contributing this affection to the off-beat world that they are living in. In the world of Crash, Ballard is trying to represent the beginning of an era completely dependent on technology. A culture that is so familiar to the readers is ceasing to have meaning because they will all begin to rely on machines. Vaughan is trying to kill Elizabeth Taylor, a classic celebrity icon and symbol of a generation. Vaughan has sex with women that look like Elizabeth Taylor in different stages of her life because society is brainwashed to try and look like their favorite stars. By killing off representations of a world that readers can recognize, Ballard is showing what the future will look like once people have begun to depend on technology to interact with each other. Vaughan is interacting with Elizabeth Taylor through automotive destruction as opposed to verbal communication.
            Ballard also frequently uses the word "marriage". He may attempting to reclaim the meaning of the word which often resembles a traditional and conforming practice. After Seagrave died in Elizabeth Taylor's costume, Vaughan's plan of killing her was referred to as a "wedding with himself already celebrated across the bloody altar of Seagrave's car" (187). If there is an intimate moment between a person and a car, they are usually referred to as married. The woman Seagrave killed in the accident "[married] her body with the stylized contours of the instrument panel and windshield (189). In Crash's society of dysfunctional marriage and human interactions, the term "marriage" is used as a representation of union between a person and a machine. 

Ballard-esque Writing

Her mouth gaped as she shoved the spongey bread into her mouth. Sugary cream dripped down the sides of her moist lips and, like a running stream, trickled down to her cleavage. I watched her indulge in mouthful after mouthful of this concoction composed of no more than butter, sugar, and flour, which she devoured as if it was her first meal in years. She patted her forehead with a paper napkin, for it had begun to gather beads of shimmering sweat. The tablecloth was a pastel pink, set against the backdrop of pale yellow and sky blue walls, and I could not help but feel that this pastry shop was designed to resemble that of an infant's bedroom. A lighting fixture hung from the ceiling like an upside-down lollipop, illuminating the center of the room, while the four corners depended on the harsh radiance of neon signs displaying the custard flavors of the week: german chocolate, butterscotch, and praline. The pallid woman had been deprived of the sun for some time, perhaps due to hours spent at home watching the home shopping network and ordering a dozen miniature bear figurines. She sat in the far left corner of the eatery, beneath a painting of what the store had looked like 25 years ago on the other side of town. Her chest heaved every time she pushed a palm-full of dessert into her mouth. Her fingers, like a row of 5 vienna sausages, cupped her mouth in order to keep mush from spewing out. While she attempted to chew her food with a full maw, her eyes closed and her head tilted back as she relished in this moment of elation. I noticed a lump travel south in her throat into the deep abyss of her stomach, where so many pounds of previous meals lay. Her glistening bosom extended outwards as she took a deep breath in preparation of the next bite. 

Ballard & Vaughan Sitting In A Tree...

The relationship between Ballard and the ever-creeping Vaughan has escalated to an extreme measure of sexual tension. While Ballard fantasizes about Vaughan's scars and the prospect of engaging in sexual intercourse, Vaughan seems to be using Ballard's attraction to his own advantage. Ballard appears to idolize Vaughan, perhaps because his friend's scars resemble experience and wisdom that only these physical deformities can attest to. Vaughan's scars fascinate those around him and he has an ability to manipulate others. He also has a connection to cars that is much stronger than Ballard's. Everything Vaughan engages in is somehow related to technology; his job utilizes technology, he ejaculates simply by looking at mutilated women and machines, and he when he has sex, the car acts like a participant. Ballard has witnessed Vaughan have sex multiple times, and he always says that Vaughan has an experience not only with the women, but with the car as well. Ballard is not even upset when Vaughan fornicates with Catherine -  he sees it as a logical occurrence. Vaughan is intense and mysterious at the same time, which intrigues Ballard because he has met someone with such a consuming passion. I don't think that Ballard is physically attracted to Vaughan because Ballard is a homosexual. I believe that Ballard wants to somehow obtain some of Vaughan's power and connection to cars. It is a known sexual desire to want to be overpowered and it is likely that Ballard sees Vaughan as a strong individual. Vaughan is on a whole other plane that Ballard does not know how to deal with, so he essentially lets Vaughan do whatever he wants.

Crash and the Menippean Style

In the continued reading of Crash, I began to notice the importance of technology in not just James' life, but those around him as well. When James begins his affair with Helen Remington, they both can only be aroused when they have sex in a vehicle. Being in a house does nothing for them - they must be surrounded by machinery. This sexual attraction to cars used to be exclusive to James, but it now appears that Helen shares the same passion. Her husband's death was at the hand James behind the wheel of a car, yet her feelings of grief are overshadowed by the pleasures of sex. She seems to be rather apathetic towards her husband's death. Not only do James and Helen share this mutual addiction to machines, crashes are being romanticized on the big screen. On the film that Vaughan is working on, actresses are made up to appear like they experienced a horrendous car crash. Vaughan also appears to be following James, as if he knew there was another man who shared his appreciation for vehicles. 

James may be showing characteristics of a pansexual. In the world that J.G. Ballard has created for Crash, most characters are not exclusive with who they wish to have sex with. James fantasizes about Vaughan's thighs and toys with the idea of sex. Catherine is obvious about her lesbian fantasies but she still fornicates with men. When Vaughan is described sitting on the hood of his car, he is almost engaging in sex with the machine, pushing his pelvis and buttocks against the hood. Men, women, and machines are all sources for arousal. A recurring motif that has occurred in the reading so far has been the use of photographs and cameras. Vaughan has a photo studio where he shows James pictures of a crash victim named Gabrielle as she deals with her accident. Vaughan is also a part of a movie production and frequently holds a camera. Before he officially met James, he appeared in the parking garage taking photos of a nearby accident. Scars are also frequently mentioned. Helen has scars on her face, Vaughan is covered in them, and Vera Seagrave has scars on her thighs. 

Dealing with the concept of apophasis, I do not believe that Crash wholly possess this type of ideal. Yes, Ballard proposes wild prepositions, but there is no lack of belief. The whole concept of apophasis is a bit contradictory in itself. It is nearly impossible to not believe in anything because that act of disbelieving is already believing in something. Like nihilism, the decision to not hold any morals and beliefs is holding the absence of belief above the possession of belief. On the other hand, though, writing in an apophasis matter is a transgressive approach. In a work like Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, the writer is neither condoning nor condemning a relationship with a "nymphet". He is merely stating the relationship as is. In Crash, Ballard is not personally stating that it is okay to crash cars and be overtly sexual. His characters hold these beliefs, and he created the characters, but it is not a reflection of his personal ideals. Ultimately, though, Crash is a bit of a warning against the attachment to technology, so it is possible that Ballard is stating his opposition towards technology. While he could have been indifferent about the future of machines, his exaggerated approach to Crash's world seems more negative than positive.