DivineDemento

Anyone who’s read any of my previous blog posts will, hopefully, not be surprised to find out that I’m rather invested in queer culture. So much so, that I started a blog dedicated to queer analysis of films, books, music, celebrities…any way I can put a defiantly queer spin on any given topic, I get excited. It is a way I’ve found I can express my deep, emphatic love and pride for my community. But sometimes, being an outspoken queer activist (if I may be so bold to give myself that title – God knows there are many who are more deserving) means questioning and criticising things that happen within your own community. Our community is not perfect, and often things we hold sacred need to be challenged when they’re not up to task. For a while now, RuPaul’s Drag Race has been such a cultural phenomenon. The show has done wonders for introducing positive representation of queer and gender non-conforming people into the media landscape. It was perhaps the first show to portray drag pe...

Few books have proved as controversial as American Psycho, and certainly few have painted such a devastating picture of a nation built upon capitalism. But whilst the book is certainly a ‘black he arted satire on the terrible power of money’, it also highlights the deeply immoral perceptions of sexual and ethnic minorities in Reagan’s America – and how money, toxic masculinity and Reaganomics led to the death of millions. American Psycho is nothing if not infamous – the narrative comprises of the rambling inner-monologue of Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker who also happens to be a violent, disturbed psychopath. The book is notorious for being so violent, so flagrantly gruesome, that in many parts of the world it can only be sold in shrink-wrapped plastic. But American Psycho is also one of modern literature's most studied and debated works. The novel, on a surface level, is a deeply moralistic criticism of late stage capitalism. Though some critics have dubbe...

Only 3 short years after Tainted Love set the world on fire, drugs, constant touring and almost total emotional collapse meant Soft Cell disbanded with This Last Night in Sodom in 1984. A dirty, mono slab of commercial suicide, critics disregarded the album as being too radical a departure for the former pop darlings. But I would argue that ...Sodom is, in fact, the natural and appropriately chaotic conclusion to the bands original mission statement. Of all the early 80’s electronic duos, Soft Cell were not only the first, but also certainly the most misunderstood. Many only know Soft Cell for their 1981 mega-hit Tainted Love, and for Marc Almond’s signature all-black look – somewhere between Edith Piaf and Scott Walker. But at the time the band was also notable for their subject matter highlighting the stories of people on the fringes of society – rent boys, suburban housewives and sex workers. For all the pearl clutching Soft Cell inspired during their original 80’s tenure, the ...