Inequality of interview
Mar. 21st, 2008 08:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusYou find me in Vienna, where I've been interviewed for local magazine Falter about a performance I'll give in May at the Technical University.
I must say I love being interviewed, I love the way it makes you feel that people really care about what you think. Sitting in a Vienna bar last night, with a photographer shining bright lights and two reporters (one, Tex, a local TV star) alternating questions, I remembered what Morrissey had once said: being a celebrity is sometimes the only way to be treated at least half-decently as a human being. As all human beings should be treated.
But I also thought of the song at the end of The Threepenny Opera, the epilogue about "some in light, the others darkness". The photographer seemed to guess my thoughts. "You must have been photographed so many times!" he said. But there are lots of people who are never professionally photographed, never interviewed. My own brother, for instance. I don't think there's a single interview with him anywhere, despite the fact that he's the head of a university department. Perhaps he wouldn't enjoy the self-revelation as much as I do, but there's undoubtedly an inverse relationship between willingness to speak and the interestingness of the results.
We should turn the spotlight on the taciturn, interview the never-interviewed, turn and face the strange, squeeze blood from a stone. We should introduce genuinely new information into our media systems, and attempt to establish "equality of interview". We could start right here, right now, by interviewing the Anonymous Detractors and trolls who haunt these pages so enigmatically. Who are they, and what are their thoughts on the issues of the day?
I'll be on trains now until midnight, but I'd love to read some really telling interviews in the comments section when I get home. Today is the day to ask one another questions, and answer them in good faith.
I must say I love being interviewed, I love the way it makes you feel that people really care about what you think. Sitting in a Vienna bar last night, with a photographer shining bright lights and two reporters (one, Tex, a local TV star) alternating questions, I remembered what Morrissey had once said: being a celebrity is sometimes the only way to be treated at least half-decently as a human being. As all human beings should be treated.
But I also thought of the song at the end of The Threepenny Opera, the epilogue about "some in light, the others darkness". The photographer seemed to guess my thoughts. "You must have been photographed so many times!" he said. But there are lots of people who are never professionally photographed, never interviewed. My own brother, for instance. I don't think there's a single interview with him anywhere, despite the fact that he's the head of a university department. Perhaps he wouldn't enjoy the self-revelation as much as I do, but there's undoubtedly an inverse relationship between willingness to speak and the interestingness of the results.
We should turn the spotlight on the taciturn, interview the never-interviewed, turn and face the strange, squeeze blood from a stone. We should introduce genuinely new information into our media systems, and attempt to establish "equality of interview". We could start right here, right now, by interviewing the Anonymous Detractors and trolls who haunt these pages so enigmatically. Who are they, and what are their thoughts on the issues of the day?
I'll be on trains now until midnight, but I'd love to read some really telling interviews in the comments section when I get home. Today is the day to ask one another questions, and answer them in good faith.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-21 09:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-21 10:32 am (UTC)Please feel free to answer all, any or none of these questions, and excuse my ignorance. Thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-21 02:17 pm (UTC)Notable American Women by Ben Marcus
How was it?
Innovative
Do you have any pets?
No
What's your favourite non-alcholic drink?
Chamomile Tea
What would be the preferred manner of your death?
In my sleep
What is the oldest article of clothing that you still wear?
10 year old Levi 501s
What is your favourite kind of weather?
Gale force winds
What is the least touristy place you have ever been?
The South Australian Desert
What place names make you laugh?
Keith (South Australia)
Have you ever been personally involved with someone born on an island smaller than Taiwan?
Of course
Do you prefer to use chopsticks, knife and fork, or hands?
Depends on the food
Have you ever walked out on a film in the cinema, and if so, what was it?
Yes, Desperately Seeking Susan
What's your least favourite cartoon and why?
I don't like any cartoons
Who is the world's funniest comedian?
easy, Tommy Cooper
What do you want to do next week?
Sleep
Have you ever admired someone for political reasons?
Yes.
What is the most psychologically formative event of your life before the age of nine?
Being born
Where did you last go for a daytrip and why?
Plymouth, UK. No reason
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-21 03:42 pm (UTC)Being born always seems to be traumatic, I'm afraid. I've completely blocked out my own birth from memory.
hi Quentin!
Date: 2008-03-21 05:11 pm (UTC)Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schultz
How was it?
Funny, sad, inspiring made me want to compose new stuff
Do you have any pets?
no, a mouse once lived with me but my landlord killed it
What's your favourite non-alcholic drink?
Trader Joe's Bedtime tea
What would be the preferred manner of your death?
in the backcountry while hiking, or with my head on my keyboard playing an endless distorted note
What is the oldest article of clothing that you still wear?
that's a long answer, i wear everything until it falls apart
What is your favourite kind of weather?
thick fog
What is the least touristy place you have ever been?
San Diego, CA
What place names make you laugh?
San Diego
Have you ever been personally involved with someone born on an island smaller than Taiwan?
No
Do you prefer to use chopsticks, knife and fork, or hands?
Chopsticks when possible
Have you ever walked out on a film in the cinema, and if so, what was it?
'I'm not There', The Heath Ledger parts were pissing me off
What's your least favourite cartoon and why?
He-Man, because i am a mis-anthropist
Who is the world's funniest comedian?
Franz Kafka
What do you want to do next week?
Yoga
Have you ever admired someone for political reasons?
yes, Momus
What is the most psychologically formative event of your life before the age of nine?
when I burned my dad's porn collection and started a field on fire and got in trouble with the fire department
Where did you last go for a daytrip and why?
I walked about 10 miles across the GG Bridge from my house in SF aand took the ferry back from Sausalito
Thanks for interview Quentin!
Re: hi Quentin!
Date: 2008-03-21 07:09 pm (UTC)I believe I know what you mean about Kafka. Franza Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life!, starring Richard E. Grant... interesting.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-21 09:47 pm (UTC)The Fall - Camus
-
How was it?
To be entirely honest, I'm not a reader. Well, I don't read books. It was required for a philosophy course that I dropped because I didn't want to write a 2 page paper on moral duty (I know, I know). I don't feel comfortable with my opinions and I have a terrible memory for literature. I prefer to read what others think about a book and wish that I could think in a similar way. I keep quiet... listen and marvel.
-
Do you have any pets?
2 dogs, 3 cats - Bella, Mr. Noodles / Squeaker, Cortana, and Raskolnikov (yes, from Crime and Punishment - the only book I ever read more than once)
Niko is pretty much the sweetest cat in the entire world and I love her dearly. She makes me very happy.
-
What's your favourite non-alcholic drink?
orange juice
I do like drinking pineapple juice, though... but from the can of pineapple chunks.
-
What would be the preferred manner of your death?
I couldn't tell you for sure. Sleep seems like the way to go, but anything that's quick would probably work, too.
-
What is the oldest article of clothing that you still wear?
I'm pretty young, so I can't really throw down an example of something truly impressive.
My father's 40 year old trench coat from when he was in the marines might be the oldest piece of clothing that I own/wear regularly... a couple other things my mom used to wear when she was dating my dad... t-shirts from both parents. I'm also fairly generic about apparel, so what they've given me is all that I have on the old front. I'm no thrift maven.
-
What is your favourite kind of weather?
Anything rain-related or cold. Rain makes me feel alive and alright to cry... I don't know. Overcast weather is lovely. The way it feels after it has just rained is absolutely wonderful. Also, cold is always better than hot. ALWAYS. Overheating is pretty much the worst feeling in the entire world (for me).
-
What is the least touristy place you have ever been?
The family farm.
WAIT, I'm supposed to slowly kill myself on the family farm through social deprivation. I keep telling everyone that I'm going to do it and I'm not sure if they believe me yet, but I mean it entirely.
-
What place names make you laugh?
I can't think of anything because I don't go anywhere.
-
Have you ever been personally involved with someone born on an island smaller than Taiwan?
I do not believe so.
-
Do you prefer to use chopsticks, knife and fork, or hands?
Hands. All the way.
-
Have you ever walked out on a film in the cinema, and if so, what was it?
I think someone I was with made me leave once... I don't even remember the film. Otherwise, no. I paid for the movie and I'm going to watch the whole thing. It's the exact same thing with concerts... I don't understand how you pay $30 and show up late AND tanked (which is something you probably don't do when you go to the movies... or do you??) and leave after one band plays 5 songs. Okay, so it's not entirely the same, but still.
-
What's your least favourite cartoon and why?
King of the Hill - The characters are unattractive and I can't get past it... it's a very similar situation with Beavis and Butthead.
-
Who is the world's funniest comedian?
I'm not witty enough for a proper response.
-
What do you want to do next week?
Finish some art before it's due.
Secretly photography people.
-
Have you ever admired someone for political reasons?
Hell no.
-
What is the most psychologically formative event of your life before the age of nine?
One of the beatings... probably the divorce one. The day that Carlos/The Kissing Bandit/Wolverine kissed me and then denied it. Zoloft?
-
Where did you last go for a daytrip and why?
I don't think I've ever really had a proper daytrip. I've gone into the city (Chicago) a number of times, but I'm too much of a homebody. Also, I don't like going places by myself because I become too self-conscious and paranoid... and terrified and lost. As for going places with others, I'm kind of short on friends at the moment... but that's another story.
-
Tada! I'm boring, ha.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-22 12:28 am (UTC)"I didn't want to write a 2 page paper on moral duty (I know, I know)."
What can I say?
"Overcast weather is lovely." I agree with you, despite the fact that our tastes are at variance with those of Prince, who sings, "Overcast days never turned me on."
They do turn me on, very much.
"Hands. All the way."
Interesting.
Thank you Quentin.
Date: 2008-03-21 11:51 pm (UTC)I'm reading A Tale of Two Melons - Emperor and Subject in Ming China, by Sarah Schneewind who happens to be a friend of mine.
How was it?
I am finding it insightful, complex, well written.
Do you have any pets?
Yes, The Mina.
What's your favourite non-alcholic drink?
Chilled rose tea with mint.
What would be the preferred manner of your death?
I wish to be hyperconscious of every moment of my death.
What is the oldest article of clothing that you still wear?
I wear an embroidered shawl I bought in Blerick, Limburg in 1992.
What is your favourite kind of weather?
I like rain, esp. because I now live in a place where it doesn't rain very much.
What is the least touristy place you have ever been?
Tuk Tuk, Samosir Island, in Lake Toba Indonesia.
What place names make you laugh?
Tuk Tuk
Have you ever been personally involved with someone born on an island smaller than Taiwan?
Yes, he was a gorgeous Sicilian.
Do you prefer to use chopsticks, knife and fork, or hands?
It depends on where I am and what food I am eating. As I child I always wanted to eat my salad wth my hands.
Have you ever walked out on a film in the cinema, and if so, what was it?
Yes, Matthew Barney's Cremaster Series was being shown and after a few hours I needed to get out.
What's your least favourite cartoon and why?
Dikkertje Dap
Who is the world's funniest comedian?
I don't know. I liked the Kids in the Hall and the sketch comedy they did together.
What do you want to do next week?
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Have you ever admired someone for political reasons?
Yes, Aung Sun Suu Kyi.
What is the most psychologically formative event of your life before the age of nine?
At nine I went to stay with my grandmother in Italy for a summer.
Where did you last go for a daytrip and why?
Went to Anza Borrego desert to walk & to see the wildflowers in bloom.
Re: Thank you Quentin.
Date: 2008-03-22 12:22 am (UTC)"I wish to be hyperconscious of every moment of my death."
A very good answer, I feel. The opposite to Woody Allen's quip that he doesn't mind dying, he just doesn't want to be there when it happens.
I'm intrigued by this:
Aung Sun Suu Kyi
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-22 12:50 am (UTC)(from the 1967 film "Marketa Lazarova" (http://www.ce-review.org/00/35/kinoeye35_hames.html) by Frantisek Vlácil. Surely an ancestor of yours, Alin?