Kattenkarlsson

This is just another sign that journalists within mainstream media - of course particulary within
the entertainment field, has lost all interest in any serious criticism. Then of course the journalist
in question here never heard about Walt Whitman nor Allen Ginsberg. We cannot expect them to judge
any work of art against anything but what they know about. And really I almost prefer it this way.
At least we can discuss and try to judge the merit of Lanas work.

This is just another sign that journalists within mainstream media - of course particulary within
the entertainment field, has lost all interest in any serious criticism. Then of course the journalist
in question here never heard about Walt Whitman nor Allen Ginsberg. We cannot expect them to judge
any work of art against anything but what they know about. And really I almost prefer it this way.
At least we can discuss and try to judge the merit of Lanas work.

This is just another sign that journalists within mainstream media - of course particulary within
the entertainment field, has lost all interest in any serious criticism. Then of course the journalist
in question here never heard about Walt Whitman nor Allen Ginsberg. We cannot expect them to judge
any work of art against anything but what they know about. And really I almost prefer it this way.
At least we can discuss and try to judge the merit of Lanas work.

Shout outs to  @ for mentioning Whitman's "The Children of Adam" as possible inspiration for the plot.
 
Walt Whitman's "Children of Adam" - Analysis
 
A group of fifteen poems in the 1860 version of Leaves of Grass was entitled Enfans d'Adam. In 1867, these poems, after a few changes, were retitled Children of Adam. In the 1892 edition, the group consists of sixteen poems.
The major themes of Children of Adam are procreation and physical love between man and woman. The themes are dealt with through imagery rich in Christian tradition. Whitman uses many Christian concepts in his own unique way to express his individual precepts for mankind.
Fundamental to Christian belief is the story of the Fall of Man, interpreted either literally or symbolically. Adam and Eve, falling prey to Satan's temptation, disobeyed the divine command and ate the forbidden fruit of knowledge. This act of disobedience resulted in Original Sin, the inheritance of humanity. Man is therefore a born sinner, and his only hope of salvation lies in the grace of God, attained through Jesus Christ.
Whitman reverses this traditional Christian tenet. He asserts that it is not Adam but Adam's children who have really lost the Garden of Eden. Adam's children can regain this lost paradise not by denying the flesh, which had been a Puritan belief, but by accepting it. Man will then be reborn through this glorification of his body, for the human body is as sacred as the spirit. Thus, man is not born debased as a result of Original Sin. He should be proud of his heritage and of the "Adamic" in him.
The theme of procreation in these poems was revolutionary at the time of their first publication. Whitman thinks that procreation is a creative act, an act of spiritual regeneration. Man finds fulfillment in sex and should thus rejoice in it, for it is only through physical love that man can take his place in the cycle of life. And it is only through spiritual regeneration that man can complete his quest — and the full, uninhibited experience of sex is seen as the first step to spiritual regeneration.
 
Everything. Makes. So. Much. Sense. NOW!

This is why artists have to endure so much bullshit (because that's exactly what it is) when they share their projects with the public, because now it's all about success being defined by the number of views and monetary worth, along with the nitpicking and pointless comparisons of who-does-what-better, which leaves zero room for art to be appreciated for what it is.
 
Because she can, and she wanted to, so she did.
 
You mean, besides because she could, wanted to, and did? "Because fuck you, that's why."
 
"Summertime Sadness" is almost two-years-old, there's a contradiction here if we're going to talk about old songs being used for recent projects. So if "Young & Beautiful" and Cedric Gervais' remix of "Summertime Sadness" (keyword "remix" of a song that is, again, almost two-years-old, TWO-YEARS-OLD,) were to have been featured in Tropico instead, it would have validated Tropico's worth as a 30-minute film? It was a short-film, let's not over-exaggerate here like it was a grueling four-hour loop of the same songs over and over again.
 
On what basis are we comparing Tropico to that it can be fairly dictated that it wasn't good? Tropico wasn't meant to be a revolutionary short-film, it was simply a short-film telling the story of redemption with the intention of bringing the era of BTD to a close. Just because Tropico may have been a bit difficult to follow the first viewing, does not mean it wasn't good; just because Tropico was "awkwardly literal," doesn't mean it wasn't good (not to mention, it may have been "literal," but I want to know where it was "awkward.") And just because there wasn't enough dialogue between the cast, just because there was only one Lana-written monologue, doesn't mean that Tropico wasn't good. If anything, Lana's reading of an excerpt from Walt Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric" solidified and clarified the meaning behind "Body Electric". I look at that song in a totally different light after Tropico.

And Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" was a well-placed reading, as it helped smoothly transition between the final moments of Eden and the dead-paradise-reality Lana found herself in during "Gods & Monsters". Did we not read these poems? Did we not read a single poem from the likes of those two men? I'm trying hard to not say that this is a matter of appreciating Tropico more if we weren't so absorbed in the elements of mainstream artists' work, but seriously, let's not write off an artists' work just because we may not have understood it fully.

The cinematography was beautiful all throughout Tropico, and if anything, the short-film shed light on the inner-workings behind Lana's work, we got insight to how and where she finds her muse, we had a-chance-a-minute for a half-hour to open our minds and go on a small little adventure with Lana; it was beautifully strange and strangely beautiful. And this is coming from someone who didn't entirely care for "Body Electric," "Gods & Monsters," and "Bel Air," and I still think that Tropico is being seriously underrated, whether it was meant to cater to the masses or not. For what Tropico is, it is very beautiful, and it's not being given a fair chance (which seems to be a reoccurring theme with the general public when it comes to Lana.)
 
Well, this answered my question when I asked on what basis we were comparing Tropico to, if not indirectly, since this seems to be a biased comparison between two artists who, aside from starting out in New York, have hardly anything in common as far as sound, personality, influences and delivery go. If you had not spent the half-hour thinking of all the "very Gaga/not-so-Gaga" comparisons you could've came up with instead of letting yourself be immersed in Tropico, maybe you would have seen both Lana and her short-film in a different light. Not to mention I hardly see any element of Tropico that is even closely similar to Gaga's projects, so...is this because you're bored and had a quota to reach?

But never mind that, it's quite pitiful that comparisons like this are pretty much what structures art today. So much effort is invested into finding likeness in art that we forget to appreciate art as it is; a multi-dimensional form of expression that does not need to be compared to the likeness of another artist's expression to dictate its worth. Had you been around when Picasso was, all his art would've been Tropico to you just because it wasn't Da Vinci or Michelangelo.

You didn't care for Tropico not because it "wasn't good" or because it was "bloated and awkwardly literal."

You didn't care for Tropico not because the songs were "old" and "less-than-stellar."

You didn't care for Tropico not because it was a poor-shot at "being Gaga."

You didn't care for Tropico because you misunderstood Lana, but most especially, because you misunderstood art.

Besides that, comparing female artists to the likes of Gaga is very 2010, so "for 2014," you might want to find another artist to set your unreasonably supported expectations for other artists to or just stop with the comparisons altogether since it's as old as it is unfair, and hardly what art is about.

And with that, I call this whole listing a flop.

I really hope that To the rescue is about Britain and the rest of Europe coming to her rescue after she was nearly lynched in her homeland. Cat Karlsson I welcome you. Born to die had very poor sales in Sweden, hopefully my neighbors are finally seeing the light.