liz phair on lana del rey and “how dare she?”

winnet:

“Let me break it down for you: she’s writing herself into existence. She’s giving herself a part to play because, God knows, no one else will and she wants to matter in this life. As far as I can tell, it’s working. I went straight to iTunes and bought her new release “Born To Die” in toto (how often do I do that??) because it was more than a collection of songs or a performance, it was a phenomenon. Maybe all the more so because she’s not overwhelmingly talented. The minute I hear the whisperings of “how dare she,” I’m interested. I don’t have to like it, it doesn’t have to be worthy.

via WSJ

wow. french feminist theory in the wsj. liz also says, “lana del rey is exactly what I was hoping to inspire when I took on the male rock establishment almost twenty years ago with my debut record, ‘exile In guyville.’”

i actually “read” (skimmed) some “real” music criticism on LDR the other day and kept asking myself, “are these people serious?” and then was like, yes, that’s the problem, these people are deadly serious, and seriously debating the debate about “talent” and “authenticity” and “albums.” i mean, who listens to albums? it’s all about watching her. you have to watch “born to die” and see her rolling her eyes because it’s the only thing for her to do or really feel “video games” because you sometimes see a slight time lag between her lips moving and her singing, which makes the point exactly. so does the idea of video games, because who plays video games, everyone is on twitter. it’s feminist boredom all over the place and has been forever. 

rgr said something the other day about how she is too skilled and it’s true: it’s like, she’s not skilled enough, she’s too skilled, and that’s why every video feels exactly like what it’s like. LDR doesn’t look like she knows if her melancholy is real either. these are videos to play on your computer while you put on way too much makeup and way too short skirts and have a drink and maybe don’t even go anywhere, just search tumblr’s archives for “lana del rey” and like a whole bunch of them and scroll through them until you fall asleep. the one where she is covered in blood is my favorite. 

also, i think i’m making the point, too, since i’m completely off the LDR news cycle.