The pornography of terror
BY CHRIS WRIGHT
No one ever accused the Church of Euthanasia (CoE) of having good
taste. According to its founder (who for the purpose of this article
prefers to go by the name of Reverend), the CoE is "a nonprofit
organization devoted to restoring balance between humans and the
remaining non-human species through voluntary population reduction."
But the CoE is a sight more than that. The church’s official slogan
is "Save the planet, kill yourself," and its main tenets, the
so-called Four Pillars are suicide, abortion, cannibalism, and
sodomy. As the Reverend says, "For better or worse, I founded the
world’s only anti-human religion." (See "The Four Pillars of
Euthanism," Styles, April 12, 1996.)
More an avant-garde direct-action group than a bona fide church,
the CoE has pulled some pretty dodgy stunts in its time — its "Fetus
Barbecue" on the Boston Common, for instance, or its "attack" on a
local sperm bank, in which CoE protesters noisily demanded that the
sperm be released. The church has long made a kind of art out of
tussling with the Right to Life crowd, conducting
counter-demonstrations outside area abortion clinics with members
holding banners sporting messages like EAT A QUEER FETUS FOR
JESUS.
It’s safe to say that the Reverend has not been one to shy away
from controversy, but speaking publicly about his latest project has
him somewhat rattled. "This is no joke," he says. "People are going
to be profoundly upset."
The project to which he refers is "I Like to Watch," a
four-minute music video that intersperses news footage of the World
Trade Center disaster with explicit pornographic images (mainly
"money shots") and clips from sporting events. "The film," says the
Reverend, "is a vicious satire. It expresses a real outrage that I
have personally. It reflects my contempt for and frustration with
the profound ugliness of the modern industrial world."
Ugliness is right. The background song — set to a funky
electronica beat — contains lines like, "People dive into the
street/ While I play with my meat" and "Now my hand’s all sticky/
And I can’t find a rag/ I guess I’ll have to use/ The American
Flag." At this point, the video depicts a man wiping himself with —
yep — an American flag. "People in the mainstream are going to think
that this is not just irresponsible but anti-American," the Reverend
says. "They’ll see it and say that whoever did this should be put in
prison."
All the same, he insists that there is an important message
behind such profane imagery. "What it shows," he says, "is the
brutally repressed sexual energy that lies beneath the surface of
these images we’re watching on the news media. I think only people
who have truly been lobotomized could fail to grasp the sexual
symbolism of these monstrous phallic towers being penetrated by a
plane. That’s what this video is all about: I’m pointing to the news
coverage of the September attacks and saying this is officially
sanctioned mass entertainment, different in content but not in form
from sports coverage and pornography."
The Reverend is quick to point out, however, that he was in no
way offended by the media coverage of September 11. In fact, he
says, "I found it very beautiful." He continues: "I don’t believe
that I’m the only person in the world who derived sexual
gratification from watching two of America’s tallest buildings
destroyed, but I do believe that I’m one of the few people with the
courage to admit this in public. As an artist, I have an obligation
to capture my feelings as accurately as possible. What I’m feeling
may make me a monster, but I don’t believe I’m alone in being a
monster."
The Church of Euthanasia’s "I Like to Watch" can be seen at www.churchofeuthanasia.org/catalog/video.html.
Issue Date: December 20 - 27, 2001
|