WHAT WHAT, IN THE BUTT

Freddy Got Fingered is just… mostly in bad taste.

But man, the nature of the beast is like 20 years ahead of its time in terms of irony culture.

I guess I should explain more. Tom Green was known for pioneering the style of annoying street skit that Eric Andre would later employ. If you’ve heard The Real Slim Shady, you may already know that it was cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose.

Some studio head said, “This kid can make us some money! Let’s give him $14 million to make a Tom Green movie!”

Another finger on the monkey’s paw unfurled, and Tom Green made a movie that only Tom Green could make. Kaufmanesque, it’s been said.

You may have heard of the Golden Raspberry Awards, the bad movie awards, an ironic twist on the Oscars. They do invite their nominees, but naturally few show to the awards. Freddy Got Fingered swept the awards, winning five Razzies in total.

Tom Green showed up in a limousine, rolled out his own red carpet, thanked the awards as he had made exactly the movie he wanted to make and they recognized that, then played kazoo onstage until he was physically dragged off.

I adore it.

Not sure it’s what you’re looking for, but I’ve been into provocative t-shirts and subversive music lately.

I have a T-shirt with Daphne Blake shooting Klansmen, exclaiming, “Gosh darn it, that one’s not a real ghost either!”

For music, I’ve been going through a phase of deathcore (Lorna Shore, Chelsea Grin, Whitechapel) digital hardcore (Atari Teenage Riot), ho99o9 (punk/industrial/metal/rap), and whatever the fuck PeelingFlesh is (chopped and screwed grindcore, maybe).

John Waters. His films are transgressive, tasteless, and trashy for the purpose of being transgressive, tasteless, and trashy. You have a movie in 1970 (Multiple Maniacs) where a drag queen, Lady Divine, gets a lesbian “rosary-job” intercut with scenes of the stations of the cross. Among many other things, Divine is raped by a giant fake lobster and eventually killed by the national guard to “America the Beautiful.” It’s a massive middle finger to everything sacred; the necessary profane.

Currently my favorite piece of art is accidentally transgressive. It is a kinetic sculpture, and fairly unimpressive for what it is. Apparently it is a rip-off of someone else’s style. It is owned by a hotel that put it on the sidewalk corner for whatever reason. Generally unimpressive on its own.

The thing that makes it interesting is that, unlike most sculptures I have seen, this one locks as in: the spinning parts are prevented from moving unless a special key is used to unlock them. And the hotel locks the sculpture during non-business hours. If you want to see the sculpture move, you have to visit it between the hours of 9-5 on work days. Presumably when the hotel staff can monitor your presence on the public sidewalk just outside their hotel. Otherwise it is locked. Something about putting a derivative sculpture in a public space, then taking steps to prevent the public from enjoying it is fascinating to me. Although I feel like a speech from a hotel lawyer about potential liability or whatever reason they so vigilantly lock it is an essential part of the art that I am missing.

I like finding and reading old zines, there’s an amazing mashup of pornography and counterculture and early tech wizardry geekiness to be found in late 90s and early 2000s zines that just can’t be replicated anywhere else.

If you tried to make them today, you would just be a poser.

Maybe Grausame Töchtor? At least, Aranea is one of the most consistently transgressive and productive artists I have enjoyed.

The first Clarissa comic has a bit of an anchor in my brain.

I’ve found others I enjoyed over the years but they’re usually one-off, unattributable, etc.

The Tiger Lillies — “Banging in the Nails” (youtube music link, sorry)

While I can’t know the spirit in which the song was written, I suspect it was intended to shock and offend. But I’m firmly “death of the author”, so IDGAF. I listen to it as part of my Lenten devotions, a reminder that the sacrifice of Christ is necessary because we humans in general and me specifically are fucking depraved.

I like art that depicts billionaires/politicians/law enforcement getting violently hurt.

in books, some extreme horror/splatterpunk, i think the bighead by edward lee is the strongest one i’ve read & enjoyed

for films, i’m not that sure where the line is but i like new french extremity (martyrs, inside, irreversible) and that seems to fit the bill

i am soft as shit irl, even boxing can be a bit strong for me. but in fiction i can enjoy artists who describe situations well beyond the normal boundaries of decency. i suppose it’s something like rollercoaster riders or bungee jumpers etc where the immediate natural repulsion is tempered by the security of not being in any actual danger, and i take some sort of satisfaction in that? who knows really. other than horror, pink flamingos is probably the most transgressive film i can think of. i still don’t think i could watch the epilogue scene without looking away

I like very offensive standup comedy and funny content. I’m of the belief anything can be made funny if correctly done. Humor is also one of the things that helps me personally process negative emotions and events.

Not “the most” but, the first that comes to mind is music by Jimmy Urine (Mindless Self Indulgence, Left Rights, Euringer). “Fuck Everything” is a mood, and while it is honestly far more tame than any of his previous works, it sums them up pretty well. Raging not against the machine but society, his parents, and his psychiatrist. Dude’s probably fucked up father north than Santa and “just acting out” (I’m sure he’ll grow out of it) but the music definitely strikes a chord with me.

Purry Forn. Obviously for the main reason anyone enjoys porn, but even fetish stuff I am not personally interested in sometimes has great, well drawn art.

Does niche fetish stuff that isnt exactly designed to offend but which would seem scary or disturbing to most people who’s brains don’t happen to be wired to enjoy it count as transgressive? If so, (a subset of) vore art

dilbert