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This moment is fascinating. The white kid sees Sun Ra in Oedipal terms as a would be father-who-must-be-overthrown; McLean sees an artist radically conferring sovereignty and dignity onto themselves outside capitalism / market forces. https://twitter.com/Harmony_Holiday/status/1317055469786066944
looking at it again- it seems like it's also about the performance of "rigor"- academia trains us to model a certain kind of resistance to seduction- in a conservatory environment it might be "musical form alone matters." In grad school, it might be "only the argument matters."
Sun Ra's finery, his beautiful blue cape, is a problem because it might signify "failed masculinity" or "attention to surfaces" and therefore it's a troubling object or an easy target through which to pick up "rigor points" by performing the rejection of a seductive surface item.
McLean doesn't fall for this repudiation, and doesn't concede that the cape necessarily means what the student wants it to mean. Thhere's something generous about McLean's insistence upon situating the cape in an economy and in a social world. He refuses to isolate or mock it.
oh and also to shout out the original poster, if you haven't read @Harmony_Holiday 's book "Hollywood Forever", you really, really should, it's amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Forever-Harmony-Holiday/dp/0986437301
