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">https://twitter.com/Harmony_H...

looking at it again- it seems like it& #39;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& #39;s finery, his beautiful blue cape, is a problem because it might signify "failed masculinity" or "attention to surfaces" and therefore it& #39;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& #39;t fall for this repudiation, and doesn& #39;t concede that the cape necessarily means what the student wants it to mean. Thhere& #39;s something generous about McLean& #39;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& #39;t read @Harmony_Holiday & #39;s book "Hollywood Forever", you really, really should, it& #39;s amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Forever-Harmony-Holiday/dp/0986437301">https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood...