Poltergay?!

Yes, you read that poster right: Poltergay. I started seeing these posters last week just before I left on that field trip, and today I decided that I need to see this thing. I suspect it will be inane and insulting (but hopefully not boring). I'm interested to see what sorts of stereotypes of homos are currently percolating in France. From the looks of things, it's rather Village People, but I think part of that is due to the storyline: once upon a time (1979, to be exact), a large country manor was being used as a gay disco; something BAD happens, many homos perish, and 6 bodies are never recovered; later, a (heterosexual) couple buy house, husband starts seeing ghosts—Gay ghosts—and hilarity ensues. Also, the lead male seems to provide a lot of ass shots.

Okay, so that explains the leisure suits and disco shoes, but look closely at those disco shoes...down...to the right...what is that? There's a disco ball attached to one of the "poltergays" (in the yellow) in the manner of a ball-and-chain. Wassupwidat? Even those who are not fans of close readings of mass texts will have admit that there is something going on here. I'll have to wait until I see the movie to report on whether that is explained by some story element. In the meanwhile, I'm left to ponder what political ramifications there are to having a posters all over Paris showing a typé (stereotyped) gay man in a tragically outdated disco outfit chained to a disco ball. I'm torn between "haha, tragic!" and "sweet tap-dancing jeezus on a pogo stick! What is wrong with you?!", which I consider an exemplary spectatorial position for capital-C Camp (and its attendant theories of reading). Either way, I'm willing to bet that this move will be TOTALLY GAY. In fact, to quote a friend of mine (you know who you are), this movie will be "the gayest gay to ever gay."

[Also, note that the "straight" lead is wearing white alligator/snakeskin boots. I'm just sayin'...]

On a mostly unrelated note, I bought a head of lettuce yesterday that I planned to eat today. It was a crappy head (haha), that I had bought at Franprix for a very low price, so my plan had been to strip off the outer layer of wilted leaves and have the rest as a base for a plate of crudités (i.e., raw vegetables). As I tore away the leaves, I noticed that the stem on one leave was rather brown, but not actually wilted; just brown and sort of pock-marked. I tossed that leaf away and kept on pulling leaves and throwing them into the sink to rinse. Layer after layer, the leaves on one side have brown stems with little holes. Finally, near the centre, I found him: a wee little gray caterpillar, curled up in a protective ball. Well, apparently my lettuce wasn't crappy, just "organic." I chucked the little guy into the toilet and kept on tearing. Heck, I was going to wash it anyway.

This morning, I dropped by a boulangerie that had just opened near my workplace, which is part of the chain of Boulangeries Kayser. Now, the neighborhood around my workplace is rather swank (see yesterday's post for an example of what I mean), so I was expecting high prices. Nonetheless, here's what a 7.50€ carpaccio aux légumes (vegetable carpaccio) will get you: a handful of lettuce in a plastic container, a few slivers of shredded carrot, a few of radish, and what looks like a bit of dressing. In the end, I went for the 4.70€ sandwich, which was still a ripoff, but at least I didn't feel physically violated in the way I might've with that box-o-slaw.