BENJAMIN LACOMBE, ROPA DE HOMBRE EN "LA SIRENITA"

 

BENJAMIN LACOMBE:

En todas las versiones está escrito que lo primero que hace el príncipe cuando la Sirenita por fin se ha convertido en humana, en la mujer que quería y es acogida en el palacio, es que la obliga a llevar ropa de hombre. Nadie en 180 años, lo ilustró. Ya ves cómo podés ponerte anteojeras.

En otra parte es muy complicado porque todo depende del subsentido, de la ambigüedad, porque Andersen dice algo que no podía decirse en ese momento, que dos hombres se aman.

–Sin embargo, a su manera, lo hizo.

–La obliga a ponerse ropa de hombre y juntos montan a caballo por bosques llenos de aromas increíbles. La palabra “montar” en francés también puede significar hacer el amor. En danés, significa ambas cosas.

–Montar o cabalgar tienen una connotación sexual en español.

–Exacto. Ellos montan juntos a caballo. En un momento dado, se encuentran con un tigre, algo que no es común en los bosques de Europa. Pero, bueno, aparece un tigre (en los esbozos originales) y la Sirenita toma su gran lanza sin demora, se la tira a la boca y se la mete en la cálida y húmeda garganta del tigre. Es sexualmente intenso.

Esta escena no deja lugar a dudas de que después de montarse a caballo, no estamos hablando de un tigre, estamos hablando de otra cosa. Así que es una historia particular si la ubicás en esa época.

Ilustraciones de Lacombe.

"Mandó que le confeccionasen un traje masculino para de ese modo poder acompañarlo a caballo". Benjamin Lacombe para Clásicos Ilustrados Edelvives, traducción de Alejandro Tobar (del danés original).

Para Lacombe, será una Sirenita dotada además con ojos y cabellos como los del danés (H. C. Andersen) ya que el personaje es avatar del autor. Mismo pelo rojo y corto, misma nariz larga... Su príncipe azul sería su amado imposible e hijo de su mecenas, Edvard Collin, que se casó por poderes con Henriette Thyberg.

Hans Christian Andersen y Edvard Collin, cuyo amor no correspondido inspiró el de la Sirenita. 

BENJAMIN LACOMBE: Pero cuando el príncipe le proporciona a la sirenita ropa de hombre, debemos prestar atención: ¿acaso a partir de entonces el cuento no trata en realidad de la realidad entre dos hombres? ¿Uno al que le atraen las mujeres y otro que prefiere a otros hombres? En resumidas cuentas, es la historia de un joven homosexual que se enamora locamente de su amigo heterosexual. En ese caso entendemos mucho mejor por qué la chica vestida con ropa de hombre no puede hablar, soporta todos los suplicios del mundo y no consigue al ser al que ama.

GENREDIALEKTIKKEN I "SNEDRONNINGEN"

GENREDIALEKTIKKEN I H. C. ANDERSENS EVENTYR

Niels Ingwersen

"Sneedronningen" er, ligesom "Skyggen", et eventyr man ikke synes at kunne komme udenom, uanset hvad ens ærinde er i forfatterskabet. En hel bog om eventyret udkom i 1986: The Kiss of the Snow Queen af Wolfgang Lederer. Han giver en grundig gennemgang af eventyret og tilslutter sig Simon Grabowskis mening, at eventyret har svare mangler; f.eks. skriver han: "'The Snow Queen' is flawed by its timorous, inconclusive ending" [177]. Simon Grabowski har langt mere respekt for eventyrets oplevelseskvalitet og gør mere præcist end Lederer opmærksom på, at Kaj aldrig opnår den selvindsigt, som man forventer i et dannelses- eller integrationseventyr. Grabowskis utilfredshed er beslægtet med den, mine studenter følte over for Johannes i "Reisekammeraten" - for fra det flerfasede trylleventyr og fra dannelsesromanen (og ofte er der ikke langt mellem disse to genrer) ved vi, at helten må fortjene sin gode skæbne. Husk i øvrigt, at røverpigen i eventyret med typisk lige-ud-ad-landevejen klarsynethed kommenterer den lykkelige udgang ved skeptisk at vurdere Kaj: "Jeg gad vide, om Du fortjener, at man løber til Verdens Ende for din Skyld" (II,76).
Her har vi et af de mest komplicerede og interessante eksempler på den glidning, som jeg nævnte tidligere. Lad mig forklare: Vi starter bogstaveligt talt i et dæmonisk univers - eventyrets første, bitre og veloplagte, humoristiske kapitel, der oplyser os om, at troldspejlets splinter flyver om den dag i dag, - så Vorherre vandt ikke meget ved at spejlet "gik i hundrede Millioner, Billioner og endnu flere Stykker" (II,50). I en sådan verden - omend den bliver modsagt af bedstemor, Gerda og roserne - kan det ikke undre, at Kaj bliver forført af snedronningen. Det er gjort såre klart, at det er hendes kys, hendes erotiske tiltrækning, antydet tidligere, da Kaj ser hende første gang, der fanger ham (man må indrømme, at Lederers titel er godt valgt). Han bliver gidsel i en verden, der ikke synes at være, men som måske netop er, sensuel og erotisk. I hvert fald er den utroligt skøn, men med eftertryk gøres det klart, at det ikke er én, som Gerda eller Kaj hører hjemme i. De løber bort, hjem til barndommen, med små barnestole og bedstemødre og pietistiske salmer. En verden, som bestemt ikke er erotisk. "Hør nu her", siger mine studenter, "her har vi igen den inkonsekvente H. C. Andersen med sine glidninger eller forskydninger".
Det de reagerer mod er den glidning i fiktionsuniverset, som efter deres mening skader eventyret kunstnerisk. Det lever ikke op til dets egne præmisser. Lad mig præcisere: Da Kaj forsvinder, kidnappet af "den anden kvinde", varer det lidt, inden Gerda sætter ud på sin redningsaktion. Den fører hende til den venlige heks, hendes have og de indskudte blomsterhistorier, som adskillige kritikere har kommenteret, omend ret uforbindende. Men Lederer ved besked, for han erklærer resolut, at blomsternes historier er "not interesting. They are overly romantic and sticky; they are kitsch ... all this seems like Harlequin fiction or true confessions stuff for pulp magazines ... riskfree dreams of romance" [42-43]. Altså en typisk flugt fra virkeligheden foretaget af unge piger, som frygter seksualiteten. Her må man nok kræve en modifikation. For Gerda er disse skæbneanekdoter alt andet end risikoløse. De demonstrerer med al mulig tydelighed - ligesom vindenes historier i "Paradisets Have" - hvad hun kan vente sig i dette risikofyldte liv. Jeg har ikke tid til en grundig gennemgang af hvert mini-eventyr, men de antyder så sandelig en glidning bort fra barndommens verden mod en konfliktfyldt erotisk verden - en der har meget lidt at gøre med den glidning, som forkommer i slutningen af teksten - mod en kristelig, barnlig verden.
I blomsterhistorierne er eros-thanatos det alt andet end trivielle hovedtema. Er det, som Lederer foreslår, falsk perception af tilværelsen? Næppe, for de historier, som blomsterne fortæller, rummer lidenskab, brændende længsel, viden om livets korthed; kort sagt foregriber disse historier det, Gerda kan vente sig - eller måske snarere kunne vente sig. En forviden om det virkelige liv trænger ind i hendes falske verden.
Der er en slående detalje i den næstsidste historie, fortalt af smørblomsten. En sukkersød lille beretning, som ikke synes at have meget at gøre med eros-thanatos tematikken i de fire foregående historier, - man er næsten ved at give Lederer ret: kitsch! Solen skinner - en Biedermeier-sol; alt er idyl, gamle bedstemor sidder udenfor i sin stol, og hun minder Gerda netop om hendes bedstemor og det liv hun har ladt bag sig. I historien får bedstemor et kort besøg (min kursivering) af sin datterdatter. Denne kærlige pige har forladt hjemmet og vender kun tilbage for et kort besøg - altså: kun et kort besøg, bestemt ikke en parallel til slutningen af "Sneedronningen"! Blomsterhistorierne foregriber altså ikke den skæbne, som venter hovedpersonerne. Eventyret glider i en anden retning, én som indsnævrer og lukker af.
Lad mig beskrive denne indsnævring: vi vandrer videre med den unge pige/kvinde, som er sig mere og mere bevidst, at hun må frelse Kaj, men som næppe kender sig selv; vi hører en Klods-Hans-historie, som Gerda misforstår. Hun fatter ikke, at den arrogante Kaj, som hun kendte ham på det sidste, nok ikke ville have vundet prinsessens respekt.
Gerdas rejse mod målet, altså Kaj, fortsætter, men hun er pludselig i den brutale verden, som blomsterhistorierne havde varslet. En pludselig glidning mod en langt mere voksen verden - og det kunne og skulle man vente sig - men næsten samtidig forekommer en anden glidning, som nok er væsentligere og modsat rettet: Da Gerda ved den lille røverpiges hjælp undslipper og rejser videre, forsvinder den sensualitet, der ellers har præget teksten. Det er sigende, at en af sejdkvinderne taler - overmåde didaktisk og teoretisk - om Gerdas specielle uskyld, som hun aldrig må miste. Her slipper H. C. Andersen også forbindelsen med trylleeventyret, hvis struktur han ellers følger ret nøje, for i folkedigtningen opnår eller overtager den magiske hjælper eller helt/heltinde - ofte er de identiske - netop den mørke indsigt, som er troldens eller dæmonens, en erhvervet eller vundet viden, som forvandler én til et virkeligt menneske.
Den uskyldige og rene Gerda redder så sin ven, men hvad redder hun ham fra? - nok ikke blot fra den iskolde fornuft, men også fra seksualiteten. Fortælleren beskriver det indre af snedronningens palads som skønt, men farligt - både intellekt og erotik ses som forjættende, forførende, isnende, isolerende kræfter. Og netop sådan blev snedronningen præsenteret for Kaj og os i begyndelsen af eventyret. Gerda og Kaj flygter, og de tager tanken om evigheden med hjem, - således vil teksten garantere deres frelse og lykke.
Denne harmoniske tolkning kan jeg godt forsvare, hvis jeg accepterer eventyret som blot handlende om åndelig stræben mod evigheden, men det rummer mere end det. To fortællerstemmer taler: én begyndte eventyret, en anden afslutter det, og i midten taler de i munden på hinanden.
Hvis dette synspunkt behøver mere belæg, kan det tilføjes, at den stemme, som afslutter teksten, ikke blot lader os vide, hvordan det ser ud i snedronningens slot, men også, hvordan det burde have set ud: det skulle have været varmere menneskeligt set, med hyggelig komsammen, uskyldig underholdning - altså en glidning mod Biedermeier. Og denne lille indskudte skitse af, hvordan livet skulle have været i disse iskolde, prægtige haller, foregriber således slutningen.
Da Gerda forlader røverreden, forlader hun også sin egen seksualitet, men hendes alter ego, røverpigen, som sigende nok er kritisk over for Gerda, satser klart på et helt anderledes liv. Da de mødes igen på Gerda og Kajs hjemfart, er røverpigen på sin udfart - hun har, kan man mene, bevidst lagt barndommen bag sig og er på vej mod eventyret - ligesom helt og heltinde i folkeeventyret - for at skabe og vinde sin egen verden. For at opsummere kan man sige, at da røverpigen rider bort, tager hun seksualiteten med sig - de præmisser som H. C. Andersen satte op tidligere - og Kaj og Gerda vandrer hjem til bedstemor, ikke på et kort besøg, men for at forblive i barndommen. Netop det, som folkeeventyret hævder, er en umulighed eller unaturlighed.
Vil det sige, at jeg afviser den harmoniske forståelse af "Sneedronningen"? Nej, for det er helt umuligt; selvfølgelig er slutningen på ingen måde ironisk eller blot tvetydig, men glidningen i eventyret - mellem to stemmer - skaber sideløbende historier, der står i et dialektisk forhold til hinanden. Hvis man kun vil se enten den ene eller den anden historie, ser man ikke nok. Enten eller bør afløses af både og.
Men uanset hvordan man læser teksten, gør den første historie det klart at splinterne af troldspejlet stadig flyver omkring og skaber muligheder for grumme misforståelser. Netop det at skabe misforståelser er den skjulte pointe i de historier hovedpersonen fortæller i "Lille Claus og Store Claus", og ved hjælp af disse historier vendes der, som i "Skyggen", op og ned på alting. Denne udgang af H. C. Andersens litterære variant af et gammelt skæmteeventyr foregribes præcist og elegant med den historie som Lille Claus ønsker at fortælle kirkegængerne, og sig selv, om søndagen, når han arbejder for Store Claus: nemlig at han siger hyp til sine egne heste.

ONE FLEW OVER LITTLE SANDRA'S HEAD

There are animated films that throw in risqué Easter eggs for the older teens and adults in the audience. The kind of ambiguous randy jokes that get completely past the radar of the innocent. And my own childhood and adolescence were not entirely bereft of such innuendoes and double entendres that my twenty-something self can finally understand... Here are, of course, my top picks:

Lord Farquaad's surname
At first, I thought Farquaad (as in the villain of the first Shrek film) came from "far" and "quad", with an extra A for more archaic orthography. But nowadays I understand that it's a respelling of "f*ckwad..." Which has not stopped me at all to enjoy this memetic visual pun:



Lord Farquaad's Tower (and Napoleon Complex)
Speaking of Lord Farquaad, the first appearance of his castle of Duloc can be quite imposing, what with this overly tall white tower rising up to pierce the skies. Which prompts the titular ogre to ask the following rhetorical question:

"Do you think maybe he's compensating for something? He he he... he he... he he..."

He's a pretty short midget, that adult lordling... and at first I thought, in my early teens, that the green fat ogre was referring to His Lordship's overall height. But nowadays I can take a gander at the fact that he's also alluding to another Napoleon complex of Farquaad's... ie to the dimensions of what lies down there!


Snow White's Arrangement
Speaking of Shrek (1), Lord Farquaad consults a magic mirror for advice about potential princess brides and Snow White, comatose in her glass case, is among the candidates... The mirror, which the Wicked Queen must have given to Lord Farquaad for not needing it anymore after disposing of her stepchild, replies:

"Although she lives with seven other men, she's not easy. Just kiss her dead, frozen lips and find out what a live wire she is!"

What was so special with Snow White living with seven guys (be they dwarves or bogatyrs)?, my child self asked herself. I was so innocent back then... but I would understand what was so special and so risqué about the arrangement, and about kissing a girl in a coma, at 17-18 at last.


The Uvula
Monster House was an exciting crowner for a Halloween in my teens - particularly because the titular character was a sentient abomination that devoured everything that moved. Three tweens trying to stop said kaiju from rampaging around Samhain in autumnal suburbia by simply going inside. Knowing what a sucker for Fantastic Voyage Plots I am, I was naturally in. Let me first tell you a little about the cast: Jenny is the girl of the group, a redheaded preppy in Prufrock-Prep-like uniform (my headcanon: it IS a Prufrock Prep uniform) who obviously fills also in the role of the superego and the Smart Girl of the team. Chowder is the chubby blond, and he happens to be, of course, the Nervous Wreck and the big eater who serves as the id, as comic relief (DJ is the leader, but he plays no role in this exchange). Once they have entered the maw of the monster, armed with loaded water guns, the boys target a glowing thing that hangs from the ceiling, taking it for the heart they have to quench, but Jenny thankfully stops them in extremis:

Jenny: Well, if those are the teeth, and that's the tongue, then that must be the uvula.

Chowder: Oh, so it's a girl house...

Jenny: [looks at him] What?

As explained later on, the host of this Fantastic Voyage Plot, who reincarnated as the Lovecraftian titular kaiju, was female (Mrs. Constance Nebbercracker), so Chowder was right all along. But why did he sex the monster because there was a uvula in her throat (I mean; guys have uvulae as well!)? In my twenties, about a lustrum later, I finally have got that he mistook redheaded preppy smart girl/smurfette Jenny's mention of "uvula" as "vulva." Not to mention the fact that the little dangly thing in our throats looks a bit like the cherry in a beaver (ie the clitoris) ;)



RECTUM: EXIT ONLY
Speaking of uvulas, there was another uvula-related joke in Osmosis Jones that had an aspect I misunderstood, and another that got completely over my radar. Unlike in Monster House, the host of this Fantastic Voyage Plot is male... and also straight (this latter detail has relevance to the joke that got over my head):

Ozzy: What the heck is a uvula?

Drix: It's that little dangly thing that hangs down in...

Ozzy: Boxer shorts! Okay, here we go! (drives down a road leading to "Rectum - EXIT ONLY")

Drix: Not THAT little dangly thing, the one in his throat!

Ozzy: (Beat) I knew that. I knew that.

At first, the "little dangly thing" I understood to be the private parts... when it actually most surely referred to haemorrhoids. Something I would not understand until I got my first haemorrhoids at 20, as a university freshwoman (and yes, haemorrhoids, like uvulae, are a unisex feature!). So that is more of a semantic mondegreen. What flew COMPLETELY OVER my little coppery head was the sign for directions towards the rectum.

Now I knew what a rectum is, I have always known what a RECTUM is, but what I did not understand was the EXIT ONLY part. I mean, I know what the function of the rectum is, but it took me a decade as well to finally get that some guys (girls as well) like it when things enter their rectum. Particularly hard and tubular and more or less phallic things, from willies of flesh and blood to carrots or cucumbers. Even sharp things like knives or cattle prods or fishing hooks... And, since the rectum in this film is signalled EXIT ONLY, it means that the host only uses his rectum to store feces and defecate. Not for any arousing purposes. Long story short, that he is straight (and, seeing how slovenly and vulgar he is on the outside... no one would ever think he was queer, right?).


The Honeymoon Earthquake
The Aladdin trilogy reaches its amazing conclusion with The King of Thieves, in which we find out that Aladdin's father is still alive, that he is the titular leader of the Forty Thieves, and that they are currently after the hand of King Midas, which still retains the golden touch.
Unfortunately, this all breaks out right in the middle of the royal wedding, with Aladdin and Jasmine about to be pronounced husband and wife right when the Forty Thieves storm into the palace and the ground begins to quake with their vigorous strides. The Genie, who is obviously the best man...or rather, the best jinn at the wedding, makes this unforgettable quip:

"I thought the Earth was not supposed to move until the honeymoon!"

Like... can the Genie's cosmic powers really predict seismic activity? At first, as a kid, I thought he was foretelling a literal impending earthquake, but now, lustrums later, the quip has finally found its intended risqué meaning.


Lightyear Spreads his Wings
In Toy Story 2, we finally got to know Woody's female counterpart Jessie: a more active female figure than Mrs. Potato or Bo Peep, right? And Buzz Lightyear appeared to be as impressed as I was as a tween, spreading his wings as he gasps in response to Jessie's acrobatics.

At first, I thought it was due to surprise. "Buzz is surely flabberghasted when this cowgirl nails her landings." But now, seen through through twentyish eyes, it appears that something else also rises... For even space commanders have erections, don't they?


Sexing the Flower
In the dub of Bambi into Spanish, Flower is a girl skunk, both "flor" and "mofeta" being feminine in Spanish. Rolling among flowers and having long lashes just supported that. Which makes her a lesbian when her first kiss is stolen as an adult in the springtime scene and she turns stiff and shocking pink. In the English original, Flower is a straight male. But still he turns shocking pink, instead of scarlet, at first kiss.

At first I thought that the skunk was merely being stiff out of shock and fluster... but, like the Lightyear wings scene above, be this character a straight male or queer female, I see now as a young adult that Flower cannot be more aroused.


Evinrude's Power-Up
As a toddler, I just loved The Rescuers. Especially when the bayou gang comes to the rescue with all those fireworks... I was impressed by the fact that the bayou's married couple of redneck rodents, the husband even more than the wife, loved to quaff a drink that made them breathe fire...
When the Rescuers' method of transportation, the dragonfly Evinrude, is sent as a messenger for reinforcements to the redneck village, the journey across the bayou has obviously taken its toll, leaving the poor little thing exhausted. Evinrude collapses after entering the rodent couple's home through the chimney, and, compassionately, the wife pours a single drop of the firebreathing drink down his throat. The results are amazing:

Evinrude is back up on his wings, shooting off like out of a cannon as he buzzes a reveille call!
At first, as a kid, I thought it would be some reconstituent... like, the reason why a hyperactive child like Yours Truly was forbidden to drink Coke and coffee. But nowadays I am pretty sure that it was a far more intoxicating draught... right?


Don't you eat that yellow snow?
The part of Monsters Inc. with a Himalayan setting was one of those barren wastelands that tickled my inner Sturm und Drang romantic. Aside from the barren wasteland, there is also mention of a local village (of humans), not to mention the surprisingly cozy ice cave of the Agreeable Snowman.

However, what puzzled me was the looking disgusted at the Agreeable Snowman's cones of yellow snow. I supposed, as a kid, that they were lemon cones (and yes, the Agreeable Snowman makes lemon cones; it's a really thirst-quenching flavour, and he could frighten the village fruitseller to obtain his daily quota of lemons, which are pretty scarce in the Himalayas).

Yellow snow is typically known for having been urinated on. The Yeti recovers by saying that it's lemon. Oui oui, you were such an innocent li'l girl a decade ago, eh, Sandra?