Venus Emerging From Herself: A Postmodern Interpretation

Yesterday's group presentation was on Postmodern Theory. The class was given construction paper and chalk to create a modern interpretation of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (See painting below).

Ancient Mythology teaches that Venus was born from the Sky and Sea. The angel-like figures on either side of the goddess represent those two elements as she emerges into the world. Venus is said to represent motherhood.
In my modernized drawing (see below), I have depicted Venus's birth on a hospital bed. I have depicted Venus to be born by a human-like figure. The ruching sheets by her feet resemble the pearl shell she stands upon in the painting. The newborn baby flies out of her mother's womb and cries in an unfamiliar realm.

With doctors on either side of her, perhaps the mother birthing on the bed is self-reflective (a postmodern quality) and Venus is birthed from herself, or emerging from the Sky and Sea.

Shall I compare Thee to a coin-operated toy?

I was asked to create my very own "ism." Me, the theorist! My Major Critical Theories class began with a task: define what I think is the most important thing to consider when interpreting a text.

Following the assignment was a five minute visual: a YouTube clip from the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The scene established a juxtaposition between a man and a woman each dressed up as a doll, only the woman plays the role of "a doll on a music box that's wound by a key," and the Raggedy Andy-type breaks free from his containing box to wind the key himself. “Andy” contrasts her in almost every way. The doll on a music box is completely bound and controlled.

Having never seen the movie before, I found the clip charming and fascinating - noticing the relevance of my "ism" (paying close attention to patterns, themes and connections) throughout the text. Control, gender and sex are three of the many themes prevalent in the scene.

Aside from my response to the original question at hand, I immediately thought of the relationship between this scene and a contemporary song called “Coin-Operated Boy” by the American "brechtian punk cabaret" known as the Dresden Dolls.

Gender roles have reversed in this example. In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an attractive girl is being "wound up" on a music box - "waiting for love’s true kiss" and to be saved (from going in circles). Amanda Palmer, the singer of the Dresden Dolls reverses the gender roles that are depicted in the movie clip – she turns her boy (or doll) on with a coin instead of a key.

Coin operated boy
Sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
But I turn him on and he comes to life
Automatic joy
That is why I want
A coin operated boy

Interesting how over thirty years after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, human beings are still be objectified through mediums of art by way of dolls.