Too often in society we find ourselves striving to live up to the expectations of others, rather than, and often in place of, our own expectations. This unhealthy obsession with self-image has led prepubescent teenagers to wear loads of make up, and has made many of them feel pressured to wear more "revealing" clothing, in order to match top contemporary fashion trends.
Indeed, ever since the beginning of time, self-image, narcissism, and sexuality have been prominent issues in contemporary society. The intense play Narcissister addresses exactly these issues, and asks, "What does it mean to be narcissistic?"
In Narcissister, performed at the Visions & Voices event, "Live Artists Live," on January 29, 2015, a solo artist performs a host of actions, most of which cause a typical teenager to gawk and mutter softly under his/her breath, "That was weird…," while still trying to process what he/she just saw.
The actions consist of a living mannequin dancing naked, cutting up pieces of clothing/accessories in front of a mirror, the mannequin calling herself on the phone, a "Barbie shop" scene in which the mannequin is sexualized in the same sense the Barbie doll is, and an "evolution of life" scene, in which the mannequin transforms from a baby to her death in a coffin, with the classic song "Forever Young," by Alphaville, playing in the background.
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The thirty-minute event culminates in the most important part of the play: Narcissister (whose identity remains unrevealed) performs a "reverse striptease," first starting by wearing only a merkin, a pubic hair wig, by taking various pieces of clothing out of her orifices, and wearing them while dancing in front of the audience.
Through these scenes, Narcissister bring up some of society's most pressing and least discussed issues. The range from something as specific as female sexuality to something as general as self-image and narcissism. In a world where the "selfie" reigns, Narcissister causes us to think, "What are its benefits, and what are its hazards?"
The opening scene is one in which the mannequin is cutting up pieces of clothing and accessories in front of a mirror; at first, one does not understand what this scene signifies, but analyzing it within the context of the entire play tells us this scene represents tailoring both our tangibles (literally our clothing) and our thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs in order to fit what society expects. In this scene, the doll is cutting the clothing to be smaller and shorter, periodically holding up the pieces of clothing to presumably ensure the clothing is the perfect fit to reach societal expectations of being a "sexy" woman: one who wears revealing clothing, lots of make-up, and is the female temptress for males.
In a similar vein, the play sends an implicit message to males: we can mentally picture the male mannequin staring at his muscles (or lack of muscles) at different angles, and just brooding over what a more toned body, as sexualized and "highly encouraged" (to say the least) by society, would look like.
The evolution of life and the reverse strip tease scene together say something powerful regarding both a) how society influences us as individuals, and b) female sexuality and identity. In the evolution of life scene, the actress is "born" completely naked and wears different types of clothes throughout. In addition, she applies a lot of make-up and jewelry, at different stages in her life (most notably in the beginning-middle portions).
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Similarly, the reverse strip tease, in what one observer commented is an "avant-porn scene," plays an ironical effect to the normal strip teases that men and women watch for pleasure, and powerfully does so by, again, using clothes and accessories, first starting naked (wearing only a small merkin), then wearing lots of different pieces of clothing and accessories, all ostensibly pulled from one main orifice in her body (some of them are probably also stored in the merkin). This latter scene is the culmination of Narcissister, utilizing clothing and accessories as metaphors to the thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, and even restrictions that society places on us throughout our life.
We are born completely "naked," as symbolized by the birth in the evolution of life scene, and in the reverse strip tease. This nakedness is a symbolism of who we are truly are deep down: we are unburdened by societal expectations and implications, but, rather, we follow our own beliefs and passions. In essence, in the beginning, we are pure.
However, as we move through life – even in realms as innocuous as school or home – we are told what to wear, how to look, how to present ourselves, and even how to act. These expectations, modeled by the clothing accessories, hamper us, and hide us from our true purity – in fact, in many cases, they make us narcissists, as we become overly focused on self-image. In addition, these scenes relate this important point to female sexuality and identity: the bare breasts in the beginning of the strip tease and the evolution of life scene exemplify the exceptionally difficult (and more onerous) societal expectations of submissiveness, beauty, and sexuality women have to face.
All in all, Narcissister is a beautiful work and a potent performance that addresses the powerful themes of identity, self-image, narcissism, societal expectations, and female identity and sexuality. The play just points out these problems in a very creative way, and it doesn't offer us solutions – rather, the play does something better. It leaves us to the freedom of our own imagination, allows us to create our own solutions, and encourages us to apply these solutions when we go about our daily lives.
Reach Staff Reporter Sachin Sadana here.
Annenberg Media