The Beauty In Obscenity

What we can learn from the Beatniks, and how modern culture is graceless

In this day and age, it is common to see normalized and widespread obscenity, profanity, and graphic behavior in uninhibited works of art and displays of attitude and action. Nowadays, the taboo has lost its sentiment. What was once seen as scandalous is now the standard in mainstream culture.

I vote to poeticize the obscene, and make the explicit beautiful again. What qualifies as music nowadays has abused the human nature of sex. What qualifies as poetry nowadays has abused the crutch of instant gratification (in poets such as Rupi Kaur) and what qualifies as popular film has become so graphic and dependent on scare tactics that it has strayed from its substance, a psychological and stylistic re-wiring. (This is why I adore directors such as Gasper Noe, Larry Clarke, and Harmony Korine for managing to make raw uncensored artistry beautiful again.)

I propose that we imbue language and the arts with substance once again, and evolve beyond surface level. As seen in popular artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and Bhad Babie, the fleeting form is put at a higher standard than genuine talent. You see beauty standards encouraged and abused, and plastic surgery is sky-rocketing in young girls more than ever. There is little to no encouragement to dive into your depths and find the beauty in your pure uncensored self. The mainstream lacks self-awareness because all they do is live on the surface, suffocating trends. Screens have devoured the children, and by doom-scrolling they evade the necessity of self-reflection and self-development because they are too busy consuming content. They follow the next big trend and abuse the same old viral soundbites, neglecting the inner work of discovering themselves. Nowadays it is a rarity to sit with your thoughts. Most people open an app when a time of silence arises, in the line at the grocery store, in awkward bouts of conversation, and when boredom ensues. Constant stimulation diverts you attention from real world affairs. The masses are neglecting their lives.

When it comes to once again poeticizing the obscene, we must study the craft of art-making. The blueprint is within the classics. The myths that they propagated drape a sheen of mystique on a world weaned on oversharing. The craft should be your priority, and consuming inspiration should be something to graze on, not a crutch to overdose.

A widely unknown beat poet by the name of Lenore Kandel manages to capture a sensual essence beautifully. She injects profanity into her stanzas with a lyricism that comes naturally to her.

An excerpt from “First They Slaughtered The Angels” a poem by Lenore Kandel.

Allen Ginsberg became well renowned for his poem “Howl” A poem that was the face of an obscenity trial back in the 1950s. We have come a long way since then in terms of censorship, but we have also lost our way when it comes to mastering the artistry in the explicit. There is no going back from the current state of affairs, but there is moving forward. I am not so delusional as to think that I can change the state of tasteless, and anti-poetic obscenity that runs rampant in today’s pop culture, but I do know that every revolution starts with one. I can only hope that you divine your artwork in a manner that compliments it, rather than detracts from its message. Senseless debauchery is action without meaning. Poetry is a thing of meaning. Which theorizes that modern displays of pornographic, normalized pop culture is not poetic in the least if it is a straightforward and effortless exercise in shock value. The Beatniks were, of course, mouthpieces for unbridled shock value, but they maintained a message. Nowadays the message is in favor of hook-up culture, infidelity, romanticizing toxicity, crime and envy. A melting pot of the ego.

Now, let me share with you an excerpt from the revolutionary Allen Ginsberg in his stunning display of shameless, explicit beauty.

The beginning of “Howl” a poem by Allen Ginsberg.

His feat of anarchy against the censorship of the time was revolutionary, as it would be today to inject beauty into the obscene once again. A revolt against substance-less tomfoolery— every ideal poem is a visionary think-piece, waiting like an open-ended love letter for its eager audience.

Let us raise the mad ones to a higher standard, let us elevate the voices of every artistic underdog, and let us share amongst us the underground discoveries of uncensored genius. Dive into obscurity and seek every creation that has its own esoteric, unadulterated voice. Commune with other creatives, and build a body of work that will stand the test of time. Every move you make on the chessboard of the art world brings you one step closer to true freedom and revelation, a nomadic Nirvana where you are distinguished from the crowd into a playground of Nuance, where every canvas is a sandbox and a lesson waiting to be unearthed.

By Jack Kerouac

“Would You Wear My Eyes?” A poem by Beat poet Bob Kaufman.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

Dharma Bum Poetess