The forever cool, lanky and rarely ruffled Pink Panther turned forty-one this year. Losing a bit of fur no doubt and likely disoriented by the rough edges of his mid-life crisis. Nonetheless, the Fan Club is alive and vital, Shrines to the Pink Panther still attract worshipers and pilgrimages, and his Animation Cels are selling for $200 a pop. I've always loved this photograph, including the velvet art, and still regret not buying.
Yet, I've hesitated bringing this shot to the post. "Highbrow versus lowbrow," you know. Kitsch (kich) n. Art of a pretentious, but shallow kind, calculated to have popular appeal.
Thankfully, an article in the City Journal (Winter 1999), Kitsch and the Modern Predicament by Roger Scruton, reassured my insecurities. Roger concludes, "The worst thing is to be unwittingly guilty of producing kitsch; far better to produce kitsch deliberately."
Title: © Pink on Velvet. r0324-35
Series: None of the Above
Location: I-85 Drive-In Flea Market
DeKalb County, Georgia
Date: Sunday 20 May 1990
Roger at the City Journal nailed the kitsch glitch factor. It's okay to put out as long as it's on purpose. The flea markets and neighborhood garage sales really do have the best stuff... but you never know if you'll see it again. "The Return of The Pink Panther." One has to have hope!
Posted by: Vermont Neighbor | 08 August 2005 at 04:19 AM
Well this is coincidence- I endured a substantial debate this weekend regarding pathers- I proposed that they come in different colors (not just black like Soul On Ice black) and my adversary heartily disagreed. Therefor we googled panthers and I was bombarded with the notorious pink panther himself. BTW- Tan is popular - saw a few in Nicaragua at cat rescues last week - but I think the Tan Panther as a moniker is too neutral perhaps. Or at least too hetero.
Posted by: Craigeoke | 08 August 2005 at 03:02 PM
The Pink Panther controversy! Let the debates begin.
Posted by: Vermont Neighbor | 08 August 2005 at 10:46 PM
One man's kitsch is another man's Erskine Caldwell.
Posted by: Jack Straw | 17 August 2005 at 08:44 PM