Succès de scandale
Encyclopedia
Succès de scandale is French for "success from scandal", i.e. when (part of) a success derives from a scandal.
It might seem contradictory that any kind of success might follow from scandal: but scandal attracts attention, and this attention (whether gossip or bad press or any other kind) is sometimes the beginning of notoriety and/or other successes. Today, the often used cynical phrase "no such thing as bad publicity" is indicative of the extent to which "success by scandal" is a part of modern mass media
culture.
The archetypal example of succès de scandale in art is Stravinsky
's ballet Le Sacre du printemps
(The Rite of Spring) , which premiere
d in 1913 by the Ballets Russes
. During the Belle Époque
, the public attending this premiere was so scandalised by the sounds produced by the orchestra and the evocation of a blood sacrifice on stage that a riot broke out. Negative press and criticism followed, but Stravinsky kept aloof, as if he knew that overnight he had become the most famous composer of the 20th century.
_(1).jpg)
Belle Époque Paris
appears to have had exactly the right climate for succès de scandale (which is probably also the reason why this is where the term originated): in all examples below, regarding famous artists kicking off their career with some sort of scandal, there are at least some connections with turn-of-the-century Paris. In other cities, provoking a scandal appeared more risky, as Oscar Wilde
would find out shortly after his relatively "successful" Parisian scandal (Salomé
— 1894, portraying the main character as a necrophile
):
to the press in 1927, under arrest after the Society for the Suppression of Vice
had maneuvered to get her play titled Sex
re-censored by the Police Department
Play Jury — a few years later, over forty, her sex symbol status paid off: her 1935 film contract made her the highest paid woman till that day.
Due to more widespread use of the Internet, recently celebrity sex tapes have found widespread distribution. However, in many cases, these tapes have served to cause an increase in popularity of those featured, most notably in the case of Paris Hilton
, whose tape was "discovered" shortly before her reality show debuted, and Edison Chen
, in which hundreds of pictures flooded the internet depicting the Canadian-Hong Kong singer in various sexual acts
with several mainstream Hong Kong actresses.
It might seem contradictory that any kind of success might follow from scandal: but scandal attracts attention, and this attention (whether gossip or bad press or any other kind) is sometimes the beginning of notoriety and/or other successes. Today, the often used cynical phrase "no such thing as bad publicity" is indicative of the extent to which "success by scandal" is a part of modern mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
culture.
The archetypal example of succès de scandale in art is Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's ballet Le Sacre du printemps
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
(The Rite of Spring) , which premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d in 1913 by the Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
. During the Belle Époque
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...
, the public attending this premiere was so scandalised by the sounds produced by the orchestra and the evocation of a blood sacrifice on stage that a riot broke out. Negative press and criticism followed, but Stravinsky kept aloof, as if he knew that overnight he had become the most famous composer of the 20th century.
Belle Époque
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
appears to have had exactly the right climate for succès de scandale (which is probably also the reason why this is where the term originated): in all examples below, regarding famous artists kicking off their career with some sort of scandal, there are at least some connections with turn-of-the-century Paris. In other cities, provoking a scandal appeared more risky, as Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
would find out shortly after his relatively "successful" Parisian scandal (Salomé
Salome (play)
Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published...
— 1894, portraying the main character as a necrophile
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
):
- Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) by Edouard ManetÉdouard ManetÉdouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, presented at the Salon des refusés, 1863: Even the EmperorNapoleon III of FranceLouis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
was scandalised — but Manet had a nice start to his career. - Alfred JarryAlfred JarryAlfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
shocked Paris in 1896 with the first of his absurdistic Ubu plays: Ubu RoiUbu RoiUbu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
. The performance of this play was forbidden after the first night. No problem for Jarry: he moved the production to a puppet theatre. - A new group of artists, labelled disrespectfully Les FauvesFauvismFauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
("The Wild Beasts") by an art critic, had their successful debut in 1905 Paris (and kept the name). - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
had had little success with his first two operas, which today are no longer performed. Consequently, he tried something different: he set music to Wilde's SaloméSalome (opera)Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
in 1905, and racketed quite some scandal with this opera, including in the New York MetMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, where the production had to be closed after one night. But Strauss wanted more: his next opera (ElektraElektra (opera)Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
— 1909) was so "noisy" that cartoons appeared with Strauss directing an orchestra of animals. Then Hugo von Hoffmansthal, the textwriter of this second "successful" production, seems to have taken the right decision, in restraining Strauss from getting even bolder: Strauss's success was guaranteed without any further scandal, so Hoffmansthal wrote a bittersweet scenario with a theme of resigning to the fact of getting older, for Strauss's next (and after all most successful) opera. Only two world warWorld warA world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s later Strauss would get involved in scandal again, for his way of realising what was then considered as the highest ambition: directing the Bayreuther FestspieleBayreuth FestivalThe Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
). Here, however, scandal came after the success. - L'après-midi d'un faune (1912): see Afternoon of a Faun (ballet)Afternoon of a Faun (ballet)The ballet L'après-midi d'un faune was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes, and first performed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on May 29, 1912. Nijinsky danced the main part himself....
. - The Rite of Spring (1913): see introduction to this article.
- Parade production of 1917: see Parade (ballet)Parade (ballet)Parade is a ballet with music by Erik Satie and a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau. The ballet was composed 1916-1917 for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes...
. - Ballet MécaniqueBallet mécaniqueBallet Mécanique was a project by the American composer George Antheil and the filmmaker/artists Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy. Although the film was intended to use Antheil's score as a soundtrack, the two parts were not brought together until the 1990s. As a composition, Ballet Mécanique is...
(1923) by George AntheilGeorge AntheilGeorge Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
, which along with his futurist piano music caused riots at the Champs-Élysées theater. - Paul Chabas had won a most prestigious prize with his September MornSeptember MornMatinée de Septembre is a painting by the French artist Paul Émile Chabas . Painted over three summers ending in 1912, it became famous when it provoked a scandal in the USA....
in Paris in 1912. Nudity as portrayed in this painting was however far from being able to shock a Parisian public, half a century after the Déjeuner. So, notwithstanding the "official" prize, market value of the painting remained low. Then, Chabas put it on show in a New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
shop window in 1913. There, for the first time in history, it appears a succès de scandale scheme was set up by a publicity agent (Harry ReichenbachHarry ReichenbachHarry Reichenbach was a US press agent and publicist who dreamed up sensational publicity stunts to promote films. He worked both for actors, as an agent, and for the studios as a promoter....
), who "accidentally" coached a morality crusader along the picture. The scandal that evolved brought financial success and secured Chabas's place in art history books. Although later deemed kitschKitschKitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
, the painting ended up in one of the most prestigious museums of New York.
No such thing as bad publicity
This would not be the last time that Comstockery fanned the success it wanted to fence: "I expect it will be the making of me" said Mae WestMae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
to the press in 1927, under arrest after the Society for the Suppression of Vice
New York Society for the Suppression of Vice
The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and district attorneys in bringing offenders to justice. It and its...
had maneuvered to get her play titled Sex
Sex (play)
Sex is a 1926 play, written by, and starring, Mae West. It was very popular for about a year before the New York Police Department raided West and her company in February of 1927...
re-censored by the Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
Play Jury — a few years later, over forty, her sex symbol status paid off: her 1935 film contract made her the highest paid woman till that day.
Due to more widespread use of the Internet, recently celebrity sex tapes have found widespread distribution. However, in many cases, these tapes have served to cause an increase in popularity of those featured, most notably in the case of Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, whose tape was "discovered" shortly before her reality show debuted, and Edison Chen
Edison Chen
Edison Koon-Hei Chen is a Hong Kong film actor, Cantopop singer, Hong Kong hip hop rapper, model, record producer, fashion designer, and a pop icon. Chen is also the founder of CLOT Inc., and the CEO of Clot Media Division Limited...
, in which hundreds of pictures flooded the internet depicting the Canadian-Hong Kong singer in various sexual acts
Edison Chen photo scandal
The Edison Chen photo scandal involved the illegal distribution over the Internet of intimate and private photographs of Hong Kong actor Edison Chen with various women, including actresses Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan, Rachel Ngan and Cecilia Cheung. The scandal shook the Hong Kong entertainment...
with several mainstream Hong Kong actresses.
See also
- Ark Music FactoryARK Music FactoryArk Music Factory is a record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label was co-founded in 2010 by Patrice Wilson, who partnered up with producer/composer and multi-instrumentalist Clarence Jey. In May 2011, Clarence Jey left Ark Music Factory to focus on his own production company Music...
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- Cause célèbreCause célèbreA is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
- ControversyControversyControversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
- HerostratusHerostratusHerostratus was a young man and arsonist; seeking notoriety, he burned down the Temple of Artemis in ancient Greece.-Occurrence:On July 21, 356 BC, Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in what is now Turkey...
- PublicityPublicityPublicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
- Publicity stuntPublicity stuntA publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...