Honestly, I am confused by about 90% of all things having to do with Tao Lin
Tao Lin’s Shoplifting from American Apparel is being made into a movie by some people I’ve never heard of. Usually, I am excited when people I’ve never heard of make movies about things of a vaguely literary nature. Because I’m hella indie like that, or whatever.
But I watched the trailer and I literally have no idea what’s going on here. Watch this. Do you understand it? Is it supposed to be ironic? Clearly the two guys wearing identical American Apparel outfits are making fun of themselves in some way. But what about the part where the director says “we’re trying to blur the lines between what fiction and reality are” like 18 times in a row? Self-aware? Or unintentional? Also, is it meta? Looks pretty meta…
To be fair, I haven’t read Shoplifting from American Apparel (I tried to read Eeeee Eee Eeee a couple of years ago, but couldn’t quite manage), so maybe this film is actually really true to the book and I just don’t “get it.”
One thing that I did read – and liked – by Tao Lin is this piece called “What I Can Tell You About Seattle Based on the People I’ve Met Who Are From There.” It’s clever and not actually about Seattle or people from Seattle at all. Maybe someone I’ve never heard of could make a movie based on it? I’d probably “get” that.
Yikes! I just went to Amazon and read an excerpt of the book, and it’s CRAZY! I don’t think I could get through a whole book of that…that, what, anti-craft, non-style, lack of voice and personality. I get that a point is being made, but seriously….
[...] week, Leyna posted that she didn’t understand 90% of the Tao Lin output, input, and quenched randomness. When she [...]
[...] anywhere as of yet, but the DVD is available for purchase. A couple months ago, I wrote about how I don’t understand what Lin is aiming for in his writing, or any other projects he’s associated with, really. Still, [...]