Natalie Smith

Fashioning Identities in Jane Campion's Holy Smoke

This paper explores the narrative function of clothing in Jane Campion's feature film Holy Smoke (1999). It proposes that in this film clothing is utilised to critique the way in which the construction of self-identity in the consumer culture of late capitalism has become a reflexive enterprise, that is where the self is constructed through and by images circulating in the mass media. The economy of late capitalism, which is characterised by an ever more rapid cycle of obsolescence and renewal has, in recent theorising, come to be perceived like the fashion system, where fashion constructs a seasonal body, challenging the idea of a fixed identity. This is not necessarily a negative proposition. Consumer culture, and in particular fashion, offers the liberating potential to explore a range of multiple identities, but what happens when we lose sight of who we are and what we believe in. Yvonne, for example, blurs the lines between what is real and what is not. Dressed in festive kitsch she tells us that she writes love letters to herself, and imagines being desired by, and making love to, celebrities. Sometimes she says she 'gets a little confused because I can't imagine who is making love to me'. Or consider Miriam, who at one point in the film wearing a floral patterned dress, virtually disappears into the similarly patterned furnishings of her suburban Sydney living room. Miriam is lost spiritually too and becomes distraught when she cannot remember the lines to The Lord's Prayer.

Holy Smoke is temporally set in the lead up to Christmas, a time of year when material considerations frequently overshadow spirituality. Identity, at this time, is more thoroughly considered in the mass media. We are bombarded with advertisements on how to shop for the perfect gift, one that somehow says something about the person for whom it is intended. In the Southern hemisphere self-identity collides with a heightened awareness of body image as individuals seek to construct a more visible, and attractive summer body. We are urged too, to make New Years resolutions of self-discovery and improvement.

As the Christmas season approaches Ruth searches for her 'true self' in the non-Christian, civilisation of India. Adopting a simple white sari and leather sandals, the clothing worn by devotees of the guru Baba, she re-contextualises herself as someone connected with an older and less perceptually superficial culture. Ruth, however, eventually comes to the realisation that while clothing has the potential to support the exploration of self-identity (P.J. Waters describes her clothing as a prop) who you truly are has to come from within and she burns the sari. This realisation is reinforced later in a location in the Australian outback where Ruth is forced to improvise as she seeks to run away from P.J. Ruth creates an original dress out of an apron and souvenir tea towel, and a unique pair of shoes constructed from four paperbacks stacked together and strapped to her ankles with strips of plastic. The outfit reminds us of one of the most basic functions of clothing–protection; it protects Ruth's body from the harsh sun, and her feet from being blistered by the hot sands. The originality of the garment also affords Ruth a critical distance from ready-made identities, and it is while wearing this outfit that Ruth's strength of character is made manifest.

In exploring the ways in which clothing is used creatively, in Holy Smoke , to critique the self-construction of identity in consumer culture, this paper will argue that Campion uses the film to engage in a reflection on the role Hollywood cinema plays in constructing, promoting and selling ‘looks' to its audience.

Biography

Natalie Smith is a PhD candidate with the Art History and Theory Programme, University of Otago. Her research interests are the intersections between visual art and fashion. She has published on wearable art and conceptual fashion.