I knew Hannah Gadsby a long time ago. When I watched the LGBTQ Australian drama Please Like Me a few years ago, I was quite impressed with her, only to realize that she has been an old artist who has been talking about stand up comedy for more than ten years. This stand-up episode is Hannah's farewell performance at the Sydney Opera House. The Chinese version released by Netflix gave the title of'Last Hit'. Indeed, in just one hour, Hannah deeply analyzed and questioned the nature of comedy, the situation of marginalized groups, the problems of patriarchal society and feminism, and most importantly, the direct view of self.
Looking at the entire performance, I think Hannah is a particularly smart and profound person. In this farewell performance with a strong personal expressiveness, she always balances telling jokes and making a speech very well. The buried stems in the first half and the speech-style digging in the heart and lungs in the second half are also connected without a trace. From a formal point of view, she appropriately integrated the tension that creates a smile and the anger that triggers thought into the entire performance.
What is particularly exciting is that there is a lot of art history knowledge interspersed throughout the performance. She used Van Gogh to refute people's misconceptions that "artists should feel pain" and destigmatize mental illness. As Elizabath, the author of Eat Pray Love, once wrote, “too many artists still believe that anguish is the only truly authentic emotional experience” (too many artists still believe that pain is the only truly authentic emotional experience).
She also used Picasso's misogyny (misogyny) to combat the hegemony of straight men, and used the perspective of art history to criticize the inseparability of art and power, to criticize people for fame rather than humanity.
As a student of Western art history, she said that art history taught me how to survive, that is, in this world, I have no place, because the entire Western art history is a straight male hegemony.
She reflected on the harm of self-deprecating humor (self-deprecating humor) commonly used in stand-up performances to marginalized people and the root cause of self-loathing (self-loathing).
At the end of the performance, she reiterated the power of diversity, the rise of women, and the importance of'feel connected' (empathy) by telling her own story.
In fact, in addition, Hannah also talked a lot about anti-stereotypes, trauma, educational environment, malicious internalization... an hour of rich and profound content, with golden sentences, thought-provoking, and really kind after reading. I want to say a lot, but I don’t know where to start. What I mentioned above is only the most memorable clip after I watched it again. In fact, I found a lot of deep points when I was looking for the screenshots of the material. If I wrote all of them, I might have to show the whole scene in the form of screenshots.
It is especially recommended that you take a look at this issue of Standalone, or treat it as TedTalk. You will surely find points that resonate with you and think about it. Even if you don’t, this issue of Standalone will definitely provide you with another way to see the world. angle.
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