The prima donna within...

I have always admired and been terrified of the prima donna -- she who defies the logic of exchangeability -- who refuses it, who declares herself irreplaceable. -- Every one of her gestures declares "I am unique." In fact, everyone should demand what the prima donna does. But the rest of us have been so schooled in modesty and self-abnegation -- in the name not of "higher" ideals, but rather of survival, that we make of humility a moral issue rather than an ethico-tactical one. That is why the prima donna is so vulnerable. In a world where everyone and everything is made fungible, she tries through pure talent to distinguish herself above all others. She is more courageous, but also more tyrannical. She doesn't want a democratization of singularity (what would that be in any case?) -- her protest is all about doing justice to her own brilliance, her voice, her allure, her magical body.

What she reminds us of however, is the need to shine, if only briefly, like a star. Shininess is a critical quality: who would want to live with the negative charisma of the Puritans all the time? Her violation of laws against sumptuary display are reminders that it is enough to live for animal sensuality and art. Even if she consumes us in her the rapacity of her own narcissism, this danger is a tonic. The world is a mirror to her, or else it is a blank. To deny her is to affirm a shabbier, grimmer world, but to accept her rule is to accept submission to her will which replaces the universal principle.